We are going (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 40:27-31
February 15, 2015
Are you waiting for something? You’re expecting me to say something, aren’t you? But what if I’m not ready? What if I don’t want to? What if I’m too tired?
Do you know how hard it is? Trying to come up with something to say? Something fresh and meaningful and relevant and compelling and faithful, week after week after week? It’s exhausting. It’s emotionally and spiritually and physically exhausting.
I’m tired. I’m used up. I’m out of gas.
And I don’t work nearly as hard as many of you do! You must be tired! Are you? Are you used up? At the end of your resources? Running on empty? Are you tired of the routine? Tired of the grind? Tired of starting over every day at the beginning?
And it’s not just about the work. It’s about life. Life is exhausting. Especially if you care.
You’ve heard of compassion fatigue? It’s a real thing, for people who care, people who give, people on the front lines of making a difference. People who do care, or try to care, get worn out, used up, sometimes even turned off. You see too much. You know too much. You feel too much. It’s just too much. Too hard. Too discouraging. Too disheartening. Too exhausting.
Those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed …
Those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed …
Those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed …
Those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed …
We do get tired. We all get tired. Even young people — young, strong, capable people like Lauren or Katherine or Kathleen or Tristan — even young people can fall exhausted. But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed.
We believe in you, O God, Eternal Spirit,
God of our Savior Jesus Christ and our God,
and to your deeds we testify:
You call the worlds into being,
create persons in your own image,
and set before each one the ways of life and death.
You seek in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin.
God seeks us. God seeks to save us. God seeks to save all people. God seeks in holy love to save all people.
From sin. From the things that tear us apart. From the things that tear us apart from each other. From the things that literally tear apart the fabric of this universe, that wreak havoc with all that God makes good, the things that destroy souls and collapse civilizations: envy, greed, hollow and insincere and self-serving religion, inequality, societies divided by race or gender or class, injustice, callousness, putting trust in human wealth, human might, human wisdom, human strength, instead of trusting God.
God seeks to save all people from sin, but also from aimlessness. From going in circles, going nowhere, having nowhere to go. Marking time. Going through the motions. Out of gas. At the end of your rope. Been there done that. Aimless. Because of apathy or uncertainty. Or because of exhaustion, because you are used up, discouraged, disheartened, resigned, spent.
But those who trust in the Lord for help — instead of relying merely on their own strength — will find their strength renewed!
They will rise up on wings like eagles;
they will run and not get weary;
they will walk and not grow weak.
We are going. So get out of your chairs! Get up off your butts! We are going! No more treading water. No more standing round. No more hemming and hawing. No more wringing your hands. No more making excuses. No more indecision. No more hesitation.
We are going. Some of us will be flying, with wings like eagles. Some of us will be running. And some of us will be walking. But we are all going! Young and old. Men and women. Strong and weak. Wise and … not so wise.
We are all going, because the Lord renews our strength. Where? Where are we going? That part of the story is our theme for Lent!