Grace Lutheran Church 16th Sunday after Pentecost, September 4, 2005

The Rev. Evan Gaertner

16^th Sunday after Pentecost "Taking Refuge in the Lord"
September 4, 2005 Psalm 57:1

Ps 57:1 "Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by."

It has been a devastating week. I have been watching the news. Crawling the internet. I want to know what is going on in the Gulf Coast. But every time I find another bit of destructive news, I think to myself, "I did not want to know that."

I have spent time wondering about the conditions of pastors and their families in the Gulf Coast area that I know. The pastor of Good Shepherd in Biloxi, The Rev. Eric Hollar, is someone I went to college at Valparaiso with and also seminary in St. Louis. His church received minor water damage but his home has been destroyed.

The Rev. Jeremy Gorline is a chaplain at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi. He evacuated to Little Rock with his family and a friend of theirs walked around their house and amazingly reports that initially there appears to be not nearly as much damage as first feared.

The Rev. Stephan Wismar is the pastor of Lamb of God in Slidell. I went to seminary with him. He evacuated to Birmingham, Alabama. He hasn't heard anything about his church or home but his family is safe.

The Rev. Dave Goodine, formely the head of urban ministry for the Lutheran church in Philadelphia is now the pastor of Historic St. Paul's Lutheran in New Orleans. He stayed at the church with 70 people that were too old or poor to evacuate. The steeple of the historic church collapsed in the wind and landed on the school destroying it and the wind blew out the historic stained glass windows.

Ultimately 70 of the 140 Lutheran Churches in the Southern District of the LC-MS were damaged by Katrina. I know that many of you have family and friends in the region and information is difficult to come by.

The stories are endless.

The anxiousness rivets me .

The depression overwhelms at times and makes it difficult for me to concentrate.

There is a national frustration with witnessing the problems that are going on and musing what can be done. If only they could do ________ or have they thought about ________. There are also feelings of bewilderment at those that did not heed the call to evacuate. I know that I have feelings of utter disbelief at the looting and violence. There are so many little stories that any other day would be big stories that make me want to just get down on my knees and pray.

Paul wrote to Timothy, "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people." What is the first thing that we do in moments of crisis? At the height of stress it is hard to do anything frankly, but Paul encourages us to consider with humility the power and grace and mercy of the one that is over all. First and foremost humble yourself and pray.

Paul wrote to the people of Philippi who had been a great help to him in spreading the gospel, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be make known to God." Paul wrote those words of encouragement while he was in prison awaiting to bring his appeal to Caesar. In his moment of devastation Paul could write, "Rejoice." Because the banner that hung over his life was the love of God in Christ Jesus.

God knows our needs, but we pray our prayers nevertheless. It is a humbling experience to see one's hands and know the futility of attempting anything without the Lord as your refuge and shelter.

I want you beloved to stand firm in the Lord and encourage others to do the same. When there are disagreements and quarreling, we are not able to unify ourselves together to serve and care for each other. Blame is an American pastime, but in humility set yourself under the Lord and be guided in your thoughts and actions by the love of Christ Jesus.

It is so disheartening to hear of the violence of sin that is rampaging through the Gulf Coast region. It is at moments of crisis that we cannot just seek to survive. Survival is not what life is about at it most basic. Life at its most basic is about being in a faithful relationship with our Lord God and through that relationship finding ourselves connected to one another.

We pray in the psalms, "Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge. In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge till the storms of destruction pass by."

This sermon is not about giving you answers about why sin and devastation continue to haunt us as a people. In fact that is an answer that I will never be able to give.

How much longer must we suffer?

But even as we plea and cry for mercy, we have a Lord that we can trust hears our cry. Our God has sent his son Jesus Christ to deliver us from the cruel fate of death. Jesus hung upon the cross in answer to our cries for mercy. Through his life of obedience, mercy, and sacrifice we are delivered from the hands of our enemies. We can take confident refuge in the shadow of the wings of the Lord until the storms of destruction pass by.

It is a deliverance that we have now and not yet. That now and not yet is most keenly experienced in times like this last week when the not yet of God's victory is made so painfully visible. Now we have the victory, but not yet is this victory over sin, death, and the devil fully visible.

What I mean is that the victory over sin, death, and damnation was assured and guaranteed when Christ died on the cross and rose again victorious on the third day. Yet while this is a victory, not yet apart from faith is the glory of God and his forgiveness always visible.

With suffering Job, we cry even in the midst of the suffering of our nation, "For I know that my redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall for myself and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me." (John 19:25-27)

We take refuge in the Lord's hands. Nearly no one in the Gulf Coast will find themselves unscathed from the events of the past week and the upcoming months. This is a tragedy that everyone in America will be touched by in some way. Does that mean that the Lord has abandoned us, forgotten, or cursed us? Not at all! Without a doubt we are experiencing the onslaughts of sin, death, and the devil. The arrows that are aimed at the spiritual bullseye of the people of America must not find their target.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians in encouragement "Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." (Ephesians 6:10-11)

It is in our moments of weakness that we must have faith that the grace of God is sufficient and that his power will be made known.

Have mercy Lord and deliver those to shelter that our facing endlessly the enemies of hunger, violence, thirst, and fright. Have mercy Lord.

"Have mercy Lord" must be the banner that flies over our nation. His banner over me was love when he hung upon the cross and the sign above him said mockingly, "The king of the Jews." His banner over me was love when he was grieving the death of John the Baptist but saw the crowds and had compassion on them feeding the five thousand. His banner over me was love when he descended into hell and proclaimed his victory to the imprisoned spirits. His banner over me was love when he commissioned his followers to make disciples of all nations. His banner over me was love when he sent the Holy Spirit to the disciples on Pentecost so that they could proclaim the good news to all the nations to each in his own heart language. His banner over me was love when my brother died and he comforted me with the assurance of the resurrection. His banner of love is over you.

The Lord is my refuge and shelter and ever present help in danger. When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall not fear for he is with me.

Take refuge in the Lord till the storms of destruction pass by. They will pass by. The victory in Christ may not be very visible now, but it is yours through faith.

In closing stand and pray with me,

Grant peace, we pray, in mercy, Lord;

Peace in our time, oh send us!

For there is none on earth but you,

None other to defend us.

You only, Lord, can fight for us.

Amen

- (LW 219)

Soli Deo Gloria

Grace Lutheran Church

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