You are witnesses of these things. Luke 24:48
I was standing by the bus stop at Scotia Square waiting for my ride back to Tantallon. I was approached by a former parishioner and we talked for some time. When the bus pulled up I was surprised he wanted the conversation to continue. We sat together and he began to open up and talk about the Memorial Service he and his wife had watched on TV, the one for victims of the tragedy in Humboldt Saskatchewan, all those young men who died too young. It was heartbreaking. Everywhere I looked this week were signs of holding that community, those families, in our hearts and prayers. All of the tradespeople who showed up at our church this week wore hockey jerseys.
The man on the bus, whose sons are the same age as those young men who died, wanted to know what I thought of the service. In particular he wanted to know what I thought about the Chaplain’s sermon. I confess I had not watched the service so when I got home I watched the sermon and heard a man of faith wrestling with making sense of a tragedy.
The Humboldt Broncos pastor said, “That emptiness has got to be filled somehow”. He referenced how he had no easy answers, how empty he felt inside, how confused he was about God’s purpose and plan. Several times the pastor asked “I cannot make sense of this, God” but then would find some strength in the assertion that “God is on His throne.” Toward the end of the pastor’s remarks he came back to Psalm 23 and how David, whom many believe to be the song’s author, himself had sons who had died.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
The conclusion offered was this, God was on the throne and Jesus was among us, that we are not alone and comfort is present, healing is happening. What was unresolved was the purpose or plan that the pastor was sure was part of this but could not articulate. What the pastor was doing was offering a witness, what Luke in our reading today suggests, that with the resurrection of Jesus came witnesses who told others what they saw. When those who witness resurrection tell others there is a message of hope, for when hopelessness creeps into our lives we need authentic voices of new life, hope-filled life, abundant life, to carry us through.
This week I have been reviewing a text I plan to use for our upcoming faith study, Testimony, written by well-known preacher and author Tom Long. Long would say that the tragedy in Saskatchewan is yet another example of how humans grapple with what to say in the face of life and death. In particular Christians struggle to find the words to say as they work through their own sense of loss and hurt. And it does not help that we live in a society that shuns any kind of faith talk. “At dinner parties you can talk about anything. You can talk about politics, you can talk about sex, you can talk about money, you can talk about anything you want. But if you mention God more than once, you probably won’t be invited back”.
That’s because we in the mainline churches, “we leave that to the professional talkers, the preachers.” It’s also because, as Long explains, “there is a common misunderstanding to think that talking about faith means getting our belief system all worked out in advance before we open our mouths.” But as we heard at the Memorial service preachers struggle to make sense of these tragedies just like we do. And yet we must speak. There is a need to give voice to our faith, to our doubts, to our struggles, to our anchors, to our hopes, to our fears, to our need for meaningful conversation about what truly matters.
I know what you’re thinking. You know people who have no qualms about talking of their faith. Long describes them like this: “I once knew a man, a fundamentalist Christian, who, when greeted with a sociable HELLO, how are you? would respond with SAVED!” He no doubt considered this social greeting to be part of his witness and a faithful teaching moment. But people avoided him. Whatever difference he thought his witness was making it had exactly the opposite effect. I think it’s because in our pluralistic culture people who approach persons of faith for conservation expect a dialogue, not a monologue. There is a reason the Christian church is no longer dominant, and it’s because of the arrogant way we shared our witness. Ask Aboriginal peoples about that, systematically taking people out of their communities, denying their language and demonizing their faith talk. That was not a dialogue, that was an order. And orders, more than any other form of our faith, has been responsible to the undermining of confidence in our unique Christian story.
I get why many people choose to be silent when asked about faith. “Actions do speak louder than words”. St. Francis might have said, “preach the Gospel at all times but when necessary use words” but sometimes we do need to use words. 1 Peter 3:15 read, “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting of the hope that is within you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence.” The context of these remarks was an Empire that systematically oppressed a small Christian movement because they dared to act as if Jesus was Lord, not Caesar. I don’t think we can compare our own discomfort with others’ mocking our faith with the early church that were thrown in jail, tortured and executed on crosses. But we can understand the need to voice our faith when asked.
I think there are many times when we can witness with gentleness and reverence. When people ask me why I support immigration, foreign aid and helping the homeless I tell them it is because I am a Christian. Long says, “in worship, on Sunday mornings, I am invited to look at this gathering of people with new eyes…I am summoned to see everyone present as a brother or sister in faith.”
Some of you know I am one of two representatives for the United Church of Canada at the Canadian Council of Churches. At the beginning of each business session and at the end a different denomination is invited to lead a short worship service. I shall never forget the service led by the Salvation Army. They asked us to consider sharing a testimony. It started slowly, people seemed a little reluctant to share, even clergy seemed unprepared. But then a Roman Catholic Bishop stood and shared how a Baptist roommate gave him a Bible in university residence, how that Bible became the source of his recovery and new life when things got rough. Thereafter all of the denominations stood and shared. A Pentecostal preacher talked about a visit to South Africa and the healing he had received there, how his eyes were open to the global sisterhood and brotherhood of believers and the conviction placed on his heart to do all he could for not only his own kin but for everyone.
An East Indian Jesuit Tony de Mello used to tell this story about disciples gathered around their master, asking him endless questions about God. And the master said anything we say about God is just words, because God is unknowable. One disciple asked, “Then why do you speak of him at all?” And the master replied, “Why does the bird sing? She sings not because she has a statement but because she has a song.”
There is a song in every one of us. I believe God has given each of us a song. Some of you have been so kind as to share that song with me. I look forward to hearing more. In times of tragedy like these there are no words that can adequately convey our sorrow and heartbreak but there are songs of faith that do. The Chaplain speaks of a plan or a purpose and is searching for that. I believe there is a purpose to our human journey, it is to love and be loved by a God who seeks relationship. In God’s Trombones the African American poet James Weldon Johnson imagines an old-time folk preacher setting forth the biblical creation story:
And God stepped out on space,
And he looked around and said:
I’m lonely—
I’ll make me a world
I believe the relationship God formed with those young men in Humboldt is never-ending and that same relationship God forms with us sustains us in good times and bad. As our United Church Creed says, “In life, in death, in life beyond death. God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.” Amen.