Revive Us

Dear friends,

This week, I’m inviting you into conversation about the most urgent–yet unmet–needs in your community. What would you name? Please let me know. I’m eager to dream together about the church’s role in meeting those unmet needs in this world God so loves.

Today’s worship service, in its entirety, may be viewed here. I apologize for the poor audio. I’ll have that corrected for next week.

The sound is much better on this audio recording, if you’d prefer to listen only to the sermon.

Today’s sermon is based on Psalm 85:8-13.

I will listen to what the Lord God is saying; for you speak peace to your faithful people and to those who turn their hearts to you.
Truly, your salvation is very near to those who fear you,
that your glory may dwell in our land.
Steadfast love and faithfulness have met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Faithfulness shall spring up from the earth,
and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
The Lord will indeed grant prosperity,
and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness shall go before the Lord
and shall prepare for God a pathway.

Beloved of God, grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus. Amen.

One of my favorite stories in Unexpected Moments, the New Minowa Players community theater production of which I was a part, was told by Mette Hammer, who described what happened to her hair when COVID came. I canceled my first appointment with my stylist, then my second. She took me off her list of regulars. My hair grew, and it picked up speed as the months went by. My bangs crept under the top edge of my glasses and a few strands started interfering with my vision. My husband offered to get out the hedge clipper.

Mette’s story came to mind as I studied the psalm for today. Faithfulness shall spring up from the earth, the psalmist declares. That Hebrew word translated as spring up, is also used to describe hair growing abundantly. Who knew?!?

So now we have another image with which to envision God’s actions in the life of this beloved world. Faithfulness will grow abundantly…like your hair during COVID, picking up speed as the months go by, interfering with your vision.

As I was walking recently on a trail in Carlson park, I came around a bend to find several small baby birds—at a distance I thought perhaps they were ducks, but I really couldn’t be certain—crossing the path in front of me. I was totally absorbed in these birds as I approached them, so I didn’t see—and was completely surprised—when what I presume was the mama bird—HUGE!– sprang up from the tall vegetation on the other side of the trail, rising up with a whole lot of rustling and commotion so that I had no choice but to turn and look. I was so startled that I exclaimed, O, my God, and I meant it in the most prayerful way.

O my God, how you surprise us with a larger, more robust vision than what we can manufacture for ourselves. While we have our eyes set on the little thing crossing our path, you call us to attention. No. Look at this. Look at what’s springing up over here. Look at what’s growing abundantly. Look this way.

We didn’t get to hear the entirety of the psalm today, so let me just tell you how it begins. You have been gracious to your land, O Lord. The psalm begins with recognition of God’s faithfulness, gratitude for God’s grace. But that was then, a portrait of God’s action in the past. Now, the psalmist is not so sure there is hope. And so the questions begin of God: Will you be displeased with us forever? Will you prolong your anger from age to age? Will you not give us life again, that your people may rejoice in you?

Whatever has happened, what is needed now is God to give the people life again.

Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.

This is the plea of the psalmist to God. Show up. Show us your love. Revive us so that we may rejoice in you.

And then, in the portion of the psalm that we read today, it’s as if God has answered the psalmist and the rest of the song is testimony. God has spoken, has answered those questions born of sorrow and suffering.

Will you be displeased with us forever? No.

Will you prolong your anger from age to age? No.

Will you not give us life again, that your people may rejoice in you? Yes! Look!

Faithfulness shall spring up from the earth. Truth, stability, continuance are God’s gifts to God’s people. This is not the faithfulness of human beings springing up and making things right. This is God’s faithfulness, rising up and demanding our attention, growing abundantly, interfering with our vision, drawing our eyes from all those small things that absorb us needlessly and showing us what matters.

Glenwood and Canoe Ridge participated in a gathering recently with some other area congregations to explore ways that we might partner together for the sake of the gospel—for the sake of God’s good news. We wondered, together, about the needs in our communities and how we might be called by God to address those needs. Later, I posed a question on social media: What is the most urgent, yet unmet, need in your community? Here are just a few of the responses: adult day care centers, reliable internet, climate change/crises/collapse, COVID vaccinations for all, mental health and lack of access to treatment and other resources.

What would you add to this list? Please let me know. And then, let’s ask God to show up and to show us what matters, to interfere with our vision so that we might see how the church can partner with other community agencies to meet these urgent needs and be God’s steadfast love in the world. Let’s ask God to revive us so that we might rejoice in God.

Faithfulness shall spring up from the earth. I said earlier it’s not about our faithfulness, and it’s not. But it does show up through us. Together, we are the body of Christ. It’s the faithfulness of Christ that has saved us, has become our way, our truth, and our life. It’s the faithfulness of Christ that rose up from the grave and startled this weary world with hope. It’s the faithfulness of Christ that is growing abundantly through us, the body of Christ in the world.

Returning to Mette’s story…One evening, Mette says, I sat across the table from my husband, and he stopped in the middle of a conversation, with a look of wonder in his eyes. “I really like your hair…You look just like the girl I met. Why don’t you keep it?” I went to the mirror, and there I was: the girl I used to be.

Revive us, God. Restore us to life. And we will become not just what we used to be—a carefree girl or a full sanctuary—but through your faithfulness growing abundantly in us, we will be transformed, surprising even ourselves with our capacity to thrive, to rejoice in you, to respond to the needs of our communities, to keep our eyes on the things that matter.

Revive us, God. Let faithfulness spring up and grow abundantly, picking up speed as the months go by. Amen.

*You may view recordings of some of the stories from Unexpected Moments on the New Minowa Players YouTube page here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/NewMinowaPlayers