The Rev. Neale L. Miller

Sermon for August 26, 2007

Texts: Jeremiah 1:4-10/Luke 13:10-17

Title: “His Mysterious Ways”

              I would like to begin this morning with a brief lesson in theology, brief inasmuch as I wish to define one theological concept, the doctrine of providence.  The Rev. Dr. Donald McKim offers the following, “[The doctrine of providence] is the Christian understanding of God’s continuing action by which creation is preserved, supported, and governed by God’s purposes and plans for human history and human lives.” In asserting the providence of God the people of God maintain that God possesses three distinct attributes: God is omniscient, which is to say all knowing; omnipresent, which is to say everywhere present; and omnipotent, possessing the ability “to do all things that do not conflict with the divine will or knowledge.”

              We believers make bold claims in God’s name, claims, frankly, that are not easy to justify all the time. Think of the suffering to which the victims of hurricane Dean have been exposed, the families of the Utah miners, or the families of the 12 military personnel who lost their lives in Iraq this week when their helicopter went down.

              Providence is the doctrine that “creation is preserved, supported, and governed by God’s purposes and plans for human history and human lives.”  As long as tragedy strikes or evil makes its play we are forced to acknowledge that our conception of God may be flawed. Yet despite the fact that we maintain but this imperfect knowledge of God, we are satisfied that the God revealed to us in Scripture and in Jesus Christ does not conceal some “dark side.”  We believe what Scripture and the teachings of Jesus Christ everywhere attest, that being that God is love itself, and that by love all things in heaven and on earth were created.

               People like us have struggled, and will continue to struggle, with events that contradict God’s nature.  The Apostle Paul had it right, “for now we see in a mirror darkly.” In matters relating to the persistence of tragedy and evil, we must rely upon faith to sustain us in the face of experiences that otherwise might reduce us to despair.

                My inability to enter the mystery of God’s purposes and plans notwithstanding, I believe in God’s providence for three good reasons: Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt.

               Our nation’s founders faced a formidable challenge in identifying a man who might execute the duties assigned to the President under the recently authored Constitution. Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, was certainly a viable candidate, but so too was James Madison, the Constitution’s principal author.  Though both men would later serve in the nation’s highest office, the founders turned to Washington.

               While the argument could be made that Jefferson or Madison may well have distinguished themselves as the nation’s first president, scholars who have studied the birth of the republic are impressed that Washington’s experience and character made him the perfect choice to be the nation’s first president. Not the most articulate, nor the brightest, nor the most personally ambitious, he stood out for his temperament and character, traits his peers respected and admired.  He filled his peers with awe. It was providential that Washington was available to serve the nation when the nation needed him most.

                Abraham Lincoln, a backcountry Illinois lawyer so unlike the self-promoting, backslapping, ready at all times with the answers everyone wants to hear, politician of his day, or are own, rose to the nation’s highest office from essentially nowhere.  How history might have recorded his tenure in office without the Civil War we will never know.  What we do know, however, is that Lincoln rose to the challenges of that fateful era in American history, by the persistence of his will securing the union against permanent dissolution. He chose reconciliation rather than recrimination at the war’s end. Was the providence of God active in elevating Lincoln to the presidency, and committing to him gifts suited to meet the challenges wrought by the secession of the south? I happen to believe so.

               Mired in a great depression, and soon after a great war, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was throughout his two and a half terms of office, a polarizing figure. His all too human flaws have been documented in books by the score.  He was regarded by those who served under him as an enigmatic and confounding personality, by others as a light weight whose name and wealth secured him a succession of political offices. Would the United States have emerged from the great depression without his leadership, or successfully defeated the Axis powers of Germany, Japan and Italy without Roosevelt? That case could be made, however, having read a good bit about Roosevelt and the era, in which he served, I am prone to credit the providence of God for elevating the right man to the right place in those crucial decades of the thirties and forties.

               Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt.  Would the history of the United States be significantly altered were the three to have lived their lives less conspicuously?  We shall never know, but benefiting from the lessons history has taught, and the analysis of that history conducted by hundreds of scholars who have made Washington, Lincoln or Roosevelt their life’s work, you could make the case that it was not merely an accident of history that saw the three arise in those critical times. Providence of God?  I would make that case.

                 As to the events that shaped American history God’s specific interventions could be argued.  Not so, the events surrounding Jeremiah’s anointing to the prophet’s calling.

                If the birth of our nation, the civil war, and the nation’s emergence from the depression and our entrance into the Second World War were signature events in our history, the event that shaped Jeremiah’s life and prophesy was easily as decisive. Judah, the portion of Israel governed under kings in the lineage of David [Israel, the northern kingdom, had broken away during after the reign of Solomon, David’s son] Judah found herself drained of morale and economic wealth as the century-long control of Assyria ended.

               Describing the times commentator R. E. Clements writes, in reaction [to its loss of economic wealth, the ineffectiveness of her leaders, and challenges to the tenets of her religious faith] the people of Judah and Israel experienced “a sense of oneness…as the Chosen People of God.” Yet even as Judah and Israel experienced this revitalization of her religious identity, Clements writes that “hope and optimism were easily slipping into complacency and an almost irrational belief that God could be relied upon to guard and protect Judah no matter how the people conducted their affairs.”

                 The people needed a wakeup call, and God chose Jeremiah to deliver it. Scripture does not provide a list of candidates from which God had to choose in this decisive moment in Judah’s history, however, Jeremiah, the candidate chosen, was not at all impressed that God had chosen the right man. “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”

                What qualifications and background did God presume in the one he would name to be his prophet in this decisive moment of Judah’s history?  What qualifications and background did God presume in Washington, Lincoln, or Roosevelt? From the vantage point of history the qualifications and background in their possession appear more formidable than when the individuals first assumed responsibility. 

                 Why Jeremiah?  The question remains unanswered.  Instead scripture asserts that God gave Jeremiah all the tools that he needed, declaring “Now I have put my words in your mouth.” 

                 Washington, Lincoln, or Roosevelt had tools to bring to their presidency, but we know that each man experienced periods of doubt and second guessing when he questioned whether or not he was up to the challenge he faced. While I am not aware that either of the three ever paused to ask God, “why me?” it is highly likely that the question formed in their minds.

                 The question “why me?” was virtually the first question out of the mouths of those God called to the prophet’s vocation.  When you consider the great task, and burden, God was asking the Isaiahs, Hoseas, Amos’, and Zephaniahs to assume it is perfectly understandable that the why me question would be the first to emerge.

                  “Why me?”  If you read the accounts related to God’s call you will discover that the question is virtually never satisfactorily answered.  Instead, those appointed to serve God invariably hear “I will provide,” or some related declaration.

                  When God’s providence is the issue history has taught us not to expect direct answers.  Instead our experience under God has taught us to believe that God will provide.

                  It was no accident of history that saw Jeremiah anointed a prophet of God.  Nor, do I believe, was it an accident of history that saw Washington, Lincoln, or Roosevelt assumed office at the most critical moments in our nation’s history. 

                 It has been said that “God draws straight to his purposes with crooked lines.”  It is not at all obvious to human experience that what God is up to at any given moment is the only option, or even the best one.  Again, would American history have been decisively altered if Washington had not been elected president?  We don’t know that to be the case, but what we do know is that the God we meet throughout the two testaments, through his prophets in the Old Testament, and Jesus Christ in the New Testament, constantly reassures us that he will provide.  Should we expect anything less in the lives we are living today? 

                 In our life under God we hear the Lord’s continuing assurance, “I will provide.”  Though his presence is not always felt, God is providing for this ministry. We live assured that his providence is invested in the future of this ministry, as it has been in the past.

                 Make no mistake; we have our work cut out for us, as we struggle to get back on our feet.

