Hold On

Friends - I didn't write new sermon for worship this Sunday.  Decided to share out here a homily I wrote for a funeral this week.  Jacob was a 15 year old, active in the church, who committed suicide.  Continued prayers for his family and friends, and here's hoping others can hold on during this difficult time.  Blessings! - Heather

Scripture Reading: Psalm 46

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

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

Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolation 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.

“Be still, and know that I am God!  I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.”  The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Homily

You know that scene in Divergent when Tris goes flying down the zip line?  I haven’t seen the movie yet, I’ve only read the book, but I assume that scene is in the movie.  Anyway, Tris goes flying down this giant zip line; from the top of a skyscraper all the way to the ground; an unbelievable ride.  And when she gets to the bottom, she is caught by the other Dauntless initiates.  The other kids have grabbed each other’s hands and arms to form a human net and they are waiting for her and they catch her when she lands.  It’s not smooth or easy, a bit of a rough landing, all elbows and shoulders; but they catch her, they keep her safe.

I think that we have been trying to be that net.  I think Jacob came flying down the zip line that is the extreme highs and lows of adolescent life, the extreme emotions and drama of life when you are young, trying to figure out who you are and your place in the world.  He was flying down that zip line and we were all standing here ready to catch him.  We were all standing here with our arms connected, holding on to each other, trying to form a human net, and trying to catch him.  Desperately trying to catch Jacob, and every other teen in this community.  And somehow . . . somehow . . . he slipped through the cracks.  Somehow even when we gathered around him and even when we held up our arms to catch him, he fell.  He slipped through the space between you and me and he got away from us. He slipped through and there was nothing we could do about it.

And as inevitably happens, we look at each other and ask why.  What happened, who messed up, how come we could catch others but we couldn’t catch him?  How come Jacob was the one to fall through the cracks of our good intentions, the cracks of our love?  And the really painful part, the thing that really hurts is that there is no why or how come.  There is no answer.  Jacob is just gone and all we are left with are our fond memories and our broken hearts. 

And now that he is gone, even though we are broken and hurting, we have to carry on.  We have to work hard to keep it together.  Because before long somebody else is going to come flying down that zip line and we can’t let go of each other.  We need to be here for each other now; we need to be the net.  Now is not the time to let go of each other.  Now is the time to grab each other’s hands and arms and hold on tighter than we ever have, tighter than we ever imagined possible.  Now is the time to hold on.  It is the only thing we can do. 

I chose this scripture, Psalm 46, for today because it speaks to our need to hold on to each other, and hold on to our faith.  The Psalmist says that though the world is changing, though it is a frightful place where the mountains shake and the sea rises up in anger, still God is our refuge and strength.  When everything around us is falling apart, when the world we live in is no longer a place we recognize, still God is our refuge and strength.  In days like this, when we have no answers, we turn to God for comfort.  “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge and strength.”  We might not have been able to catch Jacob, but God did.

Today I pray that we can hold on.  Hold on to our memories of Jacob and what a wonderful young man he was.  Hold on to our faith, and know that the only sure thing in this fragile painful life we live in, is God.  And hang on to each other; kids and parents, pastors and teachers, friends and community.  Holding on to each other, for we need each other now more than ever.  Today we need to grab the hand of the person sitting next to us, and we need to hold on.  We need to hold on to life and faith and hope, together.  Amen.