A Sermon in the Midst of Community Grief
July 1, 2007
J.W. McNeill
5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.
5:14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
5:15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
5:16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.
5:17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.
5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.
5:19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness,
5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions,
5:21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
5:22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
5:23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
I was going to talk about something else this morning.
Not so eager to speak on God’s behalf. Difficult week. Lots of tears.
But our task remains that of the prophets: to proclaim God’s word to reclaim God’s people.
What is God’s word for this community today?
Where was God in all this?
Was it God’s will that these five young women died? Did God "take" them? Did God cause this accident? Punishment? Warning?
This horrible event was not God’s will. I say this will the authority that has been given to me.
I do not say what follows as an accusation. I simply state it as a fact: The sad truth is that we as a society have adopted a way of life in which we allow fallible and imperfect humans to operate very powerful machines. We know that a certain small percentage of times that will lead to tragedies.
You can blame particular individuals in particular circumstances, but we know that a certain number of accidents will happen. A moment of inattention, a miscalculation of distance, loss of visibility. All of us who have driven know this.
These accidents could be prevented by everyone driving at 25 mph in cars surrounded by thick rubber cushions like bumper cars.
Why didn’t God stop it? Like it or not, God respects our freedom and our choices. God respects the integrity of the lives we live. If God intervened in all risky situations we would become more like God’s pets. We cannot have the freedom we have chosen if God will step in and prevent all the possible tragic outcomes.
Where was God? Redeeming the situation. Bringing love to move in on grief. It’s not easy to get up close. You’d rather turn away.
Where was God? In the holy moments of grief. Why do I call them holy? They are holy because people’s defenses are down and we can be open to God.
Let me suggest for comparison, that an alternative to holy moments of grief is simply to close down our hearts. This is an opportunity to be what the Bible calls hard-hearted.
They are holy because we recognize our limitations. We are not full of ourselves, but we are open to God’s activity.
They are holy because we can experience tremendous gentleness. When our hearts are open with those who grieve we have a hard time being sharp with them, or angry.
Where was God? Whenever Margaret and I visited at the Goodmans there was always at least one and mostly many more folks from this congregation over there.
Where was God ? We had friends call from across the country, across the conference, from this congregation to make sure that we as pastors and the staff were doing ok with the extra load that was placed upon us. So much grace.
I’ve become aware once again that at a certain point, great sadness, feeling overwhelmed with the reality of grief and the fragility and preciousness of human life does in fact bring to the surface the fruits of the spirit Paul talks about:
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Maybe not joy so much.
These are the spirit qualities that take shape us as we allow ourselves to connect with the holy moments of grief as the reality of the preciousness of life emerges in its loss.
What has God been doing this week? God has been crying with us. God does not turn away from us in our grief, our grief becomes an entry point for God to come into our hearts to free us so that we can live by the Spirit.
The great misunderstanding is that God is up there. Aloof. Mainly detached. Intervening every so often to poke, prod, or nudge human events for mysterious reasons.
No. The reality is that God is with us, among us. God became human in Jesus Christ and shared our pain, our grief, our suffering, and our death.
And the testimony of the Church has been that by the power of the Holy Spirit God is active and at work and real in us around us and through us.
I pray that hearts that have been made tender this week in grief may become ever more fertile soil for the fruits of the spirit to come forth in abundance.
I pray that we would take opportunities to wonder and appreciate those around us.
I pray that we would keep our hearts open and tender to experience the ways in which God is present and at work in the world around us
And be grateful for all the ways in which love and mercy and grace fill this world. Thanks be to God. Amen.