Sermon 26th July 2011
Pentecost
Psalm 13
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me for ever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul,
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
and my enemy will say, ‘I have prevailed’;
my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
But I trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Matthew 10:40-42
‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.’
I want to talk today about resilience. The word is a modern word, but the basic concept can be found in the biblical narrative in all kinds of places. Matthew chapter 10 contains advice given to the 12 apostles, preparing them for their mission. Their task is to proclaim the good news. Their support for this is frugal and they are to expect persecution. The advice deals on how to cope with fear, and to realise that what they do will precipitate conflict. The chapter finishes with the rewards that will come to those who welcome the apostles.
To be resilient is the ability to bounce up again after a knock back. It is the capacity for buoyancy, to get going again, to get the spring in your step. A resilient building is one that retains its shape or position after being bent, stretched, compressed or shaken. The resilience of Christchurch people is being tested to breaking point in the aftermath of their big and continuing earthquakes.
The chief Science advisor to the Prime minister produced a report in May about improving the transition for adolescents in NZ. Chapter 5 of that report is on resilience. The figures recording teenage stress are alarming. Teenagers are vulnerable to all kinds of pressures. If their family is stressed, and an obvious stress is inadequate income through unemployment, then that stress translates onto the children. Where there is family breakdown, domestic violence or drug abuse, the risks for teenagers is high. There are significant stresses too from society - a key one is alcohol abuse. We have yet to see a government that can take bold steps in protecting adolescents from easy access to alcohol. The risk factors to the health of teenagers in the most vulnerable stages of their lives are well known.
The report goes on to say that building resilience is about protecting the vulnerable from harmful risks, and equally working to reduce those risks. One of its key insights is that relationships that young people have across the board are very important. Resilience is shaped by policies that enhance the abilities of families, schools and communities to provide structure and opportunities for young people to contribute, participate and develop skills.
Another area in which resilience is an important concept is in the area of the natural environment. When areas of vulnerability are stressed, then their resilience is broken and their capacity to cope breaks down. An example of this is with water. We know that lakes have a limited capacity to absorb pollution over time, and if aquatic life is removed, then the lake bed collects slime. Resilience in the natural environment is a key concept.
Now Psalm 13 is a cry that echoes the pain of the soul, and the sorrow of the heart. The psalmist trusts the steadfast love of God, but wonders if God has forgotten him. The psalmist says:
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death.
Now I suggest to you that simply speaking this prayer for help is the first step to building a resilient response. If we bury our despair within ourselves, our hope is dragged down. To bottle up our feelings of disappointment or to repress our sadness makes us less capable of acting. Simply putting words to our fears and disappointments is very important. To do that in a corporate prayer together is to share that concern, and sharing a concern is to lift a burden. To articulate a concern like this requires a listener. One of the most important things a parent or a teacher can do for their children is to listen. It is to welcome the person into our space and make them feel at home. And as the words of Matthew 10 say, it will bring its reward. Articulating our fears and being heard and listened to is to build resilience.
The other thing a prayer can do is to bring calm. When we pray we settle ourselves. We move into a time of reflection. To have moments of self reflection is to build resilience. See prayer as a guided meditation, a time for collecting our thoughts in the presence of God. In a prayer of contemplation, we think about things in the presence of god. A prayer of thanksgiving is recognition that there are some good things happening in our lives as well as all the other stuff. To say thank you in a prayer of praise is to open ourselves to the beautiful as opposed to the ugly. However bad things might seem to us, we are better off than we think. Prayer is a time for getting that perspective.
The other thing that religion offers is a mantra. To have a phrase or poem, a psalm or a prayer that etches itself into our brain cells that we can repeat when we need to, this repetitive message we give to ourselves builds resilience. If we say to our children “You can do it” then they will rise to a realistic challenge. If we say to our children “you are hopeless” then they will be. We build resilience by having a mantra. We all have mantras. You think for a moment of the little phrases that you trot out from time to time. Are the mantras that you are giving to yourself or to the people around you building resilience? If you need to, give yourself a different mantra.
Now in Matthew’s gospel, we are told that when we welcome bearers of the good news, when we welcome those with a message of the gospel, then we welcome Christ. Further that when we welcome those who bring good news, it brings its own rewards. To build a community of faith means that people grow, develop, stand tall. It means that love and forgiveness flourish. It means that we see people blossoming. It means that we are not a commodity in the market place, we are people who have character and depth, resilience and strength to shine a light in a dark world. It brings its own reward.
John Howell
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