Never Forsaken, Never Alone

Never Forsaken, Never Alone
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15,16

This weekend is a weekend for remembrances. I’m not sure what it is about the end of August. Maybe it’s the effects of a long, hot summer. Maybe I’ve had too much time on my hands as I have recuperated from my own health issues. Preparing for a wedding that was held last night, at Club Continental in Orange Park, I found myself remembering another wedding in the late 70’s, at the end of August. And I remembered the divorce that ended that marriage four years ago, this weekend. But this weekend is about more than one marriage.

Five years ago a storm hit the gulf coast around Louisiana and Mississippi. The hurricane was given the name, Katrina. Remember? Images from New Orleans were devastating and disturbing.
The stories that emerged over the next several days and weeks could be even more disturbing. The football stadium was intended as a place of refuge. It became a place of misery and even death. Hospitals and nursing homes were confronted with impossible decisions about how to care for people without supplies, without relief from the next shift coming on, without basic necessities, without electricity, and without the means to move people to a safer place. Some people out of desperation, others out of recreation, began looting supplies they could find. In some cases the local police took part in exploiting the disaster. And government failed the people. The city, county, state and federal governments were caught totally unprepared to respond, even though there had been plenty of warning about the potential devastation. So much focus was placed on New Orleans, however, the disaster stretched far and wide. Would New Orleans ever recover? Would the towns and counties of southern Louisiana and Mississippi ever dig out from the mud and the muck to create new livable communities?

But this weekend is not just a time to remember Katrina. Going back a few more years, this is also the weekend when Martin Luther King, Jr took part in a rally in Washington. The year was 1963. Dr. King stood on a platform in front of the Lincoln Memorial and stirred the crowd with his “I have a Dream” speech. I will listen to this speech once or twice a year. With the Internet and Youtube, it’s a whole lot easier to find than it used to be. His message is still relevant as we think about the variety of divisions we have in our society today. It’s like, the nature of being human is that we have to define ourselves as us, and not them. These divisions are seen in political campaign ads that attack those who are not what we are: they are not conservative enough, they are not liberal enough, they are not religious enough, they are not Christian enough, they are not enough like me. Will we ever achieve Dr. King’s dream of a society where people who are as different as black and white are able to live together in harmony? Will we ever find the means to set aside our partisan bickering so that we can work together to find real solutions to problems with the economy, with health care, with on-going wars?

This weekend is also a time many in Jacksonville are remembering what has become known as Ax Handle Saturday: August 27, 1960. The summer was marked by sit-in demonstrations to protest the treatment of African Americans in downtown stores of Jacksonville. Mostly they were lunch counter sit-ins in places like W.T. Grant, Woolworths, Cohen Brothers. On this particular Saturday, about 200 white males were waiting. They were waiting and ready with ax handles and baseball bats. Rodney Hurst tells the story of this day in his book, It Was Never About Hot Dogs and a Coke. I think that title speaks volumes. Before the sit-ins began, a teacher named Rutledge Henry Pearson talked to a group of young people and told them “Freedom isn’t free.” . . .“Freedom isn’t free. If it’s worth having, it’s worth making a sacrifice and fighting the good fight.” I can only imagine what it must have been like during those days. Some of you may remember. The conflict, the tension. Two sides convinced that they were each in the right and were justified in their actions. I can only imagine the hurt, the anger, the despair that must have been in the air and the question if our community would be ripped in two forever. Could there ever be healing? Could there ever be true peace?

With all of this remembering, my attention is then drawn to our reading from Hebrews. Much of the book of Hebrews is difficult for me to read. It is steeped in theological arguments about Christ as the high priest: the one who makes sacrifice is also the one who is sacrificed. But today’s reading takes another direction. As many of Paul’s letters, Hebrews closes with admonitions about how to live. Or more to the point, how to let your faith be reflected in how you live. Some phrases from the text sound like this: Welcome strangers; remember those in prison; identify with those who are being tortured; honor marriage; stay free of the love of money. Imagine being a Christian in Rome about 60 or so years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. He promised that he would be coming back to complete his kingdom. 60 years is a long time to wait. Many good Christian people have died. A new generation has been born and raised in this new faith. The zeal of that first wave of Christ followers has passed. Maybe the Jewish Christians ought to reclaim their Jewish roots. Some are put into prisons, others are being tortured. Most feel the stigma of dishonor and shame following one who was crucified. Can it get any worse? Will it get any better? What are we to do?

Remember, he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Whether in prison or in a palace, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Whether rejoicing in good or recoiling from evil, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Whether you are challenged with too much and are tempted away by your excesses, or you have too little and feel the pain of want, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” So then, we are able to respond, as the writer of Hebrews reminds us: “The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me.”

You know it has been said that the providence of God is best seen with the 20/20 vision of hindsight. We can’t always see, in the present, how God is present, that God does not leave us or forsake us. Sometimes we wonder. But when we look back over our lives, or look back on history, we see more clearly. God has not ever left us or forsaken us.

Consider this, 50 years ago Hemming Plaza was the place of racial violence. Today you are more likely to see blacks and whites sharing conversation and listening to music together. Have we reached the promised land of racial harmony and peace and equality? No. We have a long way to go. Lots of mistakes and missteps have been made, but we have learned a great deal and we are continuing to learn and to correct, and to move forward.

Consider this, in New Orleans the Jazz community is coming together like never before. Where schools no longer provide for teaching music, Jazz musicians are teaching a new generation how to play tunes that have made New Orleans Jazz. There is a gospel choir that has emerged called Shades of Praise that is an interracial group. In one song they sing: “He is the one. He is the light in darkness. Jesus Christ is the Hope of the world.” Is everything healed and put together well along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi? Not by a long shot. But we have come a long way over the past five years. We can look back and see that Jesus does not leave us or forsake us. “He is the one. He is the light in darkness. Jesus Christ is the Hope of the world.”

So what are the challenges you are facing today? What are the concerns that burden you, today? I am burdened by the terrible flooding in Pakistan. The Indus River continues to swell and an uncountable number of people are displaced and without solid ground and with death everywhere, and disease will be claiming even more during the weeks to come.

Jesus says, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” And on behalf of those in the midst of the flood we are able to say, “The Lord is with you, you do not need to be afraid.” And we can demonstrate this by our support of relief efforts.

I am concerned about about friends who have faced bankruptcy and have lost their homes to foreclosure. I am concerned about friends who have been laid off. It’s hard enough to find work when the economy is good and you are younger. I am concerned about people who are facing the breakup of their marriages, friends whose children have made choices that are hurtful and painful, people who have been given diagnoses that are life altering and life limiting. He says, “I will never leave you or forsake you. . . . We are able to say with confidence. The Lord is with me. I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?”

And as I look back with the 20/20 vision of hindsight, I see how God has been with me. I see how I came through one difficult time after another. And I see how good my life is, today. I see how our community has emerged from darkness into greater light. I see the hand of God working and moving and engaging and healing and offering hope. “The Lord is with me. I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?”

What are the challenges that are facing you, today? What are the concerns that burden you, today? What are you remembering, today? Where have you seen the hand of God in your past? Can you trust the promise that he says: “I will never leave you or forsake you.”? That doesn’t mean that everything will work out perfectly the way you want it. But it does mean that you are not alone. God is with you. You don’t need to be afraid.

Out of the darkness and devastation of Katrina, a group of men and women, black and white, came together around their faith and their music. Together they sing, “He is the one. He is the light in darkness. Jesus Christ is the hope of the world.”

And I would say that the Dream is very much alive.