Fresh Every Morning

If we were to assign colors to each section, I suppose that the first section might be a dull grey like the weather has been so much recently, and the second section might be a bright and sunny yellow.

Our lives are in effect a whole rainbow of colors: our moods, our experiences, our relationships, and our duties go through all sorts of changes across the years.

The problem comes when we get stuck in one particularly grey spot and can no longer see any other color or light at all.

It will be a continuing task for family and friends to make sure that does not happen with Jane as a primary care-giver, or indeed with other members of the family.

It has been difficult for Jane and others to experience the changes in ability, and competence, and recognition that come along with stages of declining health.

I hear that Evelyn's personality underwent some significant changes in recent times which made the situation a special heartache for those closest to her.

It would be very easy for Jane and other family members to see only grey.

Listen to the second part of the Lesson again: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; it is fresh every morning.

That is tremendously good news!

The sentence begins steadfast love of the Lord,

the One who has made us,

has done so out of love.

And it is not once and done with him.

He keeps at it.

He loves us day after day, year after year.

Even when we don't ask for it;

even when we don't deserve it,

even when we cannot earn it!

Light, life, and all of creation...

family, companions, opportunities....

We open our eyes in the morning, and there it all is for us!

Thanks be to the Lord for all of those things,

even when we forget that it is the Lord who gives them,

even when we don't acknowledge it,

even when we don't say thank you.

What a wonder!

And these things are new every morning.

That is, the gifts of God are useable and adaptable in every sort of situation.

What a wonder!

Great is the faithfulness of God.

Evelyn may not have been anxious to acknowledge the gifts of God,

but in God's faithfulness, the Lord continued to give her a variety of things,

especially the love and care and companionship of family members cloase at hand.

The writer of Lamentations recognizes the mess of his life, and contrasts it with the gifts of God,

and concludes that the greyness of his everyday life is still overwhelmed by the sunny reality of God's presence with him.

The Lord is my portion, says my soul, and therefore I will hope in Him.

And that is a reminder of Good News to us.

For God makes a promise when we are baptized, a promise that he will be faithful to us, and he will pursue us even when we try to run away from him or ignore him.

Somehow, he intends to keep hold of us,

to mold us into being different persons than we would otherwise be,

and to bind us together into his new community.

What a wonder, that God intends it, and fulfills it!

So, from this day forward, what should we do?

1. Receive good things from God.

2. Offer thanks for them

3. Use them well, in ways that will honor God the giver and aid our neighbor,

in ways that bind together individuals into families and communities.

Even though it is a sad reason that brought folks together today, in what is supposed to be a celebratory 12 days,

what a wonderful opportunity for adults and grandchildren to laugh and cry together,

to grow together, to eat together,

to comfort and encourage each other.

These are the things that will strengthen all of us for the next part of living.

It is sad when anyone gets stuck in grey.

But the best news is that the greyness does not win;

God gets the last word.

Lamentations says: ...therefore I will hope in him., and that is enough!

Amen.

And now let's turn to one of the carols of the season, and remind each other of the same message in song:

All sing “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”

3. And you, beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow:
Look now, for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
Oh, rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing.

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.