Don’t Fret Because of the Wicked
A Sermon by Rev. Mark R. Thomson
Harundale Presbyterian church
October 7, 2001
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Scripture: Psalm 37, Luke 24:13-35
Let the words of my mouth and the mediations of our hearts be acceptable in your sign,
O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.
Everything just feels wield.
I mean, we are getting back to normal,
But its not normal.
The six o’clock alarm rings,
I eat Fruit Loops with Jessica,
Kiss the wife and kid and go off to work to do my job,
I come home, kiss the wife and kid, eat dinner,
Fix a broken thing-a-ma-jig in the bathroom,
Play a little with Jess, watch a little TV, read
And go to bed.
Jessica celebrated her 6th birthday yesterday.
All the usual routine…but its not.
I had debated about preaching on anything relating to our national tragedy. Part of me argued that we’ve had enough, give it a rest for a week. My wife said she’d like a sermon a little on the lighter side after last week. Part of me argued that to not mention it at all would be irresponsible to what God has to say about all this.
I thought about how I felt, and I just thinking, "It feels weird." I watched the news as people were buying gas masks. Janet said lots of people in the grocery store are stocking up on bottled water and canned goods. She even got some extra water. But for what?
I guess that’s just it. We don’t know what.
What now?
What’s next?
Who knows?
I hear the challenge of Psalm 37:
Do not fret because of the wicked…
for they will soon faded like the grass…
Trust in the Lord, and do good,
so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.
Don’t fret. Trust in the Lord. It’s easy to say. It’s hard to do. We never experienced the kind of uncertainty we live with now.
I wonder if Jesus was thinking about Psalm 37 as he walked up behind his two unsuspecting disciples on the road to Emmaus.
Three days before, Jesus was arrested while his disciples scattered.
He was nailed to a cross
A humiliating crown of thorns adorned his battered brow.
Soldiers threw dice for his cloak.
He was crucified and buried.
It must have been weird for those disciples. They were walking back to their homes to get back to the chores of everyday living, yet nothing was the same. Jesus had been killed. What was next?
Here was grief and uncertainty walking side-by-side down a dusty road, trying to keep going after everything that had happened over the last few days.
I guess I can imagine how they didn’t recognize Jesus when he came up and joined them. They were so overwhelmed and distracted by the past few days events that they weren’t seeing clearly.
But there Jesus is, walking with his disciples in their fog of grief and uncertainty.
He spoke with them, opened the scriptures to them, and comforted them. I wonder if he used the words from Psalm 37.
Be still before the Lord.
and wait patiently for him:
do no fret over those
who prosper in their way,
over those who carry out evil devices.
…the meek shall inherit the land.
He warmed their grieving and anxious hearts, and they invited this strangely familiar man into their house.
When they ate supper together, Jesus took the bread, blessed and broke it. When he did, they recognized him in their presence, then he vanished.
Today we celebrate together our first communion since the events of September 11th. In many ways, we walk in to this sanctuary like those two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus.
We walk in uncertainty.
What now?
What next?
We don’t know.
What we can be assured of is that Jesus is walking with us, even if we are too shocked to see him. He is with us, just as he promised. Our communion together is our assurance of that promise. We gather to be strengthened by Christ, and in our common faith strengthen one-another to face together whatever may be next.
The fact that we share broken bread together often passes unnoticed in our ritual celebration. I hear giggles sometimes when the pastor is up front here working to tear the bread and its not going easy. Believe me, there have been a few occasions where I was worried it wouldn’t tear.
But Rev. Kirk taught me early on that people should see clearly the breaking of the bread,
the crumbs dropping to the table,
the tearing and jagged edges.
"This is my body, broken for you, : -- emphasis on "broken".
It is a reminder of Christ’s suffering,
It’s a sign of God love and faithfulness in the midst of suffering.
It’s a reminder of the sinfulness of the world
which prefers darkness rather than light.
A sinfulness that we have been violently reminded of in recent events
Yet the brokenness is overcome in the Risen Christ who sat at table with those two disciples and presides here at this table.
Life for those disciples didn’t get easier all of a sudden. In fact, it got harder. They faced unimaginable trials in the living out of their faith in the Risen Christ. Yet they rejoiced in all things knowing that God in Christ had overcome evil and death. The assurance of this strengthened them through their many trials.
As you take this bread and cup today, let your faith be strengthened in God’s promises.
Know God is present, walking with us on our uncertain and anxious road to Emmaus.
Everything just feels weird right now.
It’s normal, but not normal.
There are moments in every day when I don’t wonder what could be next.
Sometimes, frightening thoughts cross my mind.
It’s hard not to fret and wonder if the world falling apart.
It may be a hard struggle ahead.
But this is when we all must reach down into the depth of our faith in God and take to heart God’s word to us:
Do not fret because of the wicked…
for they will soon fade like the grass..
Trust in the Lord, and do good,
so you will live in the land, and enjoy security…
Be still before the Lord.
and wait patiently for him;
And as we eat the broken bread together this morning, we see, touch, and taste the Goodness of God whose love will always triumph over our brokenness.
This is our faith.
In the end, it’s all we have.
To him who loves us
and has freed us from our sins by his blood
and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father,
to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
Amen.