Give Us Today Our Daily Bread

As you can imagine, my heart is still aching, confused, hurt, and in mourning for the murders in Orlando at the LGBTQ+ night club, Pulse. You can imagine why I feel these ways; this was a massacre of folks, looking for more than a good time, but for a sense of community, belonging, a place where they feel free to be who God made them to be. It is sad that such a thing happened.

But I also mourn the fact that I don't know where to go from here. I know that God is a healer, a comforter, and provider of the things that I may not even know that I need. I trust God. But I also know that this trust does not make healing automatic. I am at a loss for words.

BUT:

the Holy Spirit “helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”  (Romans 8:26 NRSV)

AND:

Perhaps the writer of the 77th Psalm might have been feeling the same way:

I cry out loud to God—
    out loud to God so that he can hear me!
During the day when I’m in trouble I look for my Lord.
    At night my hands are still outstretched and don’t grow numb;
        my whole being refuses to be comforted.
I remember God and I moan.
    I complain, and my spirit grows tired.  (Psalm 77:1-3)

“My faith says that one day all will be equal.”

That’s hope with a thick skin. It’s hope that is grounded in the assurance that one day God’s kingdom will indeed come and God’s will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Hope is our bread of life. When words fall short, hope covers us. We get something better than understanding, but a peace that passes understanding. We hope in these promises of God, and we stand on them, as the hymn urges us to sing:

*Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let His praises ring,
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain

Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain

Standing on the promises I now can see
Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me;
Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain

Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
Listening every moment to the Spirit’s call
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain

We hope in the promise that God gives us an alternative from worry (Luke 12: 22-32, the Scripture I will focus on in my sermon this week), that God promises us that words are not everything, that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. Thanks be to God.

**Prayer:

Thank you, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, for all of the things you have given us; for all the pains and insults which you have sat with us through. Most merciful friend and sibling, may we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, both to our strength and your great glory. Amen. 

In Christ,

Jack

*United Methodist Hymnal, 374.
** United Methodist Hymnal, 493, adapted

Quotes and resources from this post were originally found in Jim Harnish's entry titled "When Words Won’t Work" on jimharnish.org