We rise up because we know who holds us and surrounds us with love and grace; because we are grounded in the peace which passes all understanding; and because of God’s enduring presence in our lives. We rise up as a testimony to God’s grace and Spirit moving in and among our world, bringing healing and wholeness. We rise to take the world to its feet and move mountains, not because of who we are but because of who our God is – loving and steadfast, faithful, and compassionate. We rise because we know the story is not finished yet.
March 3, 2024
God is Doing Something Amazing! Are You UP For It?
“Rise Up”
Psalm 102: 1-13
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
Psalm 102: 1-13
Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call. For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. My heart is stricken and withered like grass; I am too wasted to eat my bread. Because of my loud groaning, my bones cling to my skin. I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like a little owl of the waste places. I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on the housetop. All day long my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name for a curse. Indeed, I eat ashes like bread and mingle tears with my drink, because of your indignation and anger, for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside. My days are like a lengthening shadow; I wither away like grass. But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; your name endures to all generations. You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to favor it; the appointed time has come.
Rise Up Psalm 102: 1-13
I was reminded this week of how much life is changing, of how sometimes it feels like things are out of our control, like we are spiraling, desperate to hold, desperate to grab anything and everything to try and stabilize us and our situations. I was reminded again this week how powerful it is in moments like these to let go, to release, to unfold our tight grips so something life giving, life nourishing can come forward. I was reminded again this week that God is God and I am not.
Because once again, I had a completely different sermon planned for today. Yet it never would come together. I assumed it was because I was distracted by life when in reality, the Spirit was guiding me in a different direction, in the direction of the Word and wisdom we as a community of faith need to hear today.
Or let me say it this way…You may notice that the choir didn’t do an anthem this morning. That was at my request. Not because they are not capable but because our scripture today came to me through a particular song, a modern day version of Psalm 102. All week, this song ran through my mind…the refrain becoming a prayer. It’s words becoming a meditation for me. I assumed it was because conveniently it matched the title of the song matched the sermon title but soon, I realized that it’s refrain, it’s words are an invitation, an invitation for me, for us as a community of faith to rise up and experience God’s grace, to rise up and gain strength from our God, to rise up and hear the good news, the good news which renews our hearts, which uplifts our hearts, which encourages us and empowers us, the good news which reminds us day in and day out that as people of faith, we have hope because of who our God is.
I ask for a bit of pastor privilege at this point. I would like to invite everyone to become in a state of prayer as we hear this song. Feel free to close your eyes I invite everyone as we listen to this song to breathe in God’s Spirit and breathe out our worries and fears, to breathe in the hope it offers, to breathe out all that separates us from God. (listen to Rise Up by Andra Day, available on YouTube.)
I will not stand up here and pretend to have all the answers. But what I will do is blatantly plagiarize a song, giving credit to Audra Day for her voice and the way she sings this song with feeling. Although this song is technically a secular song, its words echo the themes of our faith. As people of faith, we rise up like the day. We rise up unafraid because of our connection to the Spirit of God. We rise up because of our love for God and for our neighbors. We rise up unafraid because we know who we are and whose we are.
This is not some platitude I am offering to everyone this morning. This is the very foundation of our faith. We rise up because we know who holds us, who surrounds us with love and grace. We rise because we are grounded in the peace which passes all understanding.
As people of faith, we rise because of God’s enduring presence in our lives. We rise as a testimony to God’s grace, to God’s Spirit moving in and among our world, bringing healing and wholeness. We rise to take the world to its feet and move mountains, not because of who we are but because of who our God is…our God is loving and steadfast, our God is faithful from generation to generation, our God is compassionate. We rise because we know the story is not finished yet.
I know how easy it is to forget all this in light of the wars which fill our world, in light of all the hate and hurt which infiltrate our lives, our culture, our society. I know how easy it is to forget this invitation to rise when the worries and fears of the world enter our hearts, enter into our minds and we feel our very souls deflating a little more each day.
Yet it is in moments like those when we need to remember the promises of God the most. Because like the Psalmist said over two thousand years ago, like the lyrics of the song shared this morning, in moments when we feel the sorrow of the world creeping in and our spirits deflating, as people of faith, all we need to do is remember one thing, that being that God is God and we are not. It is not up to us to save the world. In moments when our spirits begin to deflate, as people of faith we are called to have hope. And for that, we have each other
Because as the psalmist reminds us…we are called to be in relationship with one another. We are called to love one another. We are called to see the light of God shining bright in each and every person we encounter.
As people of faith, we are called to have hope and for that we have each other as we work together to bring about the Beloved Community of God here on Earth.
Yes I know it is not easy work but we do it a thousand times again. Because we have been given God’s promise of strength and courage to renew us, to restore us. We have been given the promise of God’s love and grace to lead us and guide us.. We have been given the promise that God will make a way out of no way. So as people of faith, we rise up like the day, we rise up unafraid, we rise up and we will do it a thousand times again…not because of who we are but because of who our God is, our God who is enthroned forever; Our God’s whose name endures to all generations, our God who is rises up with us and shows compassion, who brings justice, who has promised to make all things news.
Amen.
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