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| SERMON 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany January 24, 2009 The Rev. Charles W. Messer |
| 667 Mount Road, Aston, PA 19014 610-459-2013 |
| Small Parish - Big Heart The little church you've been looking for! All are welcome! |
| Our Mission: To worship the Lord To serve the community To grow the church |
| To contact us: Calvary Episcopal Church 667 Mount Road Aston, PA 19014 610-459-2013 OFFICE The Rev. Charles Messer, Rector Fr. Chuck: frmesser@calvaryepiscopalrockdale.org Website: mail@calvaryepiscopalrockdale.org Office: calvaryoffice1@verizon.net |
stupid things. Furthermore, people say some pretty stupid things – no matter
how well meaning they are.
One of the most embarrassing moments of my priestly ministry, and in the top 10
embarrassing moments of all time, was at a funeral in Baltimore. Having just
arrived and hardly knew anyone at the parish, I was called to do a funeral for a
woman who had a loose connection with Redeemer. The family didn’t want to
meet with me beforehand; they just wanted a brief service of committal and
prayers. The funeral director met me in the parking lot giving me the particulars:
who’s who in the family and their wishes. What I heard the director say that the
name of the deceased was Jo. I’m sure you can piece the rest together;
throughout the service I called this woman Jo. Seated was her son, his wife and
children, and the husband of ‘Jo,’ who seemed to be visibly irritated with
something. Thinking they were in a moment of deep mourning, I said in my best
preacher’s voice, ‘this day, Jo is in heaven and one day you’ll see her again.’ The
son’s face is buried in his hands, and from the looks of it, he was very distraught
with grief; all of a sudden he yells, ‘Her name is Joan (enter explicative).’ I wanted
to get in the coffin with her. I was so embarrassed.
In the face of death and tragedy, some of the worst things are said by some of the
nicest people. We see our friends and family who are experiencing tragedy and
loss, or watch on television horrific images of destruction and death - Haiti, for
example – we try to make sense out of it; to put into context rational answers to,
often times, irrational and random tragedies. I overheard a woman say at a funeral
to a young mother who just buried her newborn that God needed another angel
and wanted her baby.
I cannot get the image out of my mind of the piles of decaying bodies ready to be
burned in the streets of Port-Au-Prince. The human tragedy and wreckage of this
natural disaster has horrified us and we long for answers. We have questions we
deserve want answers. In God’s silence, there are many out there who claim they
have the answers.
Pat Robertson, a well known television evangelist, attempted to give such an
answer immediately following news of the earthquake in Haiti. As news came that
somewhere over 100,000 people had died, Robertson took to the air and said that
Haiti had been, “cursed by one thing after another since they made a pact with
the devil.” "They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third
and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said 'We
will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.' True story. And so the devil
said, 'Ok it’s a deal.' And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and
got themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after
another."
I cannot help but ask, ‘Where was God?’ How could a loving God allow such a
horrible thing to happen and where is God amid such pain and suffering? These
questions need and deserve answers. I wish I could give you an answer why bad
things happen to good people, but I can’t. I don’t know why all those people had
to die. I don’t know. I don’t have answers. Pat Robertson doesn’t have the answer
either. We just don’t know.
But take heart, we’re in good company. Throughout the Bible; from the prophets
to the Psalms, from the story of Job to the apostle Paul to Jesus – all lamented
over this great silence of God and our question of why. With clinched and bloody
fists raised towards heaven, the Bible and those characters who suffered give us
the same answer over and over – that there isn’t one. However, God isn’t silent or
absent.
The Christian faith urges us to seek God not above tragedy as a casual observer
– controlling the fates of nature and humanity – but right in the middle of it; God
is there amid tragedy, suffering with us and for us. This is nowhere more clear
that in the cross of Jesus, where God was joined to the fullest human experience
of loss – suffering and unjust and cruel death – out of love for us. God is present
– not causing chaos and loss but entering into it, not sending tragedy but
suffering through it. The Christian faith proclaims that God isn’t standing over us
watching but holding tightly onto us and promising never ever to leave us alone.
This is gospel truth: Wherever there is human tragedy and pain, wherever there
is suffering and death, God is there.
Not only does God suffer with us, but God also works through us. Listen to the
words of the apostle Paul, “Just as the body is one and has many members, and
all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. If
one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all
rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members
of it.” We are intimately connected to members of the body of Christ in places like
Haiti, or in the streets of Philadelphia and Chester or Baghdad. As they suffer, we
suffer. Like in our own families, when one is suffering loss and tragedy, the entire
family is affected. Yet God doesn’t leave us helpless, but sends us out into the
midst of suffering and tragedy to be the healing and helping presence of the Lord
Jesus.
