A sermon preached
for University Presbyterian Church, Chapel Hill
April 25, 2010
Anna Pinckney Straight
Psalm 23 (NRSV)
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.
Psalms 23 (KJV)
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Revelation 7: 9 – 17 (NRSV)
9 After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.
10 They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
11 And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 singing, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?"
14 I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. 16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; 17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
The Book of Revelation is a book written for a specific purpose for a specific time. To churches in the Roman province of Asia who were struggling. Persecuted. Facing choices of, sometimes, life or death. Faith or prosperity. Family or Congregation.
The words of Revelation were written to comfort these early Christians in their distress. To acknowledge the extremely difficult situations in which many of them were living.
They were written to challenge these early Christians in how they lived in the world as Children of God, Disciples of the living Christ.
They were written to lift up some churches as good examples of faith and devotion, and to hold a mirror up to churches who were not-as-good examples and were giving in and letting go in order to get ahead. Or maybe, to avoid being left behind, or eliminated all together.
Revelation was written to remind these Early Christians that there was more than that which they could see, or hear, or were currently experiencing. There would be a time after the tribulation, in which they would be clothed in white and could sing praises to God without interruption, without hunger or the heat of the noonday sun. Without pain or suffering, hunger or thirst.
That’s what Revelation is all about in general, and today’s passage specifically.[1]
As Martha Greene wrote about this text in an article for the Christian Century, “During a time of tribulation, the words from Revelation can be like a salve on the wound. The word tribulation means literally “grinding”—derived from the Latin Tribulum, which was a threshing sledge for beating the stems and husks of grains. Our lesson today contains words for those who strive to be faithful, but who are ground down by life.”[2]
Ground down by life.
Or maybe, for those who have been shaken by life.
Shaken by the earth.
Two weeks ago, I traveled with three other members of University Presbyterian Church to Haiti .
It was a trip planned more than a year ago, a lifetime ago for Haiti . In the pre-earthquake times.
Pre-earthquake. When Haiti had a higher per-capita number of NGOs (non governmental organizations) than any other nation on the globe.
Pre-earthquake, when Haiti had an overwhelming national debt, unemployment, and was the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.[3]
It was supposed to be a trip to offer teacher training to three schools with whom we have been partners for many years.
But then, the 7.0 earthquake of January 12, 2010 happened.
On the face of it, that isn’t so significant, in the last ten years there have been an average of thirteen 7.0 earthquakes around the world each and every year.[4] Most of them cause so little damage we never even hear about them.
But 7.0 in more remote or strongly developed regions of the world aren’t the same as a 7.0 Haiti , and for Haiti , 7.0 was devastating.
Ben and Alexis Depp[5] are Mennonite Central Committee workers living in Haiti . Ben, a field reporter and communications assistant in a microfinance operation. And Alexis, working on sustainable development as well as advocating for Haitian-led use of donors' money. They were there on January 12, and here is how they described what happened:
Alexis says:
What was happening didn't hit me right away. The wall between our house
and our neighbors' house collapsed. I remember thinking, "Oh, no, the
flowerpots are falling. That's going to be a big mess to clean up."
Then I heard Ben yelling at God, saying, "Have mercy on this country."
That's when I heard buildings collapsing and people screaming.
Ben:
When the shaking stopped, I grabbed a pickax. We went to check on our
neighbors. We went toward the poorer end of our neighborhood, because
we guessed that would be the more affected area. There were people
everywhere in the road. The sky was full of concrete dust. People were
carrying other people, covered in blood and dust. Women were out in the
street screaming, "Jesus is coming back! Jesus, I'm ready." People were
praying.
Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. 16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; 17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
“Have mercy on this country.” Have mercy, indeed. If ever there were a country where the tears should be wiped away, this is it.
The trip to Haiti by UPC was planned, but to be honest, post-earthquake, still mid great-ordeal, I wasn’t sure we SHOULD go. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go.
Teacher training? It felt a little bit like bringing a handkerchief to treat the flu. Like being asked to dig out a ditch with a thimble.
But, hearing that there was a need. That our partners wanted us to come. That water and food were available. We went.
What I can tell you is that it is every bit as bad as you have read, seen, and heard.
Building after building after building, collapsed, concrete crumbled down, crumbling down.
Garbage in the streets, in the vacant lots, in almost any vacant space.
Children staring out of places that are their homes, which can be as little as a sheet help up by sticks.
And it’s now the rainy season, pouring almost every night.
Which leaves the tent cities in pools of water, fields of mud.
Hot, really hot during the day, which gets started around 5:30 in the morning in an attempt to get as much done before the heat becomes oppressive.
Dust, debris, exhaust so thick you can breathe it. You can feel it. You can smell it.
And it was everywhere.
What I can tell you is that it is every bit as bad as you have read, seen, and heard.
But what I can also tell you, what I also NEED to tell you, is that Haiti is also more amazing than what you have read, seen, and heard, too.
Haiti is all of the things I have already said, and it is also one of the most beautiful places I have ever experienced.
The water is the most gorgeous shade of blue, almost a Carolina blue in some places.
