Today, I need to ask for your help. If you are able to make a donation to Dial Hope, any size gift will make a difference. Especially at this critical time, when so many people are feeling isolated, anxious and worried, your gifts will enable us to continue to spread ripples of hope.

I don’t know if you’ve seen the images from the Hubble Space Telescope. Awesome is the only word I know to describe them. It just makes me realize how beautiful and vast the universe is – and it makes me realize that we worship a God who is huge – who created all of this. And even on a smaller scale – sometimes I find myself sitting out on the ocean – looking out at this endless water – and I feel like a speck – so insignificant in the overall scheme of things.

And then on the other hand, I was in our sanctuary early one morning and I was listening to the song Agnus Dei – Lamb of God, and I was praying through the words. All of a sudden it started to rain outside and I could just feel God stirring my soul. I felt this deep desire to surrender my anxiety – to surrender my life again and I lifted up my hands.

It’s amazing to me to think that the Lord – the creator of the universe – the creator of all that is – has created us to be in intimate communion with him – to have this deep connection at a level of the soul. And that God would actually use things like music and rain and silence to draw us closer to the source of life. It is beautiful really when you think about it.

Today I pray that you would find a moment to stop and rest in God’s giving presence. May you remember that the One who created this vast beautiful universe also created you. And his love for you will never end.

Let us pray: Everlasting God, creator of the ends of the earth, we claim today the promises of the prophet Isaiah, “you give power to the faint, and strength to the powerless… Even youths will… grow weary… but those who wait for you shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” We wait for you this day. Fill us again from the springs of the river of life, that we would give you the praise and serve you with our lives. Amen.

If you look closely at a map of Scotland and look at the West Country near Loch Lomond, you’ll see a spot on the map labeled, “Rest and Be Thankful.” That is not a mandate from the mapmaker, but actually, the name of a mountain pass noted for its breathtaking view. The place got its name because, in the days before cars, you had to slog through a long uphill climb to get there. Once you reached the top, you’d find yourself in a broad level place with a spectacular vista, a sight made all the sweeter by the knowledge that the road was all downhill from there. Rest and be thankful.

Many of us could stand to do that a little more often. In the midst of busy days, changing diapers or managing an office; balancing appointments or serving at church, we all need moments to pause, collect our thoughts and gain some perspective. We may not always have a spectacular vista right in front of us, but, we don’t have to look far to find something to be thankful for: the smile of a grandchild, the warmth of a winter fire, the unconditional love of a child, a dinner shared with friends. May you find an occasion every day to “rest and be thankful.”

Let us pray: Loving God, we have much to be grateful for – though sometimes we’re too busy, too preoccupied, too distracted to realize it. Grant us the foresight to plan moments for rest and reflection and prayer. When we feel anxious, calm our spirits. When we are worried, ease our burdens. When we feel as though the world is against us, open our eyes again to your grace. Slow us down and grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have you heard about the confidential report on several candidates being considered for a pastorate at a local church? Let me share just a few with you:

Noah: Former pastorate of 120 years with not even one convert. Prone to unrealistic building projects.

Moses: A modest and meek man, but poor communicator, even stuttering at times. Sometimes blows his stack and acts rashly. Some say he left an earlier church over a murder charge.

David: The most promising leader of all until we discovered the affair he had with his neighbor’s wife.

Jonah: Refused God’s call until he was forced to obey by getting swallowed up by a great fish. He told us the fish later spit him out on the shore near here.

Peter: Too blue collar. Has a bad temper – even had been known to curse. Aggressive, a bit of a loose cannon.

Paul: Powerful CEO type leader and fascinating preacher. However, short on tact and has been known to preach all night.

Timothy: Too young!

Methuselah: Too old… WAY too old!

Jesus: Has had popular times, but once his church grew to 5000 he managed to offend them all, and then this church dwindled down to twelve people. Seldom stays in one place very long. And, of course, he’s single!

This just reminds me never to be too quick to judge! God works through all kinds of people – even people we’d never expect – even people like you and me.

Pastor and scholar Eugene Peterson once wrote, “God, it turns out, does not require good people in order to do good work. As one medieval saying has it, “God draws straight lines with a crooked stick.” He can and does work with us, whatever the moral and spiritual condition in which he finds us. God, we realize, does some of his best work using the most unlikely people.”

Our prayer today comes out of my tradition’s book of common worship. Let us pray: Eternal God, you call us to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Many years ago, we had two foster children join our family for a short time down in Sarasota – two sisters ages 4 and 6. These were children who came from a very rough home, and church was not a big part of their lives by any stretch. The first night they came to our house it was traumatic – you can only imagine – a lot of tears. I remember when we finally got them settled down in their bedroom I heard these two little voices in there together praying the Lord’s prayer – in the old King James Version.

Somewhere along the line, somebody had taught them this prayer. And it was for them a life-line in time of incredible stress. Do you have prayers or scripture that you have memorized and that you say in times of need? For some people it is the Lord’s prayer, for others, it is the twenty-third Psalm, for others still it is a short passage from a Gospel or letter.

When you find yourself in a troubled time, may you draw upon the tradition of prayer and the promise of scripture as a source of comfort and hope.

Our prayer today is the Lord’s prayer. Feel free to say it along with me. Let us pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And, forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Presbyterian pastor and writer Frederick Buechner once wrote about a particularly low time in his life. “I remember sitting parked by the roadside once,” Buechner wrote, “terribly depressed and afraid about my daughter’s illness and what was going on in our family.” As he was sitting and reflecting on his daughter’s illness, he noticed a car that seemed to come from nowhere. The license plate on that car “bore on it the one word out of all the words in the dictionary that I needed most to see exactly then,” Buechner wrote. “The word was TRUST.”

Sitting in his car on the side of the road, it was almost as if God spoke to him through a word on the license plate of a passing car. “Was the experience something to laugh off as the kind of joke life plays on us every once in a while?” Or was it the word of God? “I am willing to believe that maybe it was something of both,” Buechner wrote, “but for me, it was an epiphany.”

Trust. I wonder how many of us need to hear that word today. And, I wonder how many of us need to follow that advice. Trust.

My friend Roger Kunkel used to encourage us to pray Psalm 31:15: My times are in your hands, O God… My times are in your hands. Remembering that our situation and life are in God’s hands is the first step in being able to trust.

Our prayer today is one that Roger wrote. Let us pray: O Lord, our Shepherd, who leads us by still waters and into green pastures, we thank you for the times in our lives when life is strong and good. Teach us to remember, though, that you are with us at all times, even when the waters are not still and the pastures are not green, when the way is fraught with danger or difficulty. Your loving-kindness surpasses all our imagination, and your faithfulness is to all generations. Now let the joy of your presence break upon us like a gentle, cloudless sunrise with birds singing, that our spirits may soar to you in simple wonder. Through Christ our Redeemer. Amen.