“How did we get here?”
Let's take this question and open it further this Sunday as the bicentennial anniversary of the oldest church in the county begins.
How did we get here? What steps have we taken? What steps have been taken for us?
Honestly, I felt some very good pressure as to what scripture would be presented on this significant church history Sunday, September 25th. What would be a meaningful fit? What passage would carry a message of hardships, hallelujahs and hope, challenge and change?
I do what I do as a pastor. I turn to the lectionary. One of the selected lectionary readings is Psalm 91 (below).
This psalm resonates with the truth of who God is, how God is, where God is, what God is doing, and where we are as a people with a past who do sometimes wonder, “How did we get here?”
As this text opens to us in the days leading to Sunday, I invite you to begin to unfold a map in your mind around verse 2 which reads, He [God] alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God and I trust him.
As we move to history and to our future in the same Sunday worship, ask yourself this: how do you say verse 2 so confidently?
Psalm 91
1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.
9 If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
13 You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!
14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation."