Abide with us, Lord

Events had moved rapidly from Jesus' teaching in the Temple, to his supper with the disciples, to the prayer in the garden, to his arrest and sham trials, the crucifixion and death, and burial before sunset.

And now the next day, these folks were on their way home, not knowing what to make of all of these events, and also the stories that they were hearing about Jesus being risen from death.

Jesus meets them on the road and explains himself to them from the Old Testament history of salvation.

As he continues talking with them, their mood changes from gloom to excitement.

Later on they exclaim, “Did not our hearts burn within us, while we were on the road and Jesus was explaining the scriptures to us?”

And they implore him, “Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening....”

It is basic hospitality where there are no Super 8 motels;

but it is more than that – a recognition that there is something special here, something different, something important when Jesus is speaking with them.

His word is the one thing that holds steady, the one thing that endures when everything else is shifting and uncertain.

And that is just as true for us today as it was for those first disciples.

Here is a prayer from a pastor who lived in very unsettled times 150 years ago:

Abide with us, O Lord, for it is evening and the day is far spent;

Abide with us and with your whole Church.

Abide with us in the evening of the day, in the evening of life, in the evening of the world.

Abide with us in your grace and mercy, in your holy Word and Sacrament, in your comfort and your blessing.

Abide with us when we are overtaken by the night of distress and fear, by the night of doubt and temptation, by the night of bitter death.

Abide with us and with all your faithful ones, O Lord, in time and eternity; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

At other times we might be full of bluster and bravado, but not on the day of a funeral.

Today we recognize our frailties and limitations.

Only a few days ago there was the list of medical questions that Nancy was working on and planning what next.

But all of those plans and actions came to a very sudden end.

The prayer that I had with Nancy in that one minute between tests and procedures was answered only a few hours later in a way that we did not anticipate.

Stay with us, Lord, when things turn out differently than we expect.

Stay with us, Lord, and keep your promises which you have made to us in Holy Baptism.

Stay with us, hold onto us, do not let us wander off alone, do not abandon us to the power of death and despair.

Stay with us, Lord, but not in order for us to hide out from the big bad world;

but stay with us so that we can do as you command.

As our lesson from 1 John says today:

Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.

Stay with us, Lord, so that friends and relatives from distant places can make the most of the little time they have together today

in order to renew acquaintances and encourage one another.

Stay with us Lord, so that Raymond and others can make good and useful decisions about the disposition and use of the things that Nancy left behind.

Stay with us Lord, so that we can share with others the trust and hope that we have in Jesus' promises.

Stay with us, Lord, so that we can have life that is not merely breathing, but is using that breath to sing a hymn of praise as well as reminding God of our sorrow and lament.

We can pray this way, and we can expect God's firm response.

We join the Psalmist in declaring:

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge,

We will miss the special gifts that made up Nancy,

but our sadness shall not give was to despair,

because The Lord of hosts is with us., even as we pray this day, and will not leave us comfortless or alone.

He has given us each other, with a word of reminder: “...Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.