In the face of the enormity of the tragedy in Haiti, we’re not left helpless. We can
donate money to places like the Red Cross and Episcopal Relief and
Development. We can, when the time is right, travel to Haiti to assist in the long
road to recovery. We can, as the needs are clarified, participate in clothing and
food drives. We are the body of Christ. You and I and all other Episcopalians,
Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Quakers, Christian
Scientist, Nazarenes, Lutherans, Disciples of Christ, Greek and Russian
Orthodox, Assemblies of God, and all others who call on the name of Jesus are
members of his body. We are the hands and feet of Jesus and agents of his
grace. You and I and all other Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, Chinese,
Haitians, French, English, Iranians, North and South Koreans, Russian and every
other person on the planet are children of God and are invited to join in God’s
work of redeeming and restoring the world through love.
God is with us and suffers with us. God sends us out into the midst of suffering
to be the outward and visible sign of the healing and comforting presence of
God. But that’s not all. Good Friday did not end the work of God, we are a people
who are defined by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
The tragedy in Haiti, the tragedy of 9/11, the tsunami in Indonesia bears down so
heavily upon us because of its sheer immensity. Yet there are people suffering
every day. There are people in this congregation who mourn the loss of
husbands and wives and children. There are people in this congregation who
suffer and fight cancer and disease day after day. In fact, the whole world groans
under the weight of suffering and death. It is for this reason God has given us a
promise, a promise that disciples of Jesus for thousands of years have relied
upon: Our God has promised, in a time that only God knows, to wipe all tears
from every eye and bring us to a new heaven and a new earth where suffering
and death are no more.
This promise may not bring any comfort to those who are suffering, especially in
Haiti, but we hold onto nonetheless. We will hold the faith of those who suffer,
especially those in Haiti, and stand on this promise for them that one day there
will be no more earthquakes, or cancer, or car accidents, or suicide bombers, or
heart attacks, or babies dying.
It’s complicated. Coming up with answers to why things like earthquakes in Haiti
happen is asking the wrong question. I don’t know even the right question to ask,
but I do know that what Pat Robertson said is wrong, dead wrong. It is not
Christian and he doesn’t speak for all Christians. It’s time we took the word
‘Christian’ back from people like that who thinks they know the mind of God
when tragedy strikes and proclaim without shame or fear the all-loving nature of
the living God through Jesus Christ.
If it weren’t for people, this world would be a better place. I’m not so sure. It’s
through very fallible and broken people, who often say the most inappropriate
things at the most inappropriate times, that God is reconciling and healing the
world. I pray God would show us the way to bring healing and comfort to people
who suffer, and use words if necessary.
how well meaning they are.
One of the most embarrassing moments of my priestly ministry, and in the top 10
embarrassing moments of all time, was at a funeral in Baltimore. Having just
arrived and hardly knew anyone at the parish, I was called to do a funeral for a
woman who had a loose connection with Redeemer. The family didn’t want to
meet with me beforehand; they just wanted a brief service of committal and
prayers. The funeral director met me in the parking lot giving me the particulars:
who’s who in the family and their wishes. What I heard the director say that the
name of the deceased was Jo. I’m sure you can piece the rest together;
throughout the service I called this woman Jo. Seated was her son, his wife and
children, and the husband of ‘Jo,’ who seemed to be visibly irritated with
something. Thinking they were in a moment of deep mourning, I said in my best
preacher’s voice, ‘this day, Jo is in heaven and one day you’ll see her again.’ The
son’s face is buried in his hands, and from the looks of it, he was very distraught
with grief; all of a sudden he yells, ‘Her name is Joan (enter explicative).’ I wanted
to get in the coffin with her. I was so embarrassed.
In the face of death and tragedy, some of the worst things are said by some of the
nicest people. We see our friends and family who are experiencing tragedy and
loss, or watch on television horrific images of destruction and death - Haiti, for
example – we try to make sense out of it; to put into context rational answers to,
often times, irrational and random tragedies. I overheard a woman say at a funeral
to a young mother who just buried her newborn that God needed another angel
and wanted her baby.
I cannot get the image out of my mind of the piles of decaying bodies ready to be
burned in the streets of Port-Au-Prince. The human tragedy and wreckage of this
natural disaster has horrified us and we long for answers. We have questions we
deserve want answers. In God’s silence, there are many out there who claim they
have the answers.
Pat Robertson, a well known television evangelist, attempted to give such an
answer immediately following news of the earthquake in Haiti. As news came that
somewhere over 100,000 people had died, Robertson took to the air and said that
Haiti had been, “cursed by one thing after another since they made a pact with
the devil.” "They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third
and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said 'We
will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.' True story. And so the devil
said, 'Ok it’s a deal.' And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and
got themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after
another."
