October 3 Message - Just a Passing Through
Call to Worship
Click below. Listen and recite the invocation in Hebrew along with the cantor. Let the words resonate within you and settle you heart.Opening Hymn
Opening Prayer
Scripture Reading
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
Psalm 91
3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land....
16 Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;
17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.
18 The days of the blameless are known to the LORD,
and their inheritance will endure forever.
19 In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.
20 But the wicked will perish:
The LORD's enemies will be like the beauty of the fields,
they will vanish—vanish like smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous give generously;
22 those the LORD blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses will be cut off.
23 If the LORD delights in a man's way,
he makes his steps firm;
24 though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
Psalm 37: 3-9, 16-25
Message
So the stock market and the banks are supposedly stable now. In spite of that, the unemployment rate went up to 9.8%. If they counted all the people who are under- employed and stopped looking for work, the rate would be about 17%. The real estate market still had not found its footing. Now the experts say there will be a new wave of defaults of commercial real estate as businesses go bankrupt.
To say that these are uncertain times is an understatement. There are wars (Afghanistan and Iraq) and rumors of wars (Israel and Iran). Even Mother Nature is no longer reliable. The weather patterns have changed causing fires in the West and floods in the East. There are storms and earthquakes and Tsunamis in the Pacific. There is an ice shelf about to break off of Antartica. We cannot even count on something as predictable as our Sun. It has been letting us down. The current predicted solar cycle that was supposed to have started about a year ago still hasn't really manifested.
How do we as individuals (and as a society) handle such massive change. What is the correct reaction when everything you have relied upon is taken away? Here is the answer. Wait. Yes. I said wait. Remember that the upheaval cannot last. It will have to settle. Some people try to grab on to anything and hold on as tight as they can. But that kind of panic reaction is a waste of energy. God says to let go. Have you ever seen someone drowning? They panic, struggle, gasp for air, bob around looking for something to hold onto until they wear out. When I was in swimming lessons one of the first thing I was taught was a survival float. I stretched out over the water and barely moved to expend the least energy I could. That strategy maximized the time I could survive before being rescued.
We are children of God. We are not meant to flounder in the water. We are meant to float on the stream of the Holy Spirit. We just follow that flow and it will guide us to landfall. The Prophet Isaiah had a different metaphor. He said "They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will rise up on wings like eagles." Ever see an eagle fly? There is minimum expenditure of energy. The bird just flows with the currents of air.
Today is the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth) which will continue until next Friday, the 9th of October. This feast commemorates the time that the Israelites left captivity in Egypt and wandered in the wilderness waiting for God to lead them to the promised land. The Israelites left most everything behind when they began this journey. They had to live on the land and rely on God for just about everything for forty years. To celebrate this festival we are told to build temporary shelters and eat in them as if they were our homes.
What we are going through in this world today, is a transition from one age to another. It is much like the Israelites wandering in the desert. Just like Israel, some people are mourning what they left behind instead of looking forward. Many are scared, not sure of what is going to happen. But instead of running scared, stand still. Wait. If you allow yourself to be in tune to the Spirit, a light will guide you. You will find your way. It is part of the plan.
