Online Sermons
The 24th Sunday in Pentecost: November 15, Melody Rockwell
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Hannah sings, “My heart exults in you, O God; my triumph song is lifted in you,” as she celebrates with joyous praise and thanksgiving. We are familiar with Hannah’s story of yearning for a son, her pouring out her request to God to be vindicated in her role as a respected Hebrew woman, wife and mother. Hannah calls on God and God answers her call affirmatively. She rejoices.
Does Hannah’s story have echoes in our own lives; those times, in particular, when we experience painful setbacks and betrayals? Like Hannah, do we turn to God in faithful prayer? Do we gain strength to prevail in the face of what may seem like a hopeless situation? Do we steadfastly believe in God’s loving concern for us, and become transformed with hope even before we ‘conceive’ fulfillment of our fervent desires? Do we, like Hannah, freely give back to God the gifts of grace bestowed upon us?
Hannah teaches us a way to experience God with a deep assumption that we are beloved no matter how marginal we may feel we are. In this respect, Hannah had chutzpah! She models honest, humble prayer that portrays deep trust in and utter dependence on God. Hannah bravely asserts her needs in the face of Eli’s charge that she is drunk. She persists… much like the persistent widow whom Jesus praises, and she prevails. She ‘holds fast,’ as we are instructed to do in today’s epistle (Hebrews).
My husband Dan and I recently spent six weeks in Swaziland, Africa. As in previous visits, the people I met witnessed to me their deep reliance on God. One Swazi woman, Rev. Dalcy Dlamini, counseled me: “God is faithful, God is faithful,” when I’d entered a stage of fiscal hyperventilation on the eve of our departure. The Iowa mission team had budgeted $2,000 for the Swaziland Safe Water Project board and room costs, and it looked as though we were going to be charged six to seven times that amount to cover the expenses of the Swazi trainees as well as the Iowa trainers, Dan Rockwell and Greg Stout. Dalcy held my hands in the Thokoza Chapel. After we had prayed, she assured me again, “God is faithful.” Moments later, Dan came in to tell me that the Thokoza Centre’s charges for the trainers and trainees were much more reasonable than we’d expected. We were still over budget, but at a manageable level. I thank Dalcy for teaching me patience and reliance on God.
Another Swazi woman, Glenda Mbambo, who is a young widow, mother of three children, unemployed due to an extremely painful medical condition and not able to afford the operation she so desperately needs, told me again and again during our afternoon together, “God is faithful. God is so faithful.” She told me, too, how blessed she is… how she knows she can depend on God. In the face of her ardent faith, I stand in awe and admiration… and gratitude for her teaching me to trust in God in the midst of seemingly hopeless circumstances.
I wonder if there are people in your life, who witness their trust in God, who are portraits of courage in trying times? Are their times when you share the gift of encouraging others to gain sustaining strength through reliance on God?
I recently read in the New Interpreters’ Bible that ‘the faithful are those who trust God’s power to transform their lives and the social realities in which they live.’ Hannah exemplifies this faithful trust as she sings of her joy, and the miracle of God in action in Israel. “Not by might does one prevail,” she sings. Her song describes a world in which God turns our cultural expectations upside down, but it is God’s way of making things right side up. Here is a God who delivers those in need and puts down the oppressor, a God who upholds the world in God’s own vision.In the comfort of our lives here in Iowa, most of us do not experience the debilitating effects of poverty and oppression. We do encounter ‘times of trial’ in illness, job loss, natural disasters, grief. It is in these times that confidence in God’s faithfulness provides a transforming pathway through devastation and suffering. We also begin to enter into God’s vision as we engage in helping others here at home and overseas. Our awareness increases as we enter into relationship with those who are suffering, and we begin to share the journey with them.
In Swaziland, Dan, Greg Stout and I were exposed to many difficult situations where water contaminated by fecal coliform causes diarrhea and other illnesses, especially among the children of the rural communities. We met parents, grandparents and older siblings who are struggling to sustain the lives of the little beloved ones in their midst. The Diocese of Iowa safe water project, which involved training Swazis to build and distribute chlorinators and to test drinking water, was a hope-filled experience. The project resulted in Swazi people cooperatively making a difference in decontaminating their drinking water. Perhaps the most powerful moment came in the village of Maphungwane, where an elder thanked the Iowans for bringing a chlorinator the year before. He said, “Since you came, we have not buried one child.” It is the dream and commitment of the newly-trained Swazi Safe Water Ministry team to extend that promise of life throughout rural Swaziland.
Later, as Dan and I stood on a cold, rainy day in the St. Margaret’s feeding center run by Rev. Orma Mavimbela, I was thankful for the hope our congregation and others throughout the Diocese of Iowa have provided in support of Neighborhood Care Centers in Swaziland. We watched the children sing… many of them with their bare feet on the cold cement floor and shivering in ragged, skimpy clothing. I wished that we could do more, but was so grateful that Iowa Episcopalians have provided food for these children after grants for their feeding programs were discontinued last December.
I’d like to turn now from faith to provocation. I believe there is a real link between the two. Our scripture from Hebrews calls for us to ‘provoke one another to love and good deeds.’ It seems an odd way to express a means of uplifting and encouraging one another in relational ministry. In the South, there is a saying when a sermon ruffles the feathers (provokes) parishioners: “You’ve gone from preaching to meddling.” This recalls a joke Dan’s father used to get a real kick out of telling and retelling… He told of a feisty woman, who always sat in the front pew and give the minister verbal feedback as he delivered his sermon. When the minister preached on the evils of fornication, the woman would cry out, “Preach on, preacher! Amen.” When the sermon addressed the sins of stealing, she would shout, “Preach on, preacher! Amen.” But, when the preacher delved into the pitfalls of gossiping, she harrumphed, “Now you’re getting personal.” In light of our lesson from Hebrews, should we consider a positive side of getting personal with one another?
In reflection on provocation, my thoughts turned once again to Hannah. Would she have been moved to take her case, to make her claims before God, if not provoked by Peninnah -- the other wife, who provoked and irritated Hannah year after year? Unlike Peninnah, we are called to provoke in love, not jealousy. But, at times, I have given thanks for what seemed like ruthless provoking that bulldozed me to growth in faith and action. Has that ever happened to you… when someone irritated you right into love and good deeds? I invite you to think of ways that you can be an ‘inside agitator,’ a provocateur for Christ, right here in our congregation to provoke Christ Church family members into being the best that they can be in the love of Christ; to find ways of expressing their lives in fulfillment of their baptismal covenant. Let us be truth tellers in ways that engender acceptance, affection and action.
We are called to do as Jesus advises his disciples in the Gospel of Mark… to look beyond the signs of end times and look to our God… and the kingdom of God that we are to live into now and forever… as we lovingly provoke one another, together in Christ’s name. Amen.