9 Pentecost/Year C
August 7, 2022
Genesis 15:1-6; Psalm 33:12-22; Luke 12:32-40
Do not be afraid…our old testament reading and our gospel reading began with those words today…
But they weren’t just stand alone words…they were followed up with words of hope and assurance…of a God who wants only the best for his people, a God who invites them and us…to look all around us…to see that indeed, right there in the midst of our worries, our fears, our uncertainties, God has always been here…God is here now…and God will be with us all in the long journey ahead….
Those of you who have been worshipping with us over zoom, and here in the church since the COVID pandemic began a couple of years ago…might recognize those words or the similar words that I began using right at the start of the pandemic…and continue to use…as a daily mantra…and touchstone…to remind me and us from time to time, to “keep the faith”….to not be afraid….because even as the world around us is constantly changing, and we are faced with new worries and concerns every day, and when we feel like we’ve lost our way at times…and don’t know where the road ahead will lead us…God is with us...we can put all of our trust and belief in that good news…all of our Hope in the One who journeys with us, leading us on the roads of life where faith is found…
In our Genesis reading today…Abram was lamenting that he continued to be childless, and that he has been given no offspring of his own, …Then the word of the Lord came to him …and He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." And he believed the Lord…
In our gospel reading today…Jesus seeks to comfort the disciples and re-direct the disciple’s attention and focus from the things of this world that trouble them, to focus their hearts and minds on believing that God has their back…that God can be trusted with all their concerns, their worries…because all God ever wants is to show them and us, just how loved we are…just how meaningful and purposeful our lives together can be… when we seek first the kingdom of heaven, the unfailing treasures of heaven, where nothing can destroy the love that binds us together and unites us as the family of God…no worries, no fears, not even death, nothing can separate us from the love of God made known to us in Jesus…
And today’s words of wisdom from Jesus are words of encouragement and guidance about being attentive…paying attention…being ready…for God to show up again and again, in the most unexpected times and places…especially in those times when we are faced with daily changes, when we are faced with worries and concerns, and when we feel like we’ve lost our way at times…and don’t know where the road ahead will lead us…
Look to the heavens, and count the stars…see that God is here…look to your loved ones who have gone on before us…remember their stories…their legacies of their faith journeys that remind us and help us to “keep the faith”… see that God is here…look to your neighbor, those you know well, and those you have a hard time understanding… see that God is here…. listen to the joy and the hope proclaimed in the music we hear, in the scriptures we read, in the prayers we lift up, in all the laughter and the stories of the everyday lives of people all around us… see that God is here…
Do not be afraid…
God has always been here…God is here now…and God will be with us all in the long journey ahead….
We can put all of our trust and belief in that good news…all of our Hope in the One who journeys with us, leading us on the roads of life where faith is found…
Let us pray now, in the words from a hymn entitled “bless now”, written by Sylvia Dunstan…a prayer inviting God to bless now our faith journeys…
Hymn after sermon: Bless now (142 Voices found)
Sylvia G. Dunstan (1955-1993)
Bless now, O God, the journey that all your people make,
the path through noise and silence, the way of give and take.
The trail is found in desert and winds the mountain round,
then leads beside still waters, the road where faith is found.
Bless sojourners and pilgrims who share this winding way,
whose hope burns through the terrors, whose love sustains the day.
We yearn for holy freedom while often we are bound.
Together we are seeking the road where faith is found.
Divine Eternal Lover, You meet us on the road.
We wait for land of promise where milk and honey flow.
But waiting not for places, You meet us all around.
Our covenant is written on roads, as faith is found. (Amen)
Rev Julie Platson
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, Alaska