Rev. Molly F. James
DFMS Noonday Prayer
St. Bartholomew, August 24, 2020
May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
I don't know about you all, but it feels like Psalm 91 might have been written just for us... pestilence and sickness, thousands falling. Oh my. It sounds far too much like our news headlines. In a document that is thousands of years old. What are we to make of this?
I think we can find hope and reassurance. The challenges we face have been faced and overcome by generations before us. Even by generations that did not have our advanced technology or level of scientific knowledge. If they can do it, surely we can too. There is hope and reassurance in this psalm, because it reminds us of the all important Truth to put our trust in God. That has to be our foundation, first and foremost.
It could be tempting to read this psalm and think that it is saying if we only pray hard enough or do all the right things, then we will be saved from the sickness. It does say that if we choose God, then no plague will come near our dwelling. That sounds nice. If only it were that simple. But we know it is not. Viruses don't ask your faith affiliation or check when the last time you went to worship was. The status of our prayer lives is not some kind of magic shield that will keep us from being infected. Washing our hands, wearing a mask, and taking precautions are far more likely to help with that.
But just because our 21st century knowledge would say that proper hygiene is our best protection, we would be amiss to toss aside the rest of our psalm for today. There is a profound wisdom, a profound comforting truth at its heart. It is the truth that God is our refuge. That we do not need to fear.
It is a hard and challenging truth for us to face the fact that there are no guarantees of how long we have. There is no way for us to be fully alive, to engage with the world, to be in meaningful relationship without taking some risk. If we did not venture forth we would miss out on the splendor of creation. If we did not do our work and stay connected with colleagues, valuable ministries would wither, and we would miss out on so many opportunities to learn and grow. If we did not risk love, if we did not allow ourselves to care deeply about other people and did not allow others to care for us, we would miss out on a beautiful gift. We would miss out on a glimpse, a taste of what it means for us to be beloved of God. We would miss out on so much joy.
There are indeed risks in life, my friends. Nothing can ensure that we never get hurt or never fall ill. We are all mortal. And, and this is a really important and, we are people of faith. We are an Easter people. Neither pain, nor suffering, nor death ever have the last word. Hear that again. Neither pain, nor suffering, nor death ever have the last word. God has shown us most profoundly on Easter morning, and over and over again in so many stories and in our own lives that LOVE has the last word. Love is and always has been stronger than death.
That is the truth we can hold on to today. In a world where there is so much uncertainty and the mundane tasks of daily life can feel far more risky and complicated than they used to, it can be easy to lose sight of that truth. And yet it is there. God is our refuge. Our strength. Come what may, the truths that we are beloved of God and that love endures will be there. They do not change. There is our hope. There is our salvation.
We do not need to do anything or be a certain way to earn it. We cannot earn it. It is pure grace. Pure gift, freely offered by God each and every day. May our hearts be ever open to receive that gift. Amen.
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