Trinity Blog

From Amber Balista

For the past few weeks, I have been praying through the psalms. As a part of my field education (internship) my school requires that I practice not only skills in leadership and ministry but in self-care and soul care (spiritual disciples). At times it is these areas that are the most difficult to make the space and time to do. In other words, going to a meeting is easier for me than taking the time to exercise or to read a devotion. If you are like me than this time of partial quarantine might have you experiencing cabin-fever already. Not to mention the anxiety that comes with the unknown. If we are not anxious ourselves, we probably know at least one person who is.

I’m grateful for this practice of praying through the psalms because it is something to fall back on when so much is uncertain. The psalm for today is Psalm 33, a psalm of praise to the Lord who created everything, by speaking it into existence. Let us focus on the last few verses. Listen for the word of God:

¹³ The Lord looks down from heaven;
    he sees all the children of man;
¹⁴ from where he sits enthroned he looks out
    on all the inhabitants of the earth,
¹⁵ he who fashions the hearts of them all
    and observes all their deeds.
¹⁶ The king is not saved by his great army;
    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
¹⁷ The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
    and by its great might it cannot rescue.

¹⁸ Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
    on those who hope in his steadfast love,
¹⁹ that he may deliver their soul from death
    and keep them alive in famine.

²⁰ Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
²¹ For our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
²² Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.

The ruler of the universe sees and knows us. God is not removed from us, nor from all of creation. Remember Jesus came to be one of us, in all of the realness and difficulty of humanity. He was born a helpless babe, tempted in the dessert for 40 days, he was rejected and crucified. But that is not the end of the story, Jesus was raised from the dead in full victory over all pain, fear, anxiety and even death. He is enthroned for all time looking out to us, knowing our every intention, anxiety, and distraction. God also knows our powerlessness to overcome these feelings on our own. The truth is God is not powerless! God’s love is a love so big it has no end. Know this. Know that Jesus Christ is the King of the world. His is an unshakable love that holds onto us no matter what we might be feeling at this time. This is our hope. Remember, as Paul says, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. I see the love of God at work in the reaching out of others. Many churches are offering not only video-recorded worship services but also prayer services, small groups, blogs, meditation gathers and phone calls. How have you experienced the steadfast love of God?

May the peace of Christ be with each of you.

Amber

Prayer: Almighty God, out of your love you have created all there is. Thank you for making us, for seeing us and for never leaving us alone. Engender in us your hope, your confidence and your peace. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us even as we hope in you. 

Isaiah 40:27-31

        ²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob,
            and speak, O Israel,
      “My way is hidden from the Lord,
            and my right is disregarded by my God”?
        ²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard?
            The Lord is the everlasting God,
            the Creator of the ends of the earth.
      He does not faint or grow weary;
            his understanding is unsearchable.
        ²⁹ He gives power to the faint,
            and strengthens the powerless.
        ³⁰ Even youths will faint and be weary,
            and the young will fall exhausted;
        ³¹ but those who wait for the Lord 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.

As a junior high student, I had the privilege of making the soccer team.  I was a bit naïve about how much running I had to do, and I learned rather quickly that to be committed to the soccer team meant running at least two miles a day, just in conditioning alone.  I had to also run the drills and activities associated with practice.  I have never been so tired and exhausted.  After practice I had to use a muscle cream to ease the pain in my calves.  The pain and exhaustion were so strong that stairs were a complete nightmare.   I never was so tired and sore, and I was 12.

In our text from Isaiah, it says, even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted.  I could relate to being weary and exhausted and more importantly I could relate to being so at 12 years old.  The prime of my life, the strongest I will ever be and still sore, exhausted, and tired.  Well I am not 12 anymore, I won’t comment on my age.  But I certainly am tired, exhausted and sore emotionally.  We are in the 3^rd day of our quarantine and we are certainly tired of the bad news, exhausted from the constant worry and anxiety about empty grocery store shelves.  Parents are like the old Christmas carol, waiting for school to start again.  We are tired.

