Joyful in Hope, Patient in Affliction, Faithful in Prayer

Call To Worship

At this scary and strange time in history, we are bombarded by messages of fear, worst-case scenarios, and pictures of empty store shelves. These messages may cause us to give into fear and despair, or may cause us to panic and try to attempt to take control over these uncontrollable times. May I instead point us toward the words of priest and writer Henri Nouwen, who discusses our ability to distance ourselves from these messages of fear and panic broadcasted by society and find our duty in a holy solitude. He writes, “Our primary task in solitude, therefore, is not to pay undue attention to the many faces which assail us, but to keep the eyes of our mind and heart on him who is our divine savior.” Of course we should not ignore the recommendations of health experts and our civic leaders at this time, but while we are finding ourselves in this strange state of isolation, we should find an unexpected vocation in our ability to pray and seek the will of God, dwelling in His Spirit, and interceding through prayer for our neighbors around the world. Let us begin this journey of finding the will of God in times like these by first resting in the assurance of His sovereignty. May the words of Psalm 62 lead you into the valley of God’s faithfulness and invite you into a new state of contemplative action:

“Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from Him.
Truly He is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

My salvation and my honor depend on God;
 He is my mighty rock, my
refuge.
rest in Him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to
Him,  for God is our refuge.”
– Psalm 62:5-8

SERMON

Oh No!

Be joyful in hope,

patient in affliction

faithful in prayer.

– Romans 12:12

Remember when “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” was still a thing? My favorite part of that show was when the contestant who was in anguish over some tough question with a great sum of money on the line and decided to exercise their right to “Phone a Friend” – in essence, force someone they love to share the burden and offer their suggestion as to the final answer.

This morning’s sermon text can be described as a “Phone a Friend.” I was in the office all day Tuesday wondering what on earth I could possibly preach on. What scripture makes sense during this apocalyptic time we find ourselves in? 

My head was swirling after a day of filling it with everything being put out into the world, via the news, and also how the church was responding (including myself), and I was wondering if perhaps there was a missing dimension (or at least one I wasn't seeing).

So I called my friend Rev. Keenan Barber, and I described how I was feeling. I said, “Every so often when you are surfing, there is a massive, outside, set wave, that comes rolling in. It is the wave that you knew was possible, but you were not expecting. Usually, with big set waves you paddle frantically to try and get over the top. But every once in a while, there is a wave that you know there is nothing you can do to get over, the kind of wave that you cannot dive deep enough, or paddle fast enough, to avoid its impact. You are out there in this vast ocean, part of something way bigger than yourself, with no way of getting out of the impact zone. Totally vulnerable, with no way to get around it. You are faced with the reality that you are just going to have to go through it. As you watch this massive wall of water coming in, you have this moment before it hits you. What I call an “Oh No” moment, when you realize that there is nothing you can do but prepare yourself to be thrown under, and give yourself over to the mercy of the wave. So I phoned a friend to help me find the answer to the question, “What biblical text do you share with your church when the entire world is collectively going through one of these ‘Oh No’ moments? “

His answer was, “I am getting ready to go lead a Bible study at Hope Gardens, (a shelter for women and children run by the Union Rescue Mission), and his scripture verse was going to be Romans 12:12:

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Sometimes it’s just that simple. 

I told him this phone call was worth the price of admission, and the more I thought and prayed about it, the more I was convinced that the framework of this simple verse is a good guide for what to do as the depth of our discipleship is being tested. 

Be Joyful in Hope

When you are facing a wall of water and you don't know how powerful it is going to be or where it might throw you or when you will surface, that is not the time to lose hope. 

I do not know what is happening at your house, but at mine, living room dance parties are the answer. I have a two-year-old daughter Glory and a five-year-old son Remington, and their energy has to go somewhere… So this morning at 7AM, they decided to have a dance contest. My son made the rule that each person in the family gets to pick a song. So when it came to my turn, I had to choose, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister. My children had never heard it before, but within seconds they knew exactly what to do. They put their little fists in the air and summoned their best posture of rock and roll defiance. 

In times like these, I am thankful to be a parent because even though we’re so very tired, we now realize that every teacher should get paid a
billion dollars a year! If you really pay attention to your kids in these times, you begin to understand why Jesus said the kingdom of God belongs to the little children. 

Dancing during a pandemic is not making light of the situation. No, it is a way of being joyful in hope. 

When the Italians sing from their windows amid a nationwide lockdown and more than 3,400 deaths, that is being joyful in hope. 

People are putting up Christmas lights again! To spread cheer not germs! That is an example of being joyful in hope. 

I love the ever-growing internet list of things we will not take for granted when this is over:

“When this is over, may we never again take for granted a handshake with a stranger, full shelves at the store, conversations with neighbors, a crowded theater, Friday night out, the taste of communion, a routine checkup, the school rush each morning, coffee with a friend, the stadium roaring, every breath, a boring Tuesday. When this ends, may we find that we have become more like the people we wanted to be.
– Laura Kelly Fanucci

We defeat fear with hope, knowing that no matter where we
are when we resurface, there will be lessons learned that bring us new joy.

