“I Am Still with You”

Psalm 139:1-18

Psalm 139:7-12 (The Message): Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit – to be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you’re there! If I go underground, you’re there! If I flew on the morning’s wings to the far western horizon, you’d find me in a minute – you’re already there waiting! Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark! At night I’m immersed in the light!” It’s a fact; darkness isn’t dark to you; night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.

Isaiah 43:1-3a, 4a (NRSV): But now thus says the Lord, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior… Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you…

Romans 8: 31b, 35, 37 NRSV): If God is for us, who is against us?... Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or peril, or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Matthew 28:20b NRSV): And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Verse two of the hymn “Now Thank We All Our God”: O may this bounteous God/Through all our life be near us/With ever joyful hearts/And blessed peace to cheer us/ And keep us in His grace/And guide us when perplexed/ And free us from all ills/In this world and the next.

Verse two of the hymn “How Firm a Foundation,” a hymn that I leaned on heavily during my last two years of seminary: Fear not I am with thee, O be not dismayed/For I am thy God, I will still give thee aid/I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand/Upheld by My Righteous, omnipotent hand.

[prayer]

This is not the sermon you were supposed to receive today. I did write that sermon. You can read it, if you so choose, once Ian posts it on our web site. It is a passionate sermon, containing some strong language, but faithful to Scripture. I was looking forward to preaching it.

But it’s not a sermon you need to hear this particular Sunday morning. I’m not sure that I could even preach it. I have neither heart nor stomach for it. It was more prophetic than pastoral, but we don’t need prophetic today. We need to hear God’s words of comfort: from the Psalmist, from Isaiah, from the Apostle Paul, and especially from the mouth of Jesus himself.

Daniel Friemayer, a child of this church, has sustained horrible injuries. For a while they threatened his life. They have the potential to change his life in drastic ways. His parents, Pete and Karen, sisters, loved ones, and friends are devastated. Many of you have known him since he was born. You have watched him grow up. You, too, are devastated. As pastor to his mom and dad and everyone else connected to this church I am heartbroken. I can pray. I can visit. I can hug. I can listen. I cannot undo this terrible thing that has happened.

Prior to Wednesday evening I was stressed and anxious about a host of things. Since that night those things have become of no consequence. They matter, but they’re not important enough for me to deal with right now. The events of Wednesday evening have pushed me to view such things in their proper perspective. For right now they do not matter very much at all.

What matters is Daniel, his life and well-being. What matters is whatever ministry this church can extend to Daniel’s family: prayer being the highest priority. What matters is our reliance on the grace, peace, mercy, and healing powers of God. What happens to Daniel over the next few days, weeks, and months is pretty much out of our hands. We have to trust God’s will and God’s way. We have to believe that somehow, some way, that within the eternal providence of God all of this is what is supposed to be. That doesn’t make dealing with it any easier. But it does remind that our lives are not governed by some cruel, capricious fate, that the lives we live are not an endless cycle of meaningless accidents and incidents.

Our lives are governed by God. In life and in death we belong to God. We cannot escape his Spirit. Our Lord Jesus has promised to be with us till the end of the age. His love for us cannot be undone by any spiritual or physical force or being in the universe. God has made us; he has known us since before we were ever conceived. God has named us. In Christ he has chosen us to be his own. He loves us with a passionate love that will not let us go. It is in him that we live and move and have our being.

Even in this horrible tragedy God’s hand can clearly seen at work. A doctor and nurse who were traveling in the opposite direction stopped and rendered aid, the doctor pulling Daniel out of his car before it caught fire. A state trooper was soon on the scene. Located not all that many miles away is one of the world’s best shock-trauma centers. Once at the hospital Daniel’s care was provided by the best of the best. God was with him.

God is still with him. He remains under the care of the best of the best. Through his Body the Church our Lord is ministering to Daniel. And this ministry truly is an ecumenical effort. Denominational labels are of no consequence. The whole liberal/conservative question has been rendered moot. Christians from many churches in many places are praying for Daniel. At least three pastors have been ministering to Pete, Karen, Sharon, and Michelle during this ordeal. The Church is being the Church at its best: kind, caring, supportive; witnessing by word, deed, and presence to the grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ.

And although it will be mostly a matter of unintended consequences people who witness this love in action may finally understand what being a Christian really means. Many of us will probably come to understand it better. I have most definitely been reminded of my pastoral priorities. None of us know how many people will see Christ in us. Not in our doctrinal statements. Not in our baptismal practices. Not in our styles of worship. In us as we publicly and passionately embody the love of Jesus as we minister to Daniel and his family and friends. As a pastoral colleague said many years ago, this truly is where the rubber meets the road.

Furthermore, we cannot overestimate or exaggerate how much it means to Daniel, his family, his friends, and us that the Friemayer family is a Christian family. In Christ and his Church they can find strength, peace, and hope. They have to concern themselves with neither Daniel’s place in eternity nor their own. That’s all been taken care of in Jesus Christ, who they have professed as Lord and Savior. Death is no ultimate threat to them. As full-fledged members of the family of God they have Christ’s promises that hell itself cannot prevail against them. In life and in death and beyond death they can know that they belong to God – no matter what. Nothing can take them from God; not nobody, not no how!

This knowledge, more than anything else, will get them through the days, weeks, and months ahead; that, and knowing that they are not alone. God in Christ is with them. The Holy Spirit upholds and uplifts them. And we are here for them for as long as it takes. We will continue to lift them up in prayer, stand by them, sit with them, listen to their questions, and when necessary, physically hold them in arms of love and compassion.

We must not forget Paul’s admonition about rejoicing with them when they rejoice and crying with them when they cry. Their pain must truly become our pain. This will not be a short-term ministry for Grace Presbyterian Church. Nor will it be a ministry without costs. It may demand much of us - the best of who we are and what we have. Most of all it will require us to be faithful with and for the Friemayers as they go through the hills and valleys of this ordeal. We will be called upon to bear the light of Christ to them if and as they are overwhelmed by darkness, doubt, and despair.

In closing, I’m not sure if this has been a sermon or a testimony. I’m also not sure it matters. God’s Word must be spoken. God’s people must be fed. Our hope in Christ must be lifted up. The absolute necessity of our mission of mercy during times such as these must be reinforced. Daniel is not alone. Nor are his family and friends. We are with them, and when we feel inadequate for this task of ministry that God has placed before us, we must remember that, when God is for us nothing can be against us. Amen.