Tuesday, November 13, 2012

11-11-12 - Do Not Be Afraid! -1 Kings 17:8-16 & Psalm 146



It is quite easy to fear.  It is also quite easy to lay down and die when the going gets tough, especially when hope has been eliminated.  That is what the woman in our 1st reading was doing today. She was preparing to die, her and her son.  She speaks in the language of scarcity, a couple of sticks, a little oil, a handful of meal.  All she knows is squalor at this point, all that she knows is suffering and all that she knows is want.  Hope is gone. 
But that changes with Elijah.  Not at first, at first she is tired and has no desire to help him.  After all, she has so little already, so she figures “keep it for myself and my son, so that we may have a last meal together.”  But Elijah makes her a promise. He promises that if he would give him but a little cake, God will ensure that the meal and the oil will not run out until the rains come again and the famine lifts.  He promises them that if they can give out of their little, then God will treat them with abundance.
And we are asked to do the same thing here at Jerusalem.  So often I hear from members about fear.  We fear for our resources, we fear that we are going to run out and that this congregation will not survive.  And I will tell you this, if we focus on fear and if we put all of our focus on money and property, then yes will shall surely die.  If we try to hoard what little we have for ourselves, we will just whittle away and we shall die.  If we keep focusing on those things that fall into dust, our human rulers, our money, our property, then we shall surely die.  Instead we are called to act in hope, because we have a God who has made us promises, just as he made promises to the widow that fed Elijah, and we have example after example of God keeping God’s promises  And we have examples time after time of God’s power in the world and the healing that happens in God’s presence.
When we fear and when we sink into modes of survival or just plain giving up, we fall apart, we fragment, we suffer, and everything just gets worse.  When we focus on fear we become overly anxious and we shut down.  But when we focus on the power of God we are indeed filled with power and when we are focused on the possibilities of God then we will begin to grow and we will cease to set up roadblocks in front of ourselves.
            The most common statement in the Bible from one of God’s messengers is this – “Don’t be afraid!”  It is what Elijah tells the widow and it is what God tells us now, “Don’t be afraid!”  Act like you have been empowered and you shall be empowered.  Keep your eyes on God and God’s promises and you will be fine.  For when we focus on the will of God, when we earnestly seek it out and we strive to please God instead of ourselves and instead of seeking control, then we begin to focus on ministry and we begin to live in the light of Christ, which makes us jubilant and have abundant life.
            After all, wouldn’t it be far better to have the joy that fills our Psalm today than to live in a life that we view with the eyes of scarcity?  For then we worship the God who makes the blind see and the lame walk, who lifts up the oppressed, who created the world, and sets the prisoner free.  Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord, oh my Soul!  For while we may view ourselves with scarcity, we are in fact filled with abundance.  For we are not scarce in love.  Look around this room.  In this room are many people whose hearts combine as one, whose hearts long to serve God and to serve on another.  We are blessed with experience from our senior members who have lived their lives in service and are inspirations to each and every one of us.  We are blessed with a lack of a mortgage, which is no small feat in today’s world with churches, so our funds are not being sucked down that drain.  And this frees us up to be an offering to others as well.
            Each year we give support to a variety of charities, such as World Hunger and Camp Frederick and United Social Action, which helps people to pay for their bills and rent in this area.  Each year we also give to the synod, so that they can help coordinate mission in our region, train pastors, aid congregations, and help to start new congregations.  And they in turn give to the churchwide ELCA, which supports those in need around the world and helps to unify us as Lutherans and brings us closer to other denominations as well.  Each of our gifts outside of ourselves helps to bring about God’s will in the world, helps to create justice, helps to make the blind see and the lame walk and the oppressed to receive justice and the hungry to eat.    Out of our abundance, we are able to serve others.
            So be not afraid, but instead focus on the power that we have from God, focus on the promises of God, for we are not alone and we do not have to settle for finding a few twigs and baking a small cake for ourselves and dying as a congregation.  We shall not fear, for we are united as one Body, the Body of Christ, and we do not see only scarcity, but we can see the abundance that we have, the abundance that we have to offer this community of Columbiana and the world.  We are a haven for those who suffer addiction and a place of safety for young men to gather together and learn how to be better men.  We are a place that welcomes those who have fallen on hard times and are in need.  We are a place of welcoming to all, a place of support for those of us who have trouble in our lives, which is admittedly all of us.  And we are a beacon of light that shines the love of God, the love that defies all logic and all explanation and is ever-present. 
            We are called into a life of abundance, of giving that which we have in order to be a blessing to others, with the promise of God that we shall not starve or suffer when we give away.  Will you not join me in this life, that we may not live in fear, but instead hear the words of God that tell us “Do Not Fear!” and to do His will, and spread his word, in joyous celebration!  May we always remember to scream with joy, “Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord, O my soul!”

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