STRENGTH FOR THE JOURNEY

Photo by Ralph Felzer

STRENGTH FOR THE JOURNEY

"I am severely afflicted–

give me life, O Lord, according to Your word." 

~Psalm 119:107

It's hard not to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of griefs, sorrows, and sufferings going on in our midst these days.  They run the gamut from threats to the roofs over our heads, to the safety and well-being of our children, to our own chronic illnesses and disease.  When a great sorrow hits, the weight of it just seems to collapse onto our hearts, pressing them down and taking our breath away.  Chronic pain, long grief, and aching loss surround us on every side.  

There's a reason I called this column Waybread.  Waybread is sustenance offered travelers along their way.  I want the words here to offer you all strength and encouragement for your own journey through life.  And I'm feeling profoundly these days the need we all have for strength on our various journeys.

We all have different lives and different stories that are complicated by all sorts of dysfunctions and disasters, boons and blessings.  And yet at the same time, none of of our stories stands on its own. We all have our individual stories, but all of those are wrapped up in one grand, marvelous Story that began in Genesis 1.  Together and collectively, we are the Body of Christ.  When one of us grieves, we all grieve.  When one of us rejoices, we all rejoice.  

My absolute favorite things about the Body of Christ are baptism and the Lord's supper.  I love them because they are beautiful and concrete pictures of who we are together.  Sure, when someone gets baptized, only that person gets wet.  But something mysterious and wonderful is also taking place–the entering of a soul into the kingdom of God, of which all the rest of us are already citizens.  We are welcoming another into our country of love, joy, hope, and peace, a country overseen by a loving Father, a compassionate Son, and a sustaining Spirit.  A baptism is an event for all of us, not just the one getting wet!

And at Communion, my favorite moment is stepping aside while everyone comes forward to receive the bread and the cup, and I notice what an enormous variety of folks we are.  What a motley crew!  What a hodge-podge of humanity!  But as different as we all are, we share much, much more in common–our faith in Jesus Christ, a faith that knits us together more permanently than blood relations.  We are a people, made one by faith, made one by baptism, made one by the common sacrifice of Jesus, once for all, our Lord, our Savior, and our Redeemer.  All this is truer of us (and a tighter bond between us) than the stuff of income, class, age, and race that only appear to divide us.  

"To glorify God as His faithful people."  One call, one mission, one identity.  But we certainly are a work in progress, aren't we?  We are "building a community to reach a community."  We aren't done yet.  We are a people on the way.  Pain, loss, disease, confusion, and anxiety may run rampant among us, but they don't define us, they don't tell us who we are--we are the Church of God, the Body of Christ, children of the Most High, no longer our own, but bought with the precious blood of Christ shed on the Cross.  This good news, this gospel of Jesus, means that we have a strength, a power alive within us–the life of "Christ in us, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27).  And this Life is ours transcends the brokenness of life, not removing the possibility of suffering, but giving us kingdom of God resources with which to overcome that brokenness and suffering.  In Christ, we truly are "more than conquerors through him who loves us" (Rom. 8:37).

I'm reminded of God speaking to Moses at the burning bush.  When Moses asks Him what His name is so that he can answer those who want to know who sent him, God replies, "I am who I am," or "I am that I am" (Exodus 3:14).  The Name God speaks to Moses is a verb that means "to be."  So when God says, "Tell them 'I am' sent you," he's simply saying, "The One who IS, who always has been and always will be is My name."  

Friends, God is.  That's all.  And that's enough.  When we grieve, God is.  When we rejoice, God is.  When we are perplexed, confused, anxious, angry, frustrated, and so sorrowful our heart seems to be breaking … God is.  Right there with you, right there in the middle, in the thick of it, weeping His own very real tears right alongside you (remember, "Jesus wept"), God simply is.  And God is Love.  And compassion.  And help.  And healing.  And wholeness.  And redemption.  

I'll leave you with an old hymn that I believe is God's word for us in this season. Let these words wash over you, heal your heart, and lead you into worship (and then go look it up online and give it a listen--or two).

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!

O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation!

Come, all who hear; now to his temple draw near,

join me in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, above all things so wondrously reigning;

sheltering you under his wings, and so gently sustaining!

Have you not seen all that is needful has been

sent by his gracious ordaining?

Praise to the Lord, who will prosper your work and defend you;

surely his goodness and mercy shall daily attend you.

Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,

if with his love he befriends you.

Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him!

All that has life and breath, come now with praises before him.

Let the Amen sound from his people again;

gladly forever adore him.

Be encouraged, friend, for God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, who spoke all worlds into being, is both with you and for you.