Maybe today you want to take a second and share this sermon with someone you know needs new hope. I grieve for those who up until now thought they had no one to rely upon during this time of great trial. I pray that this sermon will help others realize that God has been with them through it all. To let God in is to let hope in. May many more of us open our hearts and receive the gift of hope that God has always wanted for us.  
Martin Luther King Jr. had a beautiful message on hope: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. I was taught—and I believe—that no feeling can last forever. Disappointment, sadness, embarrassment, excitement, relaxation, joy—not one of those emotional states, for better or worse, can be sustained indefinitely.”

Hope is not an emotion; it is a Holy Spirit gift. It is not transitory; hope endures forever. Dr. King believed this and so did Emily Dickinson who wrote,

“‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the
words –
And never stops at all“

Be Patient in Affliction 

Last month I preached on patience. We remembered together how 1 Corinthians 13 starts its definition of what love is with “love is patient.” Patience becomes possible only when we understand time from God’s point of view. Romans 12:12 adds another dimension to this biblical instruction. Paul instructs us that when we are going through affliction, we must be patient. 

We are presented now with an opportunity to apply this teaching.

I have to confess that my first instinct, when the reality of this pandemic sank in, was to start paddling frantically. We need online church! We need to call everyone! Everyone row twice as fast! But now after a week of this, I feel more like the disciples rowing in the storm. I am still trying to overcome the storm, trying to conquer something that I cannot conquer with my own strength. I need my Savior.

Perhaps you found yourself listening to or scrolling this week through each item of “breaking news.” Endless scrolling and channel changing is a recipe for emotional disaster. If we are not careful, too much information will consume us. We will lower ourselves into the pit of despair. 

It is good to stay informed, but I would also encourage you to spend as much time reading the Psalms in this season as you spend scrolling or channel changing. 

Ten verses earlier in Romans 12:2, it says, “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

If you have never actively read the Bible before, now is the time to start. If you read the Psalms for the next few months,  you will be the better for it. God’s word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. When God’s word enters your heart, it really changes how you navigate difficult times.

Additionally, if we are to be patient in affliction, we need to know how to lament. To lament is to acknowledge the breaking wave in front of us, seeing it for what it really is. As a Pastor, I feel a lot of pressure to come up with the magic solution that will make everything better. But the adversary is real, and the fear it brings is natural. There are no easy answers. We must make space for real and honest conversations that allow everyone to come as they are. 

The biblical tradition of lament is longstanding, and it helps us stay patient by inviting us to take inventory, to make space for our emotions.  

The great Protestant reformer Martin Luther treasured the Psalms of lament. Of them he said, “What is the greatest thing in the Psalter but this earnest speaking amid the storm winds of every kind?…Where do you find deeper, more sorrowful, more pitiful words of sadness than in the Psalms of lamentation? There, again you look into the hearts of the saints, as into death, yes, as into hell itself…When they speak of fear and hope, they use such words that no painter could so depict for your fear or hope, and no Cicero or other orator has so portrayed them. And that they speak these words to God and with God, this I repeat, is the best thing of all. This gives the words double earnestness and life” (Word and Sacrament, Luther’s Works, vol. 1, ed. E. T. Bachmann. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1960, pp. 255 –56).

Psalm 22:1-12
A Psalm of Lament

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish?
 My God, I cry out by day, but You do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest.

Yet You are enthroned as the Holy One;
    You are the One Israel praises

In You our ancestors put their trust;
    they trusted and You delivered them.
 To You they cried out and were saved;
    in You they trusted and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
    they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
“He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
    “let the Lord rescue him.
Let Him deliver him,
    since he delights in Him.”

Yet You brought me out of the womb;
    You made me trust in You, even at my mother’s breast.
 From birth I was cast on You;
    from my mother’s womb You have been my God.

Do not be far from me
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.

If the biblical writers can speak this freely with God, so can we. I invite you to have as many honest conversations with God as you need during this time. It is a cruel paradox that with all the hurting people out there, somehow the best we can do for them is to stay at home. It feels counterintuitive to me. So we need to bring these new and complex emotions to our God. When we give expression to our suffering, it becomes a source of solidarity.

Lamentation Psalms like this one are works of fine art. They identify what is going on inside all of us and name the emotion. It is the gift of learning we are not alone in what we feel. We are hurting as a community. We lament our common suffering. We remain patient in our affliction. We come together in a common lament. Take a moment to worship in a spirit of lament.

Faithful in Prayer 

Prayer is a Christian’s secret weapon. When we have nowhere else to go, it is essential that we get on our knees and pray. Jesus tells us that our best prayers are done in a secret place, a place where you and your Heavenly Father can be together, just the two of you. Now is the time to develop a regular prayer rhythm if you do not already have one, and to refine it further if you do. In times of turbulence and uncertainty, we need to remember that apart from God we can do nothing that will last. Being faithful in prayer means that prayer is a regular practice. If you make prayer a regular part of your day, it will anchor you in the Lord. It is essential, and if sincerely practiced, it will stay with
you for the rest of your life. 

In prayer, we should intercede for those who are sick, in fear and in danger of losing their livelihood. So let us close our time together with some intercessory prayer. 

In doing so, let us remember to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. We will get through this together. 

Benediction