This has been a very interesting week in the church office
for Severna and me. On Tuesday when we had the power outage, we didn't think
much about it until we had to use the photocopier Wednesday morning. No matter
what we tried or how many times we turned it off and on to reset it's system,
the photocopier refused to work. We couldn't print off bulletins or the
announcement sheet, we couldn't do up posters for our upcoming summer events,
or print out photos for Marvyn's memorial service, or letters of support for a
town homeless count initiative. Severna quickly contacted the repairman and he
popped in that very day and told us he would have the replacement part by
Thursday morning, as it would be shipped from Calgary. We were impressed and
relieved to hear that! But the part was not in Calgary, nor was it in the rest
of Canada. So we're hoping it will show up on Monday. And we spent the whole
week realizing exactly how much we depended on having a great photocopier to
help us do much of our work.
Technology is like a seed that grows invisibly without our
knowledge into our lives. Even if we don't have a computer, our cars probably
do. The satellite TV we watch is very dependent on computers and every time we
use our bank cards to buy something, we are trusting in technology. When we fly
somewhere or talk to someone on the phone, we are trusting in technology.
Everyone needs to trust someone or something to make the
most of their days. I trust the grocery stores to have safe food. The people
who ran the Muskeg Creek Trail run yesterday had to trust the volunteers to
steer them in the right direction and help them get enough water to keep going.
The volunteers had to trust that the volunteer coordinator
would have the resources to do their job. The coordinator had to trust the
organizing committee would have enough time and money to provide the things that
were needed. The committee needed to trust that people would want to come and
walk the trail.
Trust is something that is a part of life. It's why we get
caught up in cons so easily. The first nations in Canada trusted that the
Federal government would help their children learn to survive in a land that
the bison had disappeared from. Grandparents
trust the caller who tells them that they are a grandchild in serious trouble,
needing money to bail them out. Parents trust that a playground is a safe space
for their children to play.
And then something happens to change all that trust. An
infection sets in after a major surgery. A gunman shoots at a man while
children are enjoying a ride on a swing. An island volcano won't stop spewing
lava. A grandchild bullies a grandparent. Someone applies for a job and is
treated to abuse and sexism. Someone
else acts impulsively to solve a problem but causes more harm than good.
The ancients put their own trust into, of all things,
horses and chariots. Did you hear that line in the psalm, "Do not put your
trust in horses and chariots"? They were the nuclear weapons of the
Pharaohs and Babylonian princes. There's a wonderful documentary on PBS about
reconstructing an Egyptian chariot, and how incredibly effective it was in war.
And yet if you do a careful exploration of the bible, every time the Hebrew
people are up against an army of chariots and put their trust in God, things
turn out okay for them. Moses had no chariots and got his people safely away
from the Egyptian army. Joshua fought battles with foot soldiers against
chariots and won every time.
David used no chariots to defeat Goliath and went up
against Philistine armies with chariots of iron and won. And when he was caught
up in a civil war, he easily destroyed the chariot armies he faced. One war
ended when his own traitorous son had his hair get caught up in a tree while
riding away in a chariot. Deuteronomy 20 tells the people not to be afraid of
chariots in battle, but to trust in God. And Solomon, the supposedly wisest and
richest king Israel ever knew, stockpiled chariots and horses, filling whole
cities with them, according to biblical accounts. Solomon's military power did
not prevent the kingdom from splitting up, and his descendants lost battles and
wars and even their lives in chariots. And even though he was supposed to be the
richest and wisest of all of the kings of Israel listed in the bible, it’s his
father David that is remembered so fondly by the people of Israel. Jerusalem is David’s city. The kings that followed Solomon in the
history books who continued to stockpile chariots were seen as unfaithful. Jezebel's
husband Ahab died in his chariot just as Elijah had predicted. Isaiah ranted
against Israel having a chariot army as a sure invitation to disaster, and
Babylon conquered it and took the people into exile. The only chariot mentioned
in a positive light is the one from heaven that was sent to bring Elijah
straight to heaven.
We humans want to trust quick fixes, big shows of strength
and stockpiles of stuff. And the big
things don’t work. Threats and bluster
only escalate the tension. So what can
we trust?
I am reminded of a story about John Wesley, one of the
founders of Methodism and indirectly the United Church of Canada. When he was in his advanced years, he was
going out to preach to some coal miners in England, and was traveling by a
horse-drawn coach. The road was on the
edge of the sea, and a storm came up, threatening to wash out the road.
The coachman turned to Wesley and asked if they should turn
back, that the storm was getting too dangerous, and he couldn’t guarantee that
they would make it safely. Wesley
reportedly said that he was called to go boldly into the storm, trusting that
God would be with him whether he drowned or whether he made it to the other
side. And despite brushes with
pneumonia, he continued to charge through storms and blizzards until he died at
the age of 87, but not after making sure that he had sent ordained preachers to
North America, pushed for the end of the Slave Trade, recognized women as
preachers and worked tirelessly and relentlessly to help people struggling with
poverty, illiteracy and addictions. He
died in poverty but had written hymns, established churches and wrote 32
volumes of articles on the power of Christianity. He trusted God, and he made a difference in
this world. May we find the courage to
trust not in the big splashy chariots of our own times, but in the still small
voice that makes seeds to grow and people to live brave lives of faith and
hope. Amen.
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