For the people of Israel in Isaiah’s time they also were tired.  Tired of trusting in God and seeing and experiencing not the presence of God, but at times God appeared Hidden.  The nation and people were tired of praying and pleading their case before God and at times God appeared to disregard their prayers and petitions even at times allowing the evil and wicked to prosper while punishing the innocent and righteous.  This is when Isaiah speaks. Have you not known? Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.  God had not fainted or gotten tired with them.  God had not forsaken or abandoned them.  God maybe was hidden from them, but God’s hiddenness was not necessarily an unhealthy thing.  God’s hiddenness was just a reminder that God is god and they were but mere humans.  For their sake God hid in order that they might seek and wait upon God.  God is faithful towards them, but at times, particularly difficult ones, they would faint in their faithfulness towards God.

But I ask you did Jesus ever faint?  He certainly was tired and frustrated: with his disciples, with the leaders, with the evil and wickedness in the world.  But never once did he quit or lose his faithfulness to God.  In his tiredness and exhaustion he waited on God to provide; those who wait for the Lord 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.  When his human strength faltered, the divine strength filled and lifted him over the problems like an eagle in flight.  When his human patience tottered, the divine patience covered, and he ran without ceasing.  When his faith was tested and tried, the divine faithfulness supplied, and he walked, even to the cross and did not quit.

Will Jesus not help us do the same?  If we are in Christ, then God’s strength surrounds and penetrates our weaknesses.  If we are in Christ, then God’s patience lies behind and before us.  If we are in Christ, then God’s endurance lies under and over us.  If we are in Christ, then God’s grace lies to our left and right.  If we are in Christ, even in our tiredness and exhaustion the Divine power and grace can and does lift us over our temporary problems like an eagle over the ground.  Such is the love and power of God, that out of God’s good pleasure God would and does act to save.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, in this time of quarantine, no doubt we are tired and sore spiritually, no doubt we feel God is hidden from us and disregarding our prayers, but hear again the word of God: those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles.  God is faithful to Jesus and we are hidden in Jesus through the Holy Spirit.  God will therefore be faithful to us and give us strength to rise and overcome.  Let us therefore wait on the Lord in prayer and gratitude and wait for the Lord’s promised deliverance and when God does, let us rise and fly! Amen.

Prayer

O God of Grace and Glory, you alone out of your good pleasure, choose to stoop down into our miserable circumstances to pour into us your power and your love.  Stoop now to our tired, exhausted and weak minds, souls and bodies and supply your almighty power and love.  Lift us above our anxieties and our trials and allow to soar with your Son in your Kingdom.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

1 Corinthians 12: 12-26

¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴ Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many members, yet one body. ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; ²⁴ whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, ²⁵ that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

Having just moved into a house last November, I am still arranging things.  Whether the furniture in my basement or the dishes in my kitchen, I am still trying to figure out what pieces go well next to each other and the best place to put the baking pans.  In some cases, I can only really see how things come together by experimenting.  Does the couch go well with the bookcase?  Should the towels be next to the sink or the oven?  How does the picture look next to the hutch?  We will probably still be arranging things in our house next March.

Just as I am arranging things in our house, moving around and putting things next to each other, so too is God arranging things in the Church.  As our text from 1 Corinthians states, but as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.  I can put the microwave next to the dishwater, but God is arranging people next to other people.  I can put the nightstand next to the bed, God is putting individuals in connection with other individuals.  I can hang the picture of birds next to the planter of flowers, God is attaching congregations to other congregations.  As God chooses, God is arranging God’s people into groups, individuals connected to others and congregations next to other congregations.

If God is arranging the people in God’s church, then everyone will not be the same.  If all were a single member, where would the body be?  In the human body, not every piece is the same.  The foot is not the eye, the ear is not the heart.  So too with the Church, not every piece is the same, because God is the one arranging, connecting and bringing people together.  Not everyone is uniform or the same, conforming to the same circumstances and situations.  But God has brought people together in unity, made to drink of the same one Spirit of Jesus Christ. 

