When the going gets tough

Letter to Saint Luke

Greetings from Pastor Richard to my beloved Saint Luke United Methodist Church in Augusta, GA. As I am away, I want to give thanks to God who has provided me the blessing of being your pastor, an experience I would have never imagined, and one that reminds me of William Cowper’s poem,

“God moves in a mysterious way,

His wonders to perform;

He plants his footsteps in the sea,

     And rides upon the storm.”

This poem was inspired by John 13:7, “Jesus answered, 'You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” William Cowper’s poem has in common with another poet we talked about last week, the Spanish poet and saint, John of the Cross. Both poets composed beautiful poetry dedicated to God, even in their darkest moments, reminding us to trust, seek, and enjoy God. Maybe the word joy sounds odd when we are in pain, suffering, or feeling loss, but joy comes from the word rejoice, and even in our deepest moments we praise, rejoice, and trust our God.  

Today, lets us read and meditate on Psalm 15:1-5. Here, we will use the English Standard Version. 

Psalm 15

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?     Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

² He who walks blamelessly and does what is right     and speaks truth in his heart;³ who does not slander with his tongue    and does no evil to his neighbor,    nor takes up a reproach against his friend;⁴ in whose eyes a vile person is despised,    but who honors those who fear the Lord;who swears to his own hurt and does not change;⁵ who does not put out his money at interest    and does not take a bribe against the innocent.He who does these things shall never be moved.

This short Psalm starts with a question: Who will stay in God’s place? The Psalmist's question is followed by the psalmist own response, “he who walks blameless.” But we may be thinking, what is blameless? The Psalmist provides part of the answer, the one who speaks truth in his heart, the one who does not insult or smear others, the one who does not harm their neighbors, who honors other that love God, and lastly, does not take advantage of others' money or resources, for its own gain. God invites us to enter his presence “blameless,” but how can we become blameless? Being a disciple of Christ means that we love God because he loves us first. We respond to Christ's love in kind. What other words can be used to describe love, to have affection, passion, friendship, devotion, tenderness, and adoration for God? William Cowper’s poem and John of the Cross's poems capture that passion and devotion even in their darkest moment. 

Let us all dwell in God’s tent together and do as the Psalmist says in verse 2 and “do what is right.” Our church has several of its members going through difficult moments; Jane, Judy, and Stephanie come to mind. I exhort Saint Luke to let God move in mysterious ways. The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his short and wonderful book Life Together, talks about the Christian in exile. Who is the Christian in exile? The ones who cannot come to church because they need to work, or care for family, or are ill, or have no transportation, there are many reasons to feel and be an exile. But Bonhoeffer gives a clue of what we can do, and I quote from his book, “The Christian in exile is comforted by a brief visit of a Christian brother, a prayer together and a brother’s blessing; indeed, he is strengthened by a letter written by the hand of a Christian.” 

So, listen to me and please follow these instructions now. First, get a piece of paper, a pen or pencil, the sermon copy, or your phone. Tell me when you are ready. Ready? Second, write or type or dictate at least two people that you would like to express that you missed them and care for them. Even if you are sick, you can still tell others that they are important. If you don’t know their names, just say, “I don’t know or forgot your name, but I want to tell you are important. God bless you and hope to see you soon.” Imagine how that person may feel receiving the unexpected word of care and love. In my hour of darkness, I am reminded that I am not alone, If you are new to our church or just visiting, I invite to also be part of caring and loving your neighbors, you can also write a letter or text to someone that my need words of encouragement, or just know that someone cares. 

The Lord invites us to be in community, to care in community, to have joy in community. Let us live by the words of Psalm 133, 

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!

God bless y’all!

Pastor Richard F. Camino Gaztambide

August 28, 2024