Psalm 91:1-6; 11-16
Assurance of God’s Protection
You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.”
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence;
he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
or the arrow that flies by day,
or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
or the destruction that wastes at noonday.
.......
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honor them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.
refuge, shelter, sanctuary, haven, harbor, port in a storm, oasis
I began by thinking of the word “shelter,” because I knew I wanted to talk some about all the many people who have been displaced by the wildfires and are now sheltering somewhere. The “lucky” ones are with friends or family – when I checked in with a friend in the area this week she mentioned that everyone she knows has someone living with them right now. But most are in campgrounds and fairgrounds and anyplace big enough to hold so many, many people – the temporary “shelters” that pop-up in situations like this.
I knew we would acknowledge the grief of this situation in our prayer time and we'll share some of the stories of the incredible grace and goodness being shown forth all over the place here in a few minutes, but I have some thoughts to share first.
Just briefly I want to review those words I opened with: refuge, haven, harbor, port in a storm, oasis, shelter, sanctuary. These words are all primarily nouns, but some of them are verbs, as well: A shelter (noun) is a place where people can come to shelter (verb) and a place where we shelter (verb) others.
My point here being that shelter is no abstract concept to be discussed at a distance but that it is instead a very active thing, and that we, as Christians, as followers of the way of Jesus, are called to make sure our sheltering is a very active thing and not just something we talk about. It is what we do – whether it is easy or convenient, or not.
While our primary focus here today is those sheltering from the Valley Fire - and that’s as it should be – these are our neighbors and we are personally involved in this one -- this is immediate and real for us. BUT – before this fire the topic most on my mind, at least, was the endless stream of frantic refugees pouring into Europe – desperately seeking a place of safety for their families – a place of shelter. Their need is the same as that of our neighbors – they ARE, if we take our following Jesus seriously – our neighbors, too. And the chances are that their displacement is going to take much longer to overcome. Horrible as it is to lose one’s home, the Syrian refugees have also lost family and culture – their homeland – everything.
I’m not trying to say one disaster is worse than another, or one group of people worthier of our compassion than another – simply that one will probably be dealt with sooner than the other, simply by virtue of time and place.
We are called everyday to provide shelter – not only in the big disasters like these – but also in the local families given shelter, year round, right here in Ukiah at Project Sanctuary - every day – families uprooted by violence and fear. And the children sheltered from hunger by the free lunch programs right here in our country. We are called to shelter the homeless from the ravages of their condition – to feed and shelter them as best we can - every day. We are called to provide the shelter of a listening ear and a door open in welcome for the friendless, the lonely. And all this goes for all the frightened, hungry, despairing people of the world.
Sheltering is something Christians do - not only when the big news stories are splashed all over the TV, but every day one of our neighbors – our brothers and sisters - anywhere – is in need.
Our reading today gives us one aspect of sheltering - that God is our refuge, our shelter in time of trouble – always with us and never abandoning us – and this is knowledge vital to us. God cares for us.
The other aspect of sheltering is us. If God is to act in this work, most often it is our hands that will do the lifting, the bandaging, the feeding, the holding. God cares for us and therefore we are able to reach out and care for each other. And if we are paying attention, we should be recognizing that everyone we come across in the course of a disaster is someone who will continue to be our sister or brother – not someone to forget about as soon as this immediate need is settled and we can all go back to “normal”.
And one more point to ponder...Many of our people will be able to rebuild. It will be difficult and frustrating and exhausting but they will have the resources to start over. They have insurance. They have the basic knowledge to help them wade through the morass of paperwork it will take to deal with FEMA. For them it will probably all work out -- eventually.
For many others though, it will be almost impossible – those who were already just scraping by – who couldn’t afford insurance – whose employment was already sketchy, whose jobs may have just gone up in smoke. Those, like the child quoted on a recent television human-interest story, for whom life in a temporary shelter seems better than the life they had before the fire. Where do they go now?
How will we continue to be sanctuary for these our brothers and sisters?
I began by thinking of the word “shelter,” because I knew I wanted to talk some about all the many people who have been displaced by the wildfires and are now sheltering somewhere. The “lucky” ones are with friends or family – when I checked in with a friend in the area this week she mentioned that everyone she knows has someone living with them right now. But most are in campgrounds and fairgrounds and anyplace big enough to hold so many, many people – the temporary “shelters” that pop-up in situations like this.
I knew we would acknowledge the grief of this situation in our prayer time and we'll share some of the stories of the incredible grace and goodness being shown forth all over the place here in a few minutes, but I have some thoughts to share first.
Just briefly I want to review those words I opened with: refuge, haven, harbor, port in a storm, oasis, shelter, sanctuary. These words are all primarily nouns, but some of them are verbs, as well: A shelter (noun) is a place where people can come to shelter (verb) and a place where we shelter (verb) others.
My point here being that shelter is no abstract concept to be discussed at a distance but that it is instead a very active thing, and that we, as Christians, as followers of the way of Jesus, are called to make sure our sheltering is a very active thing and not just something we talk about. It is what we do – whether it is easy or convenient, or not.
While our primary focus here today is those sheltering from the Valley Fire - and that’s as it should be – these are our neighbors and we are personally involved in this one -- this is immediate and real for us. BUT – before this fire the topic most on my mind, at least, was the endless stream of frantic refugees pouring into Europe – desperately seeking a place of safety for their families – a place of shelter. Their need is the same as that of our neighbors – they ARE, if we take our following Jesus seriously – our neighbors, too. And the chances are that their displacement is going to take much longer to overcome. Horrible as it is to lose one’s home, the Syrian refugees have also lost family and culture – their homeland – everything.
I’m not trying to say one disaster is worse than another, or one group of people worthier of our compassion than another – simply that one will probably be dealt with sooner than the other, simply by virtue of time and place.
We are called everyday to provide shelter – not only in the big disasters like these – but also in the local families given shelter, year round, right here in Ukiah at Project Sanctuary - every day – families uprooted by violence and fear. And the children sheltered from hunger by the free lunch programs right here in our country. We are called to shelter the homeless from the ravages of their condition – to feed and shelter them as best we can - every day. We are called to provide the shelter of a listening ear and a door open in welcome for the friendless, the lonely. And all this goes for all the frightened, hungry, despairing people of the world.
Sheltering is something Christians do - not only when the big news stories are splashed all over the TV, but every day one of our neighbors – our brothers and sisters - anywhere – is in need.
Our reading today gives us one aspect of sheltering - that God is our refuge, our shelter in time of trouble – always with us and never abandoning us – and this is knowledge vital to us. God cares for us.
The other aspect of sheltering is us. If God is to act in this work, most often it is our hands that will do the lifting, the bandaging, the feeding, the holding. God cares for us and therefore we are able to reach out and care for each other. And if we are paying attention, we should be recognizing that everyone we come across in the course of a disaster is someone who will continue to be our sister or brother – not someone to forget about as soon as this immediate need is settled and we can all go back to “normal”.
And one more point to ponder...Many of our people will be able to rebuild. It will be difficult and frustrating and exhausting but they will have the resources to start over. They have insurance. They have the basic knowledge to help them wade through the morass of paperwork it will take to deal with FEMA. For them it will probably all work out -- eventually.
For many others though, it will be almost impossible – those who were already just scraping by – who couldn’t afford insurance – whose employment was already sketchy, whose jobs may have just gone up in smoke. Those, like the child quoted on a recent television human-interest story, for whom life in a temporary shelter seems better than the life they had before the fire. Where do they go now?
How will we continue to be sanctuary for these our brothers and sisters?
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