Sermon Tone Analysis

Lament

Like many of you I have been shocked and horrified about the school shooting in Uvlade, Tx

I was a high schooler when Columbine happened in Colorado…That school shooting started it all...

What is so difficult for me is is the rate at which America has become numb to this sort of thing

We watch with horror for a day or two and then a potential verdict in the Johnny Depp trial becomes far more interesting.

And as a church how do we even begin to respond to this?

First, I want to share with you what we believe about God.

There are some people who believe that God moves every little thing to happen.

including Tsunamis and 9/11…And that in these events there is some cosmic meaning of God’s wrath.

Then they get angry at God and say, why would God let this happen?

And the reality is that while God can handle your anger, it is misdirected

What we believe about God is that he is both Sovereign but that he also limits his sovereignty to allow for human choice

Evil really does exist in this world.

And we live in a world where people reject God’s goodness and by default they lean into that evil.

People act on evil, apart from God.

So as this incredible expression of Love God gives us free agency to choose him or not choose him.

And in our world we have seen unspeakable evil perpetrated by people who are really agents of evil

So I want to talk about something for just a couple of minutes and give you an opportunity to respond

So much of the Psalms and the Bible is written in a style called Lament.

Lament is different from just a sad writing…It actually does something very meaningful:

Lament is a protest of what is happening in our world

It is a prayer of truthfulness

Lament is a political act: in that the psalms of lament are there as a resistance to powerful people who have abandoned justice and mercy

Our own laments begin to tune our ears to the cries of pain in this world.

I just want to honestly say that over the years when tragedies like Uvalde happen, the church responds in a limp way, maybe saying all the right things but then moving on too quickly.

And I don’t want to do that this morning.

I want to give us space to actually lament…to pray and protest before God

Something occured to me this week as I watched mothers and fathers weep over what happened in Uvlade...

Those tears expose suffering.

They expose wounds

They bring painful memories to light and they evoke a bodily response

However in the united states we have looked at tears as a sign of inadequacy and weakness

But something about tears actually gives us access to our full humanity.

It makes us fully human

What the tears do is allow those who are lamenting to speak for themselves…It gives victims a voice

Lament allows people to not just be victims of pain but to expose it and to then act in the world ...

So tears of Lament become an important and powerful part of our spiritual development

Tears express what our bodies know without words

I think God receives and tenderly holds on to our tears as if they are precious and explosive testimony that he will use one future day.

In this way Lament becomes an act of resistance to the way our world operates…Our tears can give a new watery birth to hope

Lament refuses to accept the world as it is

So what I want to do is to encourage you and give you space to Lament.

You each have a 3x5 card with your sermon notes

1. Common elements included in many lament psalms:

a.

A direct address to God (sometimes by a unique name or title)

b.

Stating the complaint or problem

c.

Appealing for specific action, intervention, justice, vengeance

d.

Vow or promise to praise; expression of trust in God

Oh God, Maker of heaven and earth

This keeps happening.

The innocent among us are slaughtered

Safe places for children have now become a nightmare

Oh God, Maker of the human heart

Why don’t you act?

Why does your church stay silent?

If we do nothing about the violence, are we complicit in it?

Oh God that you would tear through the heavens and come down

Oh God would you give vengeance to the wicked?

Lord would you break the hold of the enemy on this world

Would you lead your church to some meaningful witness in light of school shootings

God we trust you in our pain

Amen

So I want to encourage you to write out your lament

Sermon Intro

So it turns out that you shouldn't travel the week that you have to study and write about anxiety and worry...

Because likely, you will have to confront your own worries

I shouldn't worry about this

Well one of my weekly worries is to make sure I have enough time to study, pray and write for the sermon on Sunday.

So, I had a busy week with travel…so I studied a lot before I left but knew that I would have to come home and write this message

Well My flight from St. Louis got delayed…One of the coolest thunderstorms I had ever seen came through…So we were delayed for a couple of hours...

I had a connecting flight through Austin, Texas…and when I got there my flight to Sacramento was long gone...

So I asked Southwest when the soonest they could get me back to Sacramento was...

And their response was 10am the next morning… oh and by the way that plane boards a 4:55am in Austin

So I had to choose…Do I get a hotel only to wake up at 3am and then get home and maybe get into the office by noon and be a complete zombie…or do I just stay up all night, pound coffees…write my sermon and get home and sleep...

So I decided on the latter…

So this sermon is the result of an all nighter that I pulled at the Austin, TX Airport

There was a machine that made coffee, a bathroom near by, an outlet and hours of quiet space...

It was actually perfect sermon writing conditions....Except for it was the middle of the night

So let’s just start with Jesus’ words shall we

Scripture

What I love about this little chunk of scripture is that it is so profound and so easy but it is also really difficult at the same time.

Because what Jesus is asking us to do overall is to have self control over our thought life.

It is so difficult and at the same time it is so profoundly hard.

Jesus starts this section with the word

Therefore:

So everything that comes after this “therefore” is intended to sort of sum up everything that Jesus has been teaching in this past section...

Remember we talked about trying to secure our own lives and futures based on reputation or money?

Jesus talked about that before and now he is launching unto this amazing summary

So the first thing he says is

Don’t worry about your life: What you will eat or drink or what you will wear:

See for many of us, the food we eat and the things we wear actually consume our lives.

But I want to show you something in the Bible that Jesus is communicating to his people...

There is stuff that we do not naturally pick up on when we read the Bible but I think the original people who were with Jesus would have picked up on this....

Jesus tells his listeners to not worry about eating or clothes

There are a few spots in the Bible where humanity didn't have to worry about food or clothing

In the Garden of Eden, we read that humanity could eat every seed bearing plant and that they were so abundant…But after humanity sinned…