You know, when trouble comes into our lives or when tragedy strikes, we ask, “Where is God?” And the answer is – God is in the same place he was when his son was on the cross. God does not abandon us; God is with us every step of the way. He is with us even closer than our hands and feet. And as we keep moving forward, living one day at a time, trusting in God, and doing the best we can, he moves with us; he brings us through the valley. 

In the fiftieth chapter of Genesis, this is what Joseph referred to when he said to his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” (Genesis 50:20) What had happened was bad, but God brought good out of those terrible events. That is the good news of our faith. God is with us, and nothing, not even death, can separate us from Him. “Lo, I am with you always,” – this is God’s most significant promise, and when we claim that promise, it changes our lives. Now make this day a masterpiece for you are blessed to be a blessing to others. 

Let us pray: God of all time, come into our lives and make us whole. As you entered time in Jesus the Christ, be born in us today and lead us to the light of your love. Be with all those in need of warmth and life and hope. Be with those who grieve. Be with those who are sick. Be with those who are afraid, that they may find themselves held in your strong arms. Lead us to your light, for we pray in the name of the light of the world, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

I’ve been thinking about all that is going on in our world right now: the continued upheaval in the Middle East, the situation on our border… Ukraine…Russia. There is just a tremendous amount of uncertainty. Not to mention the political uncertainty in our own country… We live in a time when we as a nation are divided against ourselves. 

And then, think about how just over the last 50 years, there has been enormous social change. Some of the change has been much, much needed. At the same time, there has been a tremendous loss of trust – loss of trust in each other, loss of trust in our institutions, in our government, in our political system, in our schools, in our organizations, in our churches… The ground is shifting.

How is a person of faith to live amid this kind of uncertainty and change? 

There is no doubt that change and uncertainty often will produce a naturally stressful and reactive environment. We see this all the time, don’t we? People reacting, completely stressed out!

The truth is that it is very difficult to face the uncertainty of life if we have no stillness in our own lives. And it is very difficult to bring about any sense of peace in the world around us if we have no peace within ourselves… 

Yesterday, I shared that I’m more and more convinced, that the one gift we have to offer the world around us, is our own inner peace. It starts close to home, within our families, at our places of work, in our conversations with friends and neighbors, how we carry ourselves. We spread either our own dis-ease and anger and frustration, or alternatively, we can radiate hope, offering grace and peace.

My prayer again today is that you would carve out time in your own life for silence, for stillness – to allow that larger, stronger presence of God to fill you and nourish you. And may the peace and strength that you experience, be a gift you share with a world desperately in need. 

Let us pray: We pause for even just a moment in your presence, O God. Take our anger, our grief, our pain. Wash over us again with your grace, that we might be healed, restored, and filled anew with your peace. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

I remember one Wednesday night a number of years ago now, Pastor Bob Smith was teaching a class on the parables at our church. He had us sing “Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God…” as a closing song. I had been through a particularly hard year that year. As we were singing, I looked around the room at all the faces of these people I’d grown to love, and in spite of outward circumstances, an overwhelming sense of joy washed over me. I thought about all the love and support that had been extended to me. And I thought about all the love and support that had been extended to others in that room. I thought about the kingdom of God… and I wondered: Is this what heaven will be like? Will love, and grace and connection be what ultimately endures?

I am reminded today there is a deep tie that binds us together as a people of faith. And that truly, we are bound together as a human family, in ways that ever more clearly coming to light. I pray that you and I, as people of faith, would be the kind of people who honor that tie, that connection. And, may we be the kind of people who invest deeply in our relationships, and in the lives of our communities.  

Let us pray: We thank you for the gift of community, O God. Empower us to build it, and cherish it. Amen. 

One of my favorite movies as a kid was the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It’s an old movie, but if you remember it, it is about his quest is to find the Holy Grail, the original chalice used by Christ at the Last Supper. Along the way, Indy finds himself in these life-threatening challenges that test his humility, his obedience, and his trust. 

In the final challenge, he finds himself dangerously close to the edge of a deep, vast chasm. According to the legend, the way across lies right before him. But he can’t see it. The only way he can get through it is by stepping out in faith. He has to trust what his eyes cannot see. 

There’s this great scene where Indy is right on the precipice – you can see the fear in his eyes. He lifts one leg out over the ledge, eyes closed, and out he steps… For a brief moment, you think he is history. But sure enough, as he steps out, he finds himself standing on a bridge of rock, solid and firm beneath his feet, but invisible to the eye. 

What’s that like? 

If you have ever been worried sick about a job or a loved one – and turned the situation over to God, you have stepped out onto that bridge. If you have ever given beyond your means – you have stepped out onto that bridge. If you have ever been so overcome by grief or sorrow that you didn’t know how you would ever survive but trusted God to carry you, you have stepped out onto that bridge. If you’ve ever dropped to your knees in prayer, asking for mercy, strength, or a way forward, you’ve stepped out on that unseen bridge. 

We know it is there. We’ve been on it. We just can’t see it.

One of the elders at my church Jennifer King, shared that her Great Aunt Rose October used to say, “Trust Him where you cannot trace Him.”  

Let us pray: Gracious God, Help us to believe where we have not yet seen, and to trust when we cannot know. Grant us faith. Grant us hope. Amen. 

Some time ago, I listened to an interview with Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen. She spoke about a twenty-four-year-old young man who had to have one of his legs amputated to stop the spread of bone cancer. He had become angry and bitter.

Eventually, Dr. Ramen was able to help him come to grips with his loss. And as he recovered, she encouraged him to reach out and help others – to turn from an inward, self-focused grief, to an outward focus. So the young man began to visit others with physical disabilities, to share his own story of recovery and hope. 

One day he visited a young woman who had just been operated on for an aggressive type of breast cancer. She was suffering from deep depression. Her room was silent, aside from the radio playing by her bed. She wasn’t really responding, and he seemed unable to get through to her. Desperate to make a connection, he took off his artificial leg and began dancing around the room on his one good leg to the rhythm of the radio. Sure enough, the woman began laughing, and said, “Okay, if you can dance, I can sing.” And she did. 

About a year after the young man’s turnaround, he sat down with Dr. Remen to wrap up his therapy. At one point, they looked over some of the artwork he had done early on, and they discussed how his views of life had changed. One picture expressed it beautifully. When he had been asked to draw a picture of his body, he had at first drawn a vase with an ugly, jagged crack running down the middle. This crack represented all the anger, bitterness, and disgust that had filled his heart after he lost his leg. He had seen himself as broken, and therefore, useless. 

However, as the young man now looked at this picture, he knew it no longer represented how he felt. He took out a yellow crayon and drew vibrant yellow streamers pouring from the crack in the vase. Then he explained to the doctor, “You see, where it is broken, this is where the light shines through.” 

All of this makes me think about the brokenness in my own life, and in yours. And I wonder in what ways we are allowing the light to shine through. 

Let us pray: God of Grace, we have all experienced loss. Some of us today are carrying heavy burdens. We all have some measure of brokenness within us. We pray for healing. We pray for grace. But please don’t stop there, O God. May your light shine in us, and through us. Amen.