Psalm 121:1,2 “I lift my eyes up to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
As the American Civil War continued unabated, a discouraged Abraham Lincoln used to seek refuge in a Presbyterian Church in Washington. The war was tearing both the nation and his soul apart. Furthermore, he had just lost his own precious 11-year-old son, who had succumbed to fever. He was at rock bottom, and needed both consolation and inspiration. After one such midweek service, the congregation slowly dispersed and Lincoln stood up. His aide asked him: “What did you think of the sermon, Mr. President?” Lincoln replied: “I thought the sermon was carefully thought through, eloquently delivered.” The aide said: “You thought it was a great sermon?” “No, replied Lincoln, “I thought he failed.” “He failed?” said the surprised aide, “Well, how? Why?” “Because he did not ask of us something great,” said the President.
Our job as the Church, the Body of Christ, is both to console and to inspire. I was smuggled once into a squalid refugee camp, where an average of ten people were dying each day. It was horrific. I preached on the above verses. God had not forgotten them, even if the international community had. God was there if they lifted their eyes upwards, bigger even than the mountains. The ‘something great’ I asked of them, was simply to hold on to hope, to not give up.
That could be the same for you today.
I felt the sense of urgency in my appeal because these people were dying so fast. Our commission is indeed urgent. At Bristol Cathedral after one service, an angry man from the congregation accosted Canon Samuel Barnett and berated him about his sermon: “I come to church to be comforted, but you sounded like a fire alarm!”
Lord, I choose to hold on to hope today, to be both consoled and inspired, and to seek to both console and inspire others to something great. Amen!
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