March 23, 2003

A Sermon by The Rev. Merrill Wade

The Scriptures are full of prayers of lamentation . A lamentation is a prayer of self offering, or a group’s offering to God in a time of deep heartbreak and sadness or what seems to be inherent powerlessness. The kind of moment that St. Paul is lamenting when he says he has no strength in himself, that he can’t be trusted – that sin within him seemed to hold sway.

In times where we lament we recall examples of the scripture.

Listen to this lament from Psalm 25.

"Turn to me and have pity on me, for I am left alone and in misery.

The sorrows of my heart have increased; bring me out of my troubles.

Look upon my adversity and misery, and forgive me all my sin.

Look upon my enemies, for they are many, and they bear a violent hatred against me.

Protect my life and deliver me; let me not be put to shame, for I have trusted in you.

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for my hope has been in you.

Deliver Israel, O God, out of all his troubles."

There is a season in the life of God’s people where lamentation seems to be all we have, especially in times of international crisis. One of our own wrote a poem , or hymn, and in your service leaflet, I ask you to find the yellow sheet of paper bearing this hymn written by Keith Miller. Thank you Keith for bringing this to us, I’d like for us to read this hymn aloud together and after a period of silence, I will play a cassette recording of the hymn.

Words by Keith Miller, Music by Gloria Roe

Lord, please bring your touch of healing

We’re torn apart, uprooted flow’rs.

Troubled brains have failed to heal us.

Save us, Father, from this hour.

Aching hearts are hard and distant,

Clinging fast to our control.

We’re alone with our demanding,

Powerless, and feeling cold.

All our words are empty symbols

Knowledge, faith, prophetic songs.

We can’t resolve our deepest questions

Or forgive the darkest wrongs.

And so we’ve come to worship here,

No other place to run, nor hour,

And finally know with broken hearts

Inside ourselves there is no pow’r.

Gifts and works cannot complete

Nor angel songs, nor tongues of fire.

So Lord, we give it all to you. Father, save us from this hour.

Father, fill us with your pow’r!

No Christian chooses happily to be in a war, yet we are at war. And our country, indeed the whole world community, is tense, frustrated, and perhaps even violently angry. We here today undoubtedly share a wide variety of feelings.

I know that I have a deep and abiding pride in the people that serve us in the military and their commander in chief who has made an incredibly difficult decision, a decision that has been questioned all over the world. And that pride is mixed with a strange form of exhilaration as I see the power and skill that we unleash.

With me it is likely that you feel a sense of anger and frustration towards Saddam Hussein and the madness and very evil that he has perpetrated for far too long. No doubt, some of us feel some degree of frustration towards our President, and his willingness to take military action when so many around the world have begged for time, for new methods of diplomacy, for weapons inspections. Perhaps this morning you are feeling frustration with the French, our traditional ally. For sniping at us and trying to shape world opinion against us.

Perhaps some of us in this room have been in the streets protesting the war. Or not in the streets but in deep agreement with those who are and are frustrated because those protests seem to do nothing to change the course of the war. Some of us are deeply hurt and angry that our own citizens would dare, dare protest against our President and our country at a time when so many valiant women and men are in harm’s way.

Today we have to deal with the news of a betrayal among our ranks. It appears in the news that one of our own soldiers has been responsible for the death of his commanders in their command tent. So confusing. It is so confusing to know how to deal with this mixture of pride and fear and anger and resentment that is sent out and unleashed around the world and within our hearts. Anger and frustration usually have a chemical makeup including fear, and helplessness. What are we to do with our anger, fear and helplessness this morning?

We can turn to the gifts that God has given us in this life. We can pray. We can pray here this morning. We can gather day by day in the Bell Tower at 6:00 p.m. as people of faith, seeking to live with hope and expectation for God to do a good thing in the midst of all of this. The daily intercessions that we have for our sick and for those in harm’s way and for our leaders are so important. I commend this to you. We made a discipline together as a parish to gather at least one night a week in the Bell Tower for prayer – it has never been more important. But whatever we may be feeling, we recall the tremendous burdens our leaders are carrying. And the troops, whoever they are and wherever they may be, those in harm’s way, may we never forget what they are doing.

And we keep in our prayers those persons in Iraq with no responsibility for any of this, who live their lives in terror and fear.

We can pray. And we can recommit to the Baptismal Covenant that shapes our lives and our commitment as Christians. And we will do that momentarily.

We can create poetry, music, stories that describe our deepest hurts, our deepest laments, our deepest needs and yearnings as people. Aching hearts are hard and distant, clinging fast to our control, we’re alone with our demanding, powerless, and feeling cold.

And in our aching and our clinging to control and our demanding and our coldness, we have choices for we have gifts given to us by God. We have been given Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, for Christ is our deepest hope, our truest love, and the pioneer and example of our faith. Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the whole world. What a gift for us. What suffering for God, Christ on the cross.

In a sermon to his congregation at St. Paul’s in Fayetteville, Arkansas, this past Thursday, my friend Lowell Grisham wrote these words:

"Take your anxiety and anger and fear and instead of projecting it towards Saddam or George or your spouse, coworker or child, or yourself, through depression; send your anxiety and your anger and your fear to the cross of Christ. On the cross, God shows us what divine love does to our violence and our hate. God soaks it up and does not give it back. God absorbs our anxiety, our anger and our fear and instead of reacting with wrath and punishment, God chooses to do something utterly unpredictable, God brings resurrection."

Lowell writes, "Oh, death happens. Death of some kind is always the bitter fruit of anxiety and anger and fear. But death is not the last word when God is at work."

Can we, brothers and sisters in this faith journey, can we offer our current coldness, our anger and frustration, our aching and breaking hearts, our powerlessness to the cross of Christ Jesus and all its pain and promise? Yes. Yes, thank God, Yes, for Christ’s resurrection love has been poured out to us for all time. His body and blood have been prepared for us this day. And as you come forward today to receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ, cast all your anger and fear and heartbreak and powerlessness onto the cross of Christ. For through Jesus, God is redeeming the world.

Beginning with me and you.

And so, we’ve come to worship here for there is no other place to run. Nor the hour.

And finally, know with broken hearts inside ourselves, there is no power. Gifts and works cannot complete nor angels songs, nor tongues of fire. So Lord, we give it all to you. Father, save us from this hour. And more hopefully, Father, fill us with your power. Amen.