Strength Comes from the Source

Dr. David D. Young
Dr. John Stansell
May 20, 2007
Isaiah 40: 27-31
John 14: 12-17
"Strength Comes from the Source"
Music Sunday

Before I begin this morning, I want to tell you my heart is full this morning. Full of joy and gratitude for the wondrous and amazing gift of music and the music ministry of our church and I want to thank John and the chancel choir, the children’s choir, the cherub choir, the youth choir, the handbells and all the choirs – and all the people who give their voices to praise God and make music in this holy place. It is indeed a joy to be together on this Music Sunday.

Introduction – Dr. David Young

Have you ever felt like you have iron poor blood? Have you ever felt exhausted and out of gas? Have you ever felt plum tuckered out, wiped out, worn out, petered out, burned out? Well, welcome to the human race!!!

Almost exactly a week ago one of my nieces had twins out in California – and it reminded me of the time when,
"A tired mother phoned the newspaper and reported the birth of her twins. The woman at the desk didn’t quite catch the message. "Will you repeat that?" she asked. "Not if I can help it," she replied."
Oh, the things that wear us out. A doctor had just lectured a group of interns on diagnostic techniques, and she cautioned them not to ask patients if they feel tired. "Everyone feels tired," she explained.

The author of our Isaiah text knew something about the human condition of tiredness and weariness. He talks about the faint and the powerless and says,
"Even youths will faint and be weary and the young will fall exhausted."
And then he offers an antidote which we will get to in a minute.

Some of the things which contribute to our weariness, faintness, exhaustion and discouragement are:
any kind of loss
grief
diminishment of spirit, of health
a lack of purpose, of meaning
simply feeling lethargic and run down
wondering…what’s the use of trying
being too busy and overscheduled
having packed agendas and too much to do.
I’m sure the list could go on – but I’m staring to get tired just thinking about it.

Perhaps some of you remember the Grooks of Piet Hein, the Danish mathematician, scientist, author and poet. In a brief piece called "Thoughts on a Station Platform" he sums up this modern dilemma of ours,
"It ought to be plain
how little you gain
by getting discouraged and vexed.
You’ll always be late
for the previous train,
and always in time for the next."
Waiting – Dr. John Stansell

In our modern world we don’t want to live with these feelings of discouragement and weariness. We want things fixed RIGHT NOW. Just like the people of Israel from our Isaiah text that Barbara read we find ourselves asking "Is God aware of our predicament?" Or we might be saying to ourselves, "if God is such a source of strength, why isn’t it working for ME, RIGHT NOW?"

But just the fact that results are not immediate doesn’t mean that God doesn’t know our needs. Who are we, after all to question this God, the One who is the creator of the ends of the earth, the One who never grows weary? No, it is that very God-like quality, patience that never grows weary, for which must strive. You see, it is those who wait for the Lord who will mount up with wings as eagles.

Now frankly waiting is downright difficult for us! It’s hard to believe, but as I was thinking about how impatient we can be, I actually remembered an entry in a creative writing journal that I kept in high school. Then I had written: "have peace now, O soul, for if you persevere, with time it will come." Wise counsel from a high schooler, but alas easier to conceive than to follow. How I wish that I could have made that thought a more constant reality in my life! You see, the years have taught me that I needed to wait, to be patient, that things needed to unfold, evolve if you will. If you look at where I am today, doing the music in this wonderful place, you would certainly think that I should be able happily and with confidence to wait for the next chapters in my life to unfold. Even as a congregation we had to wait quite a long time for a new pastor. And though we weren’t completely patient, at least our waiting paid off when God sent us you, David. Now, with Susie moving on, we face a new uncertain time of waiting. We have to wait. Whether we do so patiently, or not, is OUR choice. And though there’s solid evidence that God has been good to us, we often lack the faith needed to be really trusting.

Trusting – Dr. David Young

There is a big difference between trusting in your mind’s eye and really trusting with your life when it comes right down to the wire. There is a wonderful, old story of a wheel barrel,
"A man was to cross Niagara Falls while pushing a wheel barrel on a tight rope. A great crowd assembled, and the weather turned bad – a storm was brewing. Eventually the man came and he made it with his wheel barrel across and back a couple of different times. The people were amazed at the trust this man had during the storm. Then he asked the crowd – ‘who would like to ride in the wheel barrel this next time across?’"
During the dark difficult storms of life – do we put our complete trust in God – waiting patiently for the encouragement, support, strength and renewal he will offer? It was St. Augustine who said,
"Beware of despairing about yourself; you are commanded to put your trust in God, not in yourself."
Where we place our trust says so much about who and whose we are. We may say we trust in the Lord, but we spend an awful lot of time, energy, and anxiety fussing over our security monetarily and materially. Jesus was constantly calling his disciples to the larger life of trusting completely in God. And he calls us to such trust as well.

In our Second Lesson from John’s gospel Jesus tells us that if we trust in him we will be strengthened and empowered to do the works he does and even greater works. As one person, Jesus did so many amazing things – as many people, as his body – when we trust in him and work together – we can do amazing things too!
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding."
Proverbs 3: 5
The key word is trust. In one of the African languages, there is a word that means, "to lean one’s whole weight upon." And that really is what this means, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean your whole weight upon him." And when we do that we will know from head to foot and heart in between that strength really does come from the source!

At this point in the service the congregation sang:

What a Covenant

What a covenant, what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms.
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine, leaning on the ever lasting arms.
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.

Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way, leaning on the everlasting arms.
Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day, leaning on the everlasting arms.
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.

What have I to dread, what have I to fear, leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Savior near, leaning on the everlasting arms.
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.

Strength – Dr. John Stansell

There’s something great about those old revival songs! By the third stanza, you can sing the refrain from memory, unlike the more sophisticated poetry in many of our hymns. And what a feeling it gives us, both individually, and as a congregation! It’s exactly at this point, I think, that music connects to our theme of strength. This feeling we have is intangible, just as music itself is intangible, but the feeling is REAL, both individually and collectively, a REAL feeling of strength. Not like the strength that comes from weight training, nor the strength of the world’s military powers, but real strength nonetheless.

The great New England UCC preacher Martin Copenhaver, in a sermon entitled "Choir Practice in Prison," told of an advanced Alzheimer’s patient he visited, a person who no longer even recognized her loved ones. But he discovered that she could sing all the stanzas of “Amazing Grace.” In this case, I think one could say that the music was the vessel for the last bit of God’s strength this woman would know.

We have the great privilege of returning to this place week after week to recharge ourselves, to tap into the TRUE SOURCE, our GOD, through word and song. While the music itself is not the strength, it certainly provides us with a foretaste of the Strength that comes from the source. And with that, no matter where we are in life, we can surely "run and not be weary, walk and not faint." Hallelujah!