Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 23, Philippians 4:4-9, Luke 13:31-36
When asked what scripture most informed and shaped our faith life, several of us wrote of the power of trust and surrender. Jill T. contributed the verses from Proverbs, Kathy O., the verses from Philippians. Psalm 23 was an anonymous suggestion and I added the gospel for good measure, and in a moment I'll tell you why I picked that lament over Jerusalem.
But first, I want to assure the activists and type A's among us-- who are probably squirming in the pews and thinking, Oh Lord, here it comes, another "Let Go and Let God" moment-- that it's OK to have a mission. It's OK to have a plan. It's OK to have goals and objectives and target dates and check lists. The wisdom of surrender, the wisdom of letting go and letting God, is not a concession to injustice, or a command to throw away our five-year plan.
But, when our plan is set askew by forces beyond our influence, when injustice happens and cannot be justly ameliorated, that's the time to remember that God is holding our lives. That is the time to remember these words of wisdom from our people.
An image of wood and water which I read somewhere comes to mind. Wood is good, useful, strong. You can build a boat with wood, and ride out the flood. But, wood doesn't do well against rocks. When thrown upon the rocks, the wood will insist on holding its form. It may stand up to the first toss against the rocks, maybe the second and third as well, but eventually its resistance will fail and it will shatter. The water, on the other hand, finds is way around the rocks, and eventually, the water will wear that rock away. Sometimes, it's good to be wood. But against the rocks, it's wise to be water.
The wisdom of surrender comes from thousands of year of experience. It's the wisdom of Joseph, betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused unjustly imprisoned, who later becomes the savior of his family, and is able to forgive his brothers and say to them, "You did what you did, it was wrong... but God used it for good." God is holding our lives, and saving them no matter what.
It's the wisdom Ruth, widowed, homeless, and childless, an alien in the land, who becomes a great grandmother to King David, an ancestress of the royal house. We see in her story, that God is holding our lives.
It's the wisdom of Jesus, who refused to be afraid when people came to warn him that Herod was aiming to kill. I'm not surprised, Jesus said. But I must do what I have come to do. I'm going to keep on preaching, keep on healing, keep on teaching, come what may. Because God is holding our lives.
Jesus, in this moment is to me like the antithesis of chicken little. Someone is shouting, "Run Jesus run, the sky is going to fall on you." And Jesus says, "We'll see."
For all of us who are anxious little chicks, God, like a mother hen is opening her wings and saying, "Come on in from the heat of the day, come on in from the cold, cold night."
Whether or not we have the will or the wisdom to seek the shelter of the Lord, to return to our mother's wingspan or our prodigal father's open arms, this is true: God is holding our lives.
(25 July 2010)