Perhaps the point then is that if God has and is doing the arranging, we all need each other.  No person can tell another person, no congregation can tell another congregation, I don’t need you.  If God is doing the arranging, then in God’s way I need you and you need me.  Not only is this so counter cultural that I am truly dependent on others, but in this moment, as “I” am quarantined from “thou”, separated from each other, I am tempted to sever my connections from you, in order to save myself and more importantly my family.  I think only of hoarding resources in order to survive.  Squirreling away a freezer of meat, hiding cans of Chef Boyardee, hoarding boxes of pasta and jars of sauce, “I” am consumed by thoughts and fears of self-preservation at the expense of “thou”.  Our fallen human nature reveals itself most clearly, when the strongest, shrewdest and most selfish survive and the weakest, most vulnerable and least honorable perish. 

But not so with God.  Our text continueswith on the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.  In God’s arranging, God specifically arranges things so that strong people are next to weak people, wise people are connected to foolish people, vulnerable people related to more honorable people.  But God also has said to the whole, take care of each other.  The weaker are not to be cast aside as a burden, but the stronger are to make strong the weak.  The foolish are not a source of jest and jape but are a brother or sister in need of counsel and advice.  The less honorable are not to be trampled afoot but are worthy of receiving the greater honor.  Our fellow human beings are not rivals for the same limited pool of resources, possibly even contagious, but they are fellow children in the family of God.  We need each other.

This means my brothers and sisters in Christ, that in this time of self or governmental quarantine, you and I have a responsibility towards each other.  Not just for ourselves or our small family groups, but to all the people that God has arranged together.  This is the time when everyone and everything will be tempted and driven to pull apart and be tempted to divide and split.  But if God has so arranged the body, God has done so, so that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another.  Care for one another, strong empowering the weak, the haves tending the have nots, the wealthy tending the poor, the healthy curing the sick, the young compassioning the old.  The same care for one another, not the fear for myself.

If one suffers, we all suffer, because God has arranged us so.  In one prospers, we all prosper, because God has arranged us so.  If one needs, we all need, because God has arranged us so. Therefore, let us care for each other as if God has arranged us so.  Let us share the limited pool of resources with those in greatest need as fellow human beings, not misering them away as threats to our livelihood.  Let us encourage those that are down, let us call those that are alone, let us send cards or flowers to those that are isolated.  Let us act like we need every single person, because God has arranged us so.  And when we give each person out of what we have and into what they need, we will find that we have finally obtained the full measure of our purpose and existence, we will finally be humans who love… as God has arranged us so.  Amen.

Prayer

O Loving and Gracious God, we thank you for the work you have done on our behalf reconciling us to yourself and to each other through the death and resurrection of your so.  As you have arranged us, connecting us to you and each other, help us to step into that unity.  Give us everything necessary to care for each other as if we truly need each other.  Help us to share if we are strong and have and help us to ask for and receive if we are struggling and in need.  Glue us together through the work of your Holy Spirit and help us to love each other.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Psalm 46

        ¹ God is our refuge and strength,
            a very present help in trouble.
        ² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
            though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
        ³ though its waters roar and foam,
              though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

        ⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
             the holy habitation of the Most High.
        ⁵ God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
             God will help it when the morning dawns.
        ⁶ The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
            he utters his voice, the earth melts.
        ⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us;
             the God of Jacob is our refuge.

        ⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord;
             see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
        ⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
            he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
            he burns the shields with fire.
        ¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God!
             I am exalted among the nations,
            I am exalted in the earth.”
        ¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us;
            the God of Jacob is our refuge.

As a young boy, I was privileged to journey with my family on a day-long canoe trip.  My uncle, aunt and cousin spent the day traveling along a local river in Pennsylvania canoeing, and fishing.  About midday, a thunderstorm quickly overcame us, and we were forced to seek shelter on the closet riverbank under the branches of an enormous pine tree.  The four of us embraced each other clinging in fear as the deluge fell upon us.  The wind and the rain battered us, with the only cover being the branches of the tree above us and the warmth of each other around us.  The storm quickly left just as it had arrived and with soaked clothes, but in good spirits, we continued our journey.