I cannot help but ask, ‘Where was God?’ How could a loving God allow such a
horrible thing to happen and where is God amid such pain and suffering? These
questions need and deserve answers. I wish I could give you an answer why bad
things happen to good people, but I can’t. I don’t know why all those people had
to die. I don’t know. I don’t have answers. Pat Robertson doesn’t have the answer
either. We just don’t know.
But take heart, we’re in good company. Throughout the Bible; from the prophets
to the Psalms, from the story of Job to the apostle Paul to Jesus – all lamented
over this great silence of God and our question of why. With clinched and bloody
fists raised towards heaven, the Bible and those characters who suffered give us
the same answer over and over – that there isn’t one. However, God isn’t silent or
absent.
The Christian faith urges us to seek God not above tragedy as a casual observer
– controlling the fates of nature and humanity – but right in the middle of it; God
is there amid tragedy, suffering with us and for us. This is nowhere more clear
that in the cross of Jesus, where God was joined to the fullest human experience
of loss – suffering and unjust and cruel death – out of love for us. God is present
– not causing chaos and loss but entering into it, not sending tragedy but
suffering through it. The Christian faith proclaims that God isn’t standing over us
watching but holding tightly onto us and promising never ever to leave us alone.
This is gospel truth: Wherever there is human tragedy and pain, wherever there
is suffering and death, God is there.
Not only does God suffer with us, but God also works through us. Listen to the
words of the apostle Paul, “Just as the body is one and has many members, and
all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. If
one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all
rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members
of it.” We are intimately connected to members of the body of Christ in places like
Haiti, or in the streets of Philadelphia and Chester or Baghdad. As they suffer, we
suffer. Like in our own families, when one is suffering loss and tragedy, the entire
family is affected. Yet God doesn’t leave us helpless, but sends us out into the
midst of suffering and tragedy to be the healing and helping presence of the Lord
Jesus.
In the face of the enormity of the tragedy in Haiti, we’re not left helpless. We can
donate money to places like the Red Cross and Episcopal Relief and
Development. We can, when the time is right, travel to Haiti to assist in the long
road to recovery. We can, as the needs are clarified, participate in clothing and
food drives. We are the body of Christ. You and I and all other Episcopalians,
Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Quakers, Christian
Scientist, Nazarenes, Lutherans, Disciples of Christ, Greek and Russian
Orthodox, Assemblies of God, and all others who call on the name of Jesus are
members of his body. We are the hands and feet of Jesus and agents of his
grace. You and I and all other Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, Chinese,
Haitians, French, English, Iranians, North and South Koreans, Russian and every
other person on the planet are children of God and are invited to join in God’s
work of redeeming and restoring the world through love.
God is with us and suffers with us. God sends us out into the midst of suffering
to be the outward and visible sign of the healing and comforting presence of
God. But that’s not all. Good Friday did not end the work of God, we are a people
who are defined by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
The tragedy in Haiti, the tragedy of 9/11, the tsunami in Indonesia bears down so
heavily upon us because of its sheer immensity. Yet there are people suffering
every day. There are people in this congregation who mourn the loss of
husbands and wives and children. There are people in this congregation who
suffer and fight cancer and disease day after day. In fact, the whole world groans
under the weight of suffering and death. It is for this reason God has given us a
promise, a promise that disciples of Jesus for thousands of years have relied
upon: Our God has promised, in a time that only God knows, to wipe all tears
from every eye and bring us to a new heaven and a new earth where suffering
and death are no more.
This promise may not bring any comfort to those who are suffering, especially in
Haiti, but we hold onto nonetheless. We will hold the faith of those who suffer,
especially those in Haiti, and stand on this promise for them that one day there
will be no more earthquakes, or cancer, or car accidents, or suicide bombers, or
heart attacks, or babies dying.
It’s complicated. Coming up with answers to why things like earthquakes in Haiti
happen is asking the wrong question. I don’t know even the right question to ask,
but I do know that what Pat Robertson said is wrong, dead wrong. It is not
Christian and he doesn’t speak for all Christians. It’s time we took the word
‘Christian’ back from people like that who thinks they know the mind of God
when tragedy strikes and proclaim without shame or fear the all-loving nature of
the living God through Jesus Christ.
If it weren’t for people, this world would be a better place. I’m not so sure. It’s
through very fallible and broken people, who often say the most inappropriate
things at the most inappropriate times, that God is reconciling and healing the
world. I pray God would show us the way to bring healing and comfort to people
who suffer, and use words if necessary.