                 If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me “how are things going at the church?” we could add a new wing to our facility, and an Olympic size swimming pool.  As many times as I have been asked that question, I am invariably stuck for an answer.  “How are things going at the church?” I might restrict my answer to the physical plant.  Or, I might restrict my answer to the efforts we have made to be a good neighbor to the community.  I might restrict my answer to my perception of the congregation’s emotional state.

                “How are things going?”  One answer really doesn’t suffice.  How things are going relates to you, me, our immediate neighborhood, our city, weather patterns off Africa, the levies, and many other things.  One thing, however, remains constant. God reigns.  A second is that we have been called and equipped through the mysteries of his providence to participate in his reign in this time and this place.  A third constant is that God will provide.

                Is it your calling and mine to be part of this faith community at this particular time?  It may well be, but then again it might not. One thing we do know, however, is that we are here.  We know that God has provided and will provide.  We know that what becomes of this ministry is not ultimately ours to decide.  We know the future, and what it holds for each of us and our church, will be disclosed in due course, according to God’s providence.  In confidence that God will remain with us in all events we live.  I ask you, do we have a better option? 

PRAYER

             Living God, whose Spirit moving across the face of the earth created all that is; move in us, we pray, that our wills may reflect your holy will. Even as you summoned your child Jeremiah, we know that your summons is still being issued. You appoint us, O God, but you also equip us, to work with our neighbors in expanding your reign. While we may not see your hand in the events unfolding around us, by faith we know that your purposes will ultimately be served.

             Undone by tragedy and upheaval many have lost the ability to hope for, or even pray for, better days.  In your mercy, O God, be with those who suffer this day. Bring consolation to the sick, the depressed, and the forgotten. Where anger festers, O Lord, and disputes remain unresolved, be a force for reconciliation.

                Forgive us when we magnify the shortcomings and lapses of others, while excusing the shortcomings and lapses for which we are responsible.  May we who profess Jesus as Lord and Savior, not at the same time forsake Jesus by conduct unworthy of his name.    

                 Light of the world, shine for those who are incarcerated this day, particularly prisoners of conscience.  Those whom Jesus did not deny may we not deny.  Yet we do deny, O Lord. Even as the national media report despicable conditions in our parish jail, no officials are willing to take responsibility.  Even as corruption blackens the image of the city, federal officials report more indictments are in the offing. Cynicism and despair undermine our citizens’ morale, even as the most capable of our citizens are forced to leave for lack of economic opportunity. Abide, O God, with those who insist on change. May discouragement and setback not immobilize them.

               As we mark the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we celebrate the recovery that is restoring our city, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood. We pray for those who have yet to rebuild, those who face the obstacles the Road Home program imposes, and those who have been victimized by unscrupulous contractors. With thanksgiving we celebrate the effort of the Project Homecoming Presbyterian initiative, and all the faith-based endeavors undertaken in our city.  Continue to prosper the work of volunteers who have come to the aid of our city and our neighbors.

                  Heavenly Father, forgive us when we ignore injustice and discrimination.  The poor have no voice, while advocates for the wealthy are hired to promote programs and policies to secure even more wealth for their clients. The poor work two and three jobs to secure a living, the middle class continues to shrink at an alarming rate, while the list of millionaires and billionaires expands. O God, we tolerate inequities that are intolerable even as more people despair of making ends meet.  May the day soon come when legislation is no longer for sale, and the real needs of everyday citizens seriously addressed.

                 We pray, O Father, for those who live in the shadow of bankruptcy and foreclosure.  May those swept up in the mortgage loan crisis find relief. May those who live in desperation and fear find the help they need to weather the storm.

                Abide with this church, O God, and all who worship here.  Attend to those who bring special needs here today, particularly those struggling with illness or depression.  Abide with those who struggle with the infirmities of old age, those for whom the simplest tasks have become a burden.

               We pray for the elders of the church, and those who have assumed special responsibility in the restoration of the church and day school.  Grant wisdom to this pastor and all pastors who serve in the churches of greater New Orleans, that by word and example we may show forth our commitment to Jesus Christ. 

              For the day and each other we give thanks, praying the prayer…