Just as a thunderstorm quickly arrived and battered us about with wind and rain, we find ourselves in a different storm that has arrived quickly and has battered us about with sickness and fear.  But just as I took shelter under the boughs of a pine tree, we too have a place of shelter, a place of hiding.  As the Psalmist sings, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  We have a place of shelter, being hidden in Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit.  We have the branches of God over us, protecting us and deflecting both fear and worry.  We have someone to cling to in Jesus Christ, whose warmth and presence are a source of strength and help in our time of troubles.  We might have the latest and greatest threat and trial, but in Christ we have our ever-present hiding place.

Since we have such a hiding place. the Psalmist continues, we will not fear.  Because we are hidden in Christ, of what can we be afraid?  Even though the earth should shake, or the mountain end up in the sea, what power exists in the world that can threaten the very God who created all these things?  What power can threaten to overcome God, who brought into existence all things, sustains all things and will provide for all things?  We shall not fear, because what devilish power, human scheme, or natural plague can overcome the Almighty and Creator God, who brings a dead man back to life?

If God is in our midst and over us, then we shall not be moved.  For something to move something else, like say a person to move a couch, force must be applied that is greater than another force.  My muscles must be stronger than gravity and friction in order to move a couch.  Who or what has enough force or power to move God?  More specifically who has enough force or power to move the Resurrected and Ascended Jesus Christ?  He told the fever which consumed Peter’s mother-in-law to depart and it left!  He told the winds to cease blowing on the lake and it stopped!  He told Lazarus to rise and he did!  Who has a greater force or power that can move against Christ and force him to do their bidding?  None exists, because Jesus is Lord!

But it is one thing to be present, it is another entirely to be at work.  Our psalm continues, it just doesn’t say that God is in our midst and cannot be moved, it also continues into Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.  Our hope is not just that God is in our midst and proverbially asleep or ignoring current historical events.  Our God is in our midst and working against them.  God is working against evil and destruction everywhere.  God is actively working to bring life and light into our world.  God is not absent from his post, or asleep at the wheel, or in the bathroom when we need God.  God is working against conflict, against destruction, and against wickedness.  If God be fighting against these things, like a virus, then I ask, who could withstand being against God?

Perhaps the whole point is then is the final phrases.  During overwhelming forces and trials, we are to be still, and know that I am God!  While things exist that threaten our very existence, those things are no threat to our Almighty God.  Therefore, we can be still and hide in Christ, and know that God is god and the covid-19 virus is not.  So, my friends, we can still do our daily tasks, work our jobs, raise our children, buy our groceries, and live our lives without fear and with hope; because through the work of the Holy Spirit we are hidden in Christ, a present help and our refuge and strength.  Let us meet this trial with faith and hope in our ever-present and ever-powerful God and never fear and despair.  Let us live our lives ever waiting on the Spirit of Jesus Christ and ever praying for the Spirit’s work among us and for us.  Let us become a people who gratefully accept God’s work done for us and amid us. Trust and Hope not Fear and Despair.  Amen. 

Prayer

O God of Love and God of Power, we thank you for your ever-present love and power which covers us with a place in which we may hide and take shelter.  We ask once again that you pour out a fresh supply of your Holy Spirit, that as we are once again threatened by forces beyond our ken that we may rest under your security and hope in your ever-loving arms wrapped around us.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. 

March 15, 2020 Sermon by Rev. Mark Mong

March 8, 2020 Sermon by Rev. Mark Mong

March 1, 2020 Sermon by Rev. Mark Mong

February 23, 2020 Sermon by Rev. Mark Mong

February 9, 2020 Sermon by Rev. Mark Mong

February 2, 2020 Sermon by Rev. Mark Mong