There are green mountains and lush trees.
And the brightest flowers, pinks and yellows and reds rising out of the most unlikely places, proclaiming joy in the midst of rubble and refuse.
Children, going to school, where school is back, on motorbikes. Entire families on single motorbikes, in their immaculately cleaned and ironed uniforms. Going to school in a tent, under a tarp. Irons heated over open flames to smooth clothes washed by hand in a bucket with water that had to be hauled and likely purchased.
Children who are not in school. Playing. With soccer balls. Kites made from trash bags.
Local businesses adapting and regaining footing in an extremely fragile market.
Existing neighborhood organizations shifting to organize the tent communities, share food, find resources.
Teachers gathering to learn and listen.
To try things in different ways, drawing, journaling, struggling to
deal with the trauma of children while in the midst of their own
trauma.
Smiles, friends, sisters and brothers in Christ greeting one another and telling their stories, hope, frustrations, fears. What it was like to have the world shake beneath you and crumble before you.
Countless men, women, and children who have found a way to adjust to their new reality instead of giving in or giving up.
That’s what I saw, here’s what I heard.
Greetings being proclaimed, and welcomes with genuine joy. “Bonjour! We’re glad you have come. We’re glad to see you.”
A room full of teachers praying, in their own voices, in their own ways, at the same time, for one of their fellow teachers. Praying with their hands, their voices, their very bodies. Praising. Asking. Submitting.
Congregations. As we rode in a van to St. Joseph’s for Sunday morning worship. Congregation after congregation lifting their voices up in song. Song traveling unimpeded by walls or windows, to proclaim a truth greater than the ordeal or tribulation.
What I NEED to tell you, is that Haiti is also more amazing and beautiful than what you have read, seen, and heard.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me.
What’s ahead for Haiti ? I do not know. I can tell you that when I look at the big picture, more NGOs and volunteer organizations flooding in without a commitment to working with Haitians and trying instead to fix Haitians, and it doesn’t matter how much money is sent, I’m not optimistic.
On the other hand. In a country where there are voice that sing so gloriously, where there are places like St. Joseph’s, Blanchard, Wings of Hope, and Trinity House, teachers and schools and communities gathering to make change one person at a time, following the lead of the Haitians, and you cannot help but have hope.
Not because there is reason, but because God is there.
And I believe God is angry. The God who as Jesus who lashed out by calling his disciples a faithless generation for failing to help where there is a need. Who turned over the market tables in the temple. I believe God is angry over the injustice of men, women, and children who are going without healthy food, safe homes, and good schools and who may have never known these things to begin with.
All we need is love? All we need is love, water, food, and shelter.[6]
I believe God is angry over injustice. I also believe, God is the first to weep as the losses and the setbacks and the hurts.
There is no great summation or neat conclusion for the sermon today. I think that is because the text, the ordeal, or tribulation, or crisis that is happening in Haiti , in other places around the world, in individual hearts and lives, defies simplification or clear resolution. And it won’t go away.
The Good News is that neither will God. God is with us, here and there. There and here.
When will we, when will the people of Haiti, when will the individuals, communities, and countries around the world, living in the midst of chaos and devastation know the time and the place where there are no more tears?
I cannot tell you.
What I can tell you is that I believe, what I suspect you believe too, that we take one step closer each time we open ourselves to God’s will for us and for our lives.
When we celebrate 21% of the budget and the countless hours of one congregation for mission and outreach and know that as good as that is, there are still “miles to travel before we sleep.”[7]
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. 16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; 17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
At the St. Joseph’s Home for Boys there is a particular prayer which they offer every day, the prayer of abandonment…. and I offer it to God, and to you, now.
Let us pray
Father,[8]
I abandon myself into your hands, do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you.
I am ready for all. I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this O Lord.
Into your hands I commend my soul.
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you Lord and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands, without reserve, and with boundless confidence,
For you are my Father. AMEN
Additional resources:
My photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/apstraight/UPCGoesToHaiti613April2010?feat=directlink
The blog of the Mennonite Central Committee workers quoted in the sermon: http://blexi.blogspot.com/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/haiti/
http://www.heartswithhaiti.org/index.html
http://www.familyhm.org/index.html
[1] Craig R. Koester, “Revelation,” The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Volume 4, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009) pgs. 785 – 798.
[2] Martha Greene, “Whitewash,” written for Christian Century, October 9 – 22, 2002. Page 19.
[3] http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/LACEXT/HAITIEXTN/0,,contentMDK:22251393~pageP:149761~pPK:217854~theSitePK:338165,00.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0113/Haiti-earthquake-damage-How-much-aid-has-the-USgiven-Haiti-in-past-crises
http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/9_30_8/9_30_8.html
[4] http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/eqstats.php
[5] http://www.christiancentury.org/article_print.lasso?id=8318
[6] One of the leaders at Wings of Hope was wearing this t-shirt…
http://www.threadless.com/product/2207/All_We_Need_is_Love_And_Food_And_Water_And_Shelter#zoom
[7] From Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”
[8] Adapted to 1st person plural for worship.
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