Return to the Homepage Home
 Worship Schedules, Education, Fellowship, Outreach Worship & Service
 Sermon Archive Sermons
 A copy of the Sunday Prayers of Intercession Prayers
 Pastor Lynne's monthly newsletter Pastor's Page
 Articles and tidbits from the monthly newsletter Newsletter
 This month's events as well as the monthly calendar Current Events
 Read the Sunday School News Letter! Sunday School News
 Events for grades 7 to 12 Youth
 Other websites of interest Links
  
 Login to Administer this site Admin Login

St. Luke's Zion Lutheran Church
2903 McPhillips Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA R2P 0H3
http://www.stlukeszion.ca

Phone: (204) 339-0412
Fax: (204) 339-0412
E-mail: stlukeszionchurch@gmail.com
site design by clayton rumley

 

Second Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, June 18th, 2017

click here for past entries

Loving God, you hear us when we cry out to you for help, and you walk with us from darkness into light and from death to life.  Help us to never lose sight of our hope that is in you, through Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Amen.

    We can only guess at what might have been going on in the life of the psalmist when today’s Psalm was written.  We know that he was facing an enemy or enemies and that he felt as though God had forgotten him.  We know that he was experiencing pain in his soul and sorrow in his heart.  We know that he felt as though the light had disappeared from his eyes, and that he wondered how close death might be.  We know this because of his lament.  He asks, not once, but four times, “How long, O Lord?” (Ps. 13:1).  Have any of you ever been there?

    I heard a speaker this past week who described pain and suffering as kind of like entering another country.  Those who have never been there don’t understand, but those who have lived in that country have an unbreakable bond.  The speaker was Rev. Dr. Anna Madsen, who spoke out of her own experience.

    More than twelve years ago now, she suffered a devastating loss when her husband and young son were killed in an accident in Europe.  The same accident left her other son, who was 3 at the time, with a severe brain injury.  So now she is a single mother, with one daughter who was not injured, and her son who is in a wheelchair and can barely speak.  She now lives in Northeastern Minnesota and is opening a retreat center in her home.

    One of the things that she reflected upon as she spoke is what it is like to live on Holy Saturday - the day between Good Friday and Easter.  She also spoke about Holy Saturday as the most honest day on the entire church calendar.  This is the day that is in between death and resurrection.  A death has occurred and the darkness of Good Friday has been experienced.  However, the resurrection hasn’t happened yet.  And so, on Holy Saturday there is a mixture of grief and hope – grief over what has been lost, and hope in the promise of resurrection.

    Today, as we reflect upon Psalm 13, we find this same mixture of grief and hope.  The lament, it seems to me, also belongs to Holy Saturday, where it seems as though all has been lost, and yet there are still glimmers of trust and hope.

    The thing that is most amazing about many of the laments that are found in the Scriptures is that there is often trust and hope expressed at the same time as there is lots of lamenting going on.  In Psalm 13, most of it is pure lament.  How long, O Lord?  Consider and answer me!  Will you forget me forever, O God?  However, then there is a great big, “BUT”!  “But I trusted in your steadfast love” (Ps. 13:5).

    If the Psalm ended there, it would be easy to hear this “but” as a reproach to God.  It could be kind of like, “I trusted you, God, and look what happened.  I trusted you, and yet you have totally abandoned me.”  It could be a cry of despair, accusing God of betraying your trust.  Yet, the end of the Psalm makes a surprising turn.

    “But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.  I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me” (Ps. 13:5-6).  Wow!  How many people can say that in the midst of pain and suffering?  In spite of still waiting for God to act, the psalmist has hope.  He is promising that once the crisis has passed, he will rejoice in God’s salvation and will sing to the Lord.

    While I am aware that there are many people who are either living in the midst of Holy Saturday, or who have been there, I became aware this week of millions of people who are living in the midst of Holy Saturday right now.  I am curious how many of you have heard either on the news or from other sources that there are over 20 million people dying of hunger right now in Africa....  It is a famine that is so vast that it covers South Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Uganda.  For several months now, the Government of Canada has been matching donations given by individuals for famine relief - something that will end on June 30th.  This applies to Canadian Lutheran World Relief or any of the other agencies that are part of the Humanitarian Coalition.

    I mention this because I had not heard about it.  I don’t always pay attention to everything in my inbox, and it was probably there somewhere, but I didn’t know that we have an opportunity right now to help give some hope for resurrection and new life for millions of people.  In fact, that hope often comes through other people, just as it also comes through trusting the promises of God.

    The ironic thing, of course, is that Jesus says in our gospel for today, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (Jn. 6:35).  As we think about spiritual hunger and thirst, this is most certainly true.  However, there are also passages that talk about physical hunger and thirst, and how Christians share with one another in order that all might be fed.  There is hunger that only God can fill.  However, there is also hunger that is filled through the people who become God’s hands and feet in the world.

    Ultimately, we know because of Jesus that there is always hope of resurrection and new life.  When we are living in the midst of Good Friday and Holy Saturday, Jesus is there with us, for he has lived in that country, and he understands.  Yet, he has also been to the country of resurrection and new life and has promised to bring us with him and to raise us up.  Thanks be to God for the gifts of wholeness, healing and salvation.  Amen.

Pentecost 2 (NL summer)                            Psalm 13
June 18, 2017                                John 6:35-40
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2017 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved


Previous Sermons
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
January 2003
March 0201