Youth Sunday
March 7, 2010
Anneke Oppewal
I vividly remember one of one of my first Sunday mornings at this church, even though I was 9 years old. It was a little over 9 years ago. My family and I neared the door to the sanctuary and were met by a friendly greeter. We arrived at exactly eleven o’clock and I could tell that we should have arrived earlier to get a seat. The sanctuary was packed; the greeter told us that Easter Sundays did not even bring this many worshippers.
I was in awe at the pews packed with people and I wondered why there were so many on this particular Sunday. My family and I ended up standing against the wall over there……..with a couple of other families. Then, I remembered an image on the news I had seen a couple of days before. It was a picture of smoke, airplanes, and two very tall buildings.
Even at such a young age, I realized a couple of days after September 11th that church is somewhere to turn in difficult times. It is a place where we can gather to feel God’s grace and presence in scripture and in praise. At church, we experience God’s grace in those around us who are ready to offer support in many different ways, be it offering words of advice, sharing a meal, or sharing some cuddles and snuggles when we are feeling low. It was clear to me on that first day of visiting this church that God has provided us with this faith community to encourage each other and to support one another in times of great challenge so that we may endure it together.
Paul told the Corinthians that God would provide endurance for the trials they would face. As that holds true in so many stories in the Bible, our congregation found it to be true on the Sunday after September 11th. Our needs for strength and reassurance were met on that Sunday in several different ways. We were able to feel God’s presence in the faces that surrounded us, feel God’s grace in the scripture that was read, and experience the joy in praising God through songs as we do each Sunday. It is certain that God will continue to give grace in different ways to those that have been affected by the recent natural disasters in Haiti and Chile.
The Psalmist in Psalm 63 writes, “Our mouths praise God with joyful lips because God’s steadfast love is better than life. You have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy”. It’s true. Even during dark times like that Sunday in early September, 9 years ago, we still gathered in song and praised God singing “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past”, and “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need”. Those were the exact hymns, I might add. The song we will soon hear from Kim and Whitney, illustrates how we truly cannot stop praising God, even in the face of tragedy, because God is so good.
It is difficult to trust that God’s right hand upholds us all the time; especially when a tragedy occurs (no matter how big or small). But when we do trust in God, it is certain that (In the words of the hymn Our God, Our Help in Ages Past), “He brings our wandering spirit back…And leads us in paths of truth and grace”. Amen.
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