Sermon 9/19/04
La Anna
Opening prayer: Pray with me.
Art Yetter to deliver:
Let us offer supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and thanksgivings for everyone,
through Christ Jesus our only mediator.
Art Frey to deliver:
For this holy gathering,
and for the people of God in every place.
For all peoples and their leaders,
and for justice, mercy, and peace in the world.
For abundant fruits of the earth,
and for farmers at harvest time.
For the poor and the needy,
the sick and the suffering,
prisoners and refugees,
and the dying and dead.
For our village and those who live in it,
and for our families, companions, and all those we love.
Lifting our voices with all creation,
let us offer ourselves and one another
to the living God through Christ.
To you, O Lord.
Art Yetter to deliver:
God of every bounty,
hear the prayers we offer this day
and entrust us with your riches from above,
that we may hold them in faith,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. . . join me in silent prayer. - Lord's Prayer.
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 (NRSV)
My joy is gone, grief is upon me,
my heart is sick.
19Hark, the cry of my poor people
from far and wide in the land:
"Is the LORD not in Zion?
Is her King not in her?"
("Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,
with their foreign idols?")
20"The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
and we are not saved."
21For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt,
I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me.
22Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of my poor people
not been restored?
9:1 O that my head were a spring of water,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
so that I might weep day and night
for the slain of my poor people!
This is an unusual passage from Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a prophet who walked and talked with God, friend to friend. Now, here in these few sentences, we see deep into the soul of this prophet. He doubts. “Why is God not here?” he asks. Is there no one here to heal my people? Is there no balm or lotion to sooth the pain?
How often do we cry out, “Where is God?”
C. S. Lewis wrote in A Grief Observed: “When you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing Him, so happy that you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption, if you remember yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be — or so it feels — welcomed with open arms. But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find?”
We all are guilty of waiting. Waiting until things get too tough, then we cry out for the healing balm and wonder why we don’t get it right away. God tells us to be careful and watch where we are going and watch what we are doing but we charge headlong into dangerous waters and wind up falling and skinning our knees. Then we wonder why he is not right there with the balm to heal our wounds.
Jeremiah cried out, “Is there no balm in Gilead?” But, he knew where the balm was. He knew it was right there. He just had a human moment like we all do when we just can’t wait and follow the lead of the Lord. The songwriter knew also when he wrote:
There is a balm in Gilead
Refrain
There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin sick soul.
Some times I feel discouraged,
And think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my soul again.
If you can’t preach like Peter,
If you can’t pray like Paul,
Just tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.
There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin sick soul.
Our New Testament Scripture is taken from:
1 Tim. 1:18-2:7 (NRSV)
I am giving you these instructions, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19having faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have suffered shipwreck in the faith; 20among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have turned over to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme.
2:1First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. 3This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God;there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, 6who gave himself a ransom for all --this was attested at the right time. 7For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
May God add His blessing on the reading of the word and bless all who are here to witness His message.
In chapter 2:1& 2, Paul says, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.”
Can you think of a time in recent years when it was so important for us to pray for the world and for our leaders then now? Can you think of a time recently when it was more important to pray for godliness and dignity before it is destroyed by society? As Christians, we cannot lead a quiet and peaceable life in God if the very roots of our religion are being threatened; when the laws that God gave to Moses are thrown out of public buildings; when prayer is banned and the word God is struck out of documents and pledges. Has there ever been a need for us to pray more earnestly for our very existence and for the world?
And how do we get others to help us in our prayers and aid us in living a quiet and peaceable life? By praying and by being a shining example in the community and with our families. By being a beacon that leads people to the shelter of a safe shore; that leads the lost to a lifesaving station. Paul says to Timothy in this letter: so that “you may fight the good fight, 19having faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have suffered shipwreck in the faith;”
Certain persons have suffered shipwreck in the faith. Today, there are many who are shipwrecked. Today, there are many who are being destroyed. Where is the lighthouse and those that man the lighthouse that can rescue the wayward traveler?
There’s a story I came across when preparing for this morning that I would like to share with you.
On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur stood a lifesaving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea and with no thought for themselves went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Many of those who were rescued and also others from the surrounding area wished to become associated with the station and to give their time, money, and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The lifesaving station or lighthouse grew.
In time some of the crew became concerned that the station was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those snatched from the sea. The emergency cots were replaced with beds, and better furniture was purchased for the enlarged building. The station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely. Fewer members were now interested in leaving the plush station to go to sea on lifesaving missions. So they hired surrogates to do that work. However, they retained the lifesaving motif in the club’s decorations, and a ceremonial lifeboat lay in the room where club initiations were held.
One dark stormy night a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick and obviously from distant shores. The station was in chaos. The event was so traumatic that the people contracted for outbuildings to be constructed so future shipwrecks could be processed with less disruption.
Eventually a rift developed in the station. Most of the members wanted to discontinue the station’s lifesaving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to their normal social life. Some insisted, however, that rescue was their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. But the latter were ignored and told that if they wanted to keep lifesaving as their primary purpose, they could begin their own station down the coast, which they did. Over time those individuals fell prey to the same temptations as the first group, coming to care more about comforting one another than rescuing the perishing. After a while a few, remembering their real purpose, split off to establish yet another lifesaving station. And on and on it went. Today if you visit that seacoast, you will find a number of impressive lifesaving stations along the shore. Sadly, shipwrecks still occur in those waters, but most people are lost.
Sound familiar. It seems to be a pattern we can also find in many, many churches today. Paul told Timothy to put up the good fight and to let everyone in the church know that there was one true beacon of light in this dark and stormy sea. It is Jesus Christ. And when we see someone who is shipwrecked, we are to go to him or her and let them know that there is a lighthouse, a lifesaving station where they can get help. It is located along route 191 in a little town called La Anna. That is, if we want it to be. Then our song will say,
“There is a balm in La Anna
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in La Anna
To heal the sin sick soul.”
Pray with me.
Dear God, I have read the books that were given to me about this great church and have read of the wonders that they brought to this small community. La Anna has truly been a shelter in the time of storm and a beacon to the community. This is a church that was rich in history and rich in showing the community the love of Christ. Help us all to be the lighthouse that you would have us be so that we can rescue those who are shipwrecked. Help us to pray for our country, for our world, for our leaders and for each other. We recognize dear God that it was your son, Jesus Christ who made it possible for us poor sinners to join with you and it is through His name that we pray. Amen.
