25th Sunday after Pentecost 11/14/2021
Emma Wagner, Lutheran World Relief Congregational Engagement Manager
Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
Psalm 16
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
My name is Emma Wagner and I’m delighted to be with you today from Lutheran World Relief. LWR has been working around the world to eliminate poverty, injustice, and suffering since 1945.
Founded by Lutherans in the United States at the end of World War II, grounded in Lutheran theology and building on decades of experience, Lutheran World Relief tackles global poverty by helping people adapt to the challenges that threaten their livelihoods and well-being. We work with people based on need, regardless of race, religion, or nationality. We provide aid in emergencies and help families restore their lives. We partner with communities to build and grow rural economies. We break the cycle of poverty, so families and communities can thrive. Our goal is to help people build self‐sufficiency and create new community‐owned approaches to problem‐solving that will last long after our projects end.
A moment ago, you saw some pictures of refugees we work with from around the world. This little girl, Djeneba Barry (3) is standing outside her family’s makeshift tent in a camp on the edge of Bamako, Mali’s capital city.
You also saw Syrian refugees living in Lebanon and Venezuelan refugees who have crossed the border into Peru where Lutheran World Relief meets them to assist with everything from housing to paperwork to medical concerns.
From Syria to Venezuela to South Sudan, at least 82.4 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes. Among them are nearly 26 and a half million refugees, around half of whom are under the age of 18.
In today’s lesson from the Psalm, we hear a plea at the beginning of the reading. A plea for protection in the face of danger. The psalmist invokes the presence of God as they cry out for help.
Most psalms of lament, as this one is classified, have a predictable pattern. They move from invoking God to complaining about whatever is going on in their life to words of trust and praise. This Psalm is a little bit different. It moves right from the invocation to words of trust and praise. The psalm begins with an imperative plea to God to “protect me, for in you I take refuge.” The stanza then quickly moves further declaring not only God’s protection but “I have no good apart from you.” The psalm ends with resounding praise of what is to come and that future is secure in God’s hands. The message is clear: trust in the Lord in the face of an uncertain future.
This reading is somewhat juxtaposed by the gospel. We hear of doom and gloom from Mark. “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines.”
Both of these texts are reminding us of the same thing. They both give us a glimpse of scary things in the world while at the same time giving us a remedy to a culture selling fear. Be scared of war, be scared of famine, be scared of the end times. And certainly war and famine are realities in our broken world. But The Gospel lesson and the psalm both state that the future is in God’s hands. The second coming is not the terrible end to our world, but the glorious transformation of old broken systems into justice for all whom the Lord made. The end of the psalms reminds us, “In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” The kingdoms of the world are violent and unjust places so trust should be placed in God’s right hand where we find ourselves whole, unbroken.
At the end of the day, nothing can protect us from danger and uncertainty is difficult and anxiety producing, but no matter what or where, one can find refuge in God.
The refugees you saw pictured this morning are fleeing parts of our broken world. They were forced to leave their homes because of war, famine, or religious persecution. And your love, St. James, through Lutheran World Relief, is there to meet them in their time of fear and unknown.
Lutheran World Relief has supported humanitarian assistance and development in the Middle East since 1948. In late 2017, LWR began working in Lebanon to address diminishing economic opportunities and improve social cohesion between Lebanese locals and Syrian and Iraqi refugees.
When an explosion rocked the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, our humanitarian disaster response team was able to be on the ground quickly to assess the damage. With gifts from congregations like St. James we were able to repair over 2,000 homes and provide 210 appliances so families could feed their children.
Initially it was reported that we lost 4 LWR shipping containers full of quilts and kits- some from St. James!- that were to be distributed to a Syrian refugee camp along the border.
Our containers were saved from the blast by concrete barriers and we were able to distribute those tangible forms of God’s love, your quilts and kits, to folks who desperately needed to be reminded that someone loves them and they aren’t alone.
Syria’s prolonged civil war, ongoing conflict in Iraq and continued instability in Palestinian territories have forced scores of people to settle in neighboring Lebanon, with one refugee for every four Lebanese nationals. The burden of hosting at such a challenging time places significant strain on host communities. Your love through Lutheran World Relief provides immediate assistance while promoting livelihood and economic growth programs that are open to refugees and host communities alike, so that peace is maintained and prosperity is a realistic, and shared, goal.
The plight of Syrian refugees around Amal al Hilabi sparked an idea for her. She wanted to help her new neighbors, knowing most of them arrived in her community of Saida, Lebanon, from war-torn Syria, with little more than the clothes on their backs. Amal wanted more for them than a hand-out.
With the help of Lutheran World Relief, Amal now employs eight women in her kitchen making traditional, ready-made Lebanese dishes to sell in local supermarkets in her hometown of Saida. Her business has grown, even during the coronavirus pandemic. Lockdowns shuttered restaurants, presenting Amal the opportunity to buy a commercial-grade oven and pastry machine that helps bolster production. Amal saw a need in her community. She knew what she could offer and used her gifts to share with others, while giving refugees a means of income and sustainability.
She says, “It wasn’t food, it was humanity that brought us together. My mission is that anyone who wants to have a job, they can come work here.”
Those moments when nations rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, when earthquakes and famine strike, those aren’t moments where we throw up our hands and walk away…those moments are where we are called to follow Jesus. Called to follow him into the rebuilding work, into Resurrection work.
Our calling as disciples is to see the world, to speak words of promise and truth, to bind up the broken hearted and heal the afflicted. To be agents of resurrection and reformation alongside our God. St. James, we live in a time of instability. And though the need is still great, the Spirit is at work in Lebanon, in Mali, and other countries around the world because of thousands of congregations like this one, here in the U.S., working together.
When your congregation helps neighbors like Amal invest in their communities, you spread hope throughout the world. You allow communities to become stable, to feed their families, to have meaningful work. On behalf of all my colleagues at Lutheran World Relief, but more importantly, all of the neighbors around the world whom your love has reached … thank you for partnering with us in this mission.
We are a people who gather week after week to tell the story of the Lord in which we find all that is good; the promise-keeper whose counsel instructs us when to stand, where to rest, and shows us the path of life.” The one who not only names and claims us…but promises to be our refuge…and gives us strength to be a refuge for others. Amen.
Sermons at St. James Gettysburg 