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As Our World Burns Pastor Dena Williams Denver, Colorado June 27, 2012

Psalm 113 Praise the Lord!Praise, O servants of the Lord;praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lordfrom this time on and for evermore. From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations,and his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far downon the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust,and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes,with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home,making her the joyous mother of children.Praise the Lord! Seriously, Pastor?! Our beautiful state is burning to the ground all around us and you offer a hymn of praise to God?

Well, yes. Ill say why in a minute. Theres good precedent for praising God in time of disaster. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in the midst of the agony of the civil war wrote these words:

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day Their old familiar carols play, And wild and sweet the words repeat Of peace on earth, good will to men. I thought how, as the day had come, The belfries of all Christendom Had rolled along the unbroken song Of peace on earth, good will to men. And in despair I bowed my head: "There is no peace on earth," I said, "For hate is strong and mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will to men." Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: "God is not dead, nor doth he sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing singing, on its way, The world revolved from night to day, A voice, a chime, a chant sublime, Of peace on earth, good will to men! Martin Rinkart, in the midst of the Thirty Years War in Germany, as the only pastor in town, the one who buried so many victims of war and poverty and plague in mass graves, day after day, including his beloved wife, wrote these words: Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices, who wondrous things has done, in whom this world rejoices; who from our mothers' arms has blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today. O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us, with ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us; and keep us still in grace,

and guide us when perplexed; and free us from all ills, in this world and the next. All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given; the Son, and him who reigns with them in highest heaven; the one eternal God, whom earth and heaven adore; for thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

War, plague, death, fire . . . I dont know why there is suffering. I dont know why God cant or wont make it stop. I do know where God is: in the flame, in the war zone, at the graveside. Where is God, we ask? God is right here with us, right beside us, around and over us, loving us and weeping with us.

And so, it behooves us to offer our praise and thanks, even and especially in times of suffering. We give thanks for a God who will never leave us or forsake us, not even in the midst of unbelievable death and destruction. And with the praise, comes promise. Read the Psalm again: He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. We claim promise. We offer praise. We pray, believing in Gods eternal love for us, for all people, for our world, the creation of Gods hands. TBTG!