Acts 27: 13-25
NPMC
Member Acceptance
12 Pentecost
August 23, 2009
Anita Retzlaff
Reflections on Encouragement
Grace and peace to you from God the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus the
Christ. I will share only brief reflections this morning as a summation of the
stories of hope and courage that we have already heard from Betty, Hilda, Cornie
and Trudy as they have joined us in membership.
It may appear that the scriptural account of Paul caught in a monstrous storm
and soon to be shipwrecked has little bearing on the nature and tone of our
worship so far this morning. Yet I believe that the strength of Paul’s words
spoken to terrified sailors tossed about in an angry sea have their place in our
service of faith stories and membership today. For what have we heard this
morning if it hasn’t been moving testimonies of encouragement and experiences of
the power of God in our lives?
The focus of this segment of Paul’s story is his unfaltering encouragement of
the Roman sailors. He is their prisoner, a condemned man on his way to a last
chance audience with the emperor at Rome. Paul, the one under suspicion and
censure, is the one who becomes a ballast of hope and inspiration to the
frightened and starving crew. That is not unlike the way in which we function as
a faith community. We encourage each other when we are filled with fear of the
unknown, when we are sick and lose control or independence or if we are panicked
and anxious and do not feel God close. That is when we stand in for each other
and offer encouragement, literally, a “way into courage.” As a community here at
Nutana Park we have those times when we remind others that they have the
strength from God that they need; then there are other times when our friends
remind us, encourage us in remembering that we are not alone and that we have
God and this community to walk with us through anything!
Encouragement is not necessarily a rational projection or prediction of knowable
outcomes but rather a delving into the depths of our being where we discover
again that we are children of God. And that is the line Paul takes. He tells his
sailing captors that an angel of God came to him. “For last night there stood by
me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship.” That is a powerful
statement of assurance; the God to whom I belong. Let us always remember that:
you belong to God and I belong to God and together we worship God and rely on
such strength, mercy and compassion. These are the confessions of Paul from the
scriptures and of our friends here at Nutana Park who have shared from their
life experience. We belong to God so we will never, ever be all alone.
“Keep up your courage,” Paul says, “for I have faith in God that it will be
exactly as I have been told.” God provides for us. Now, that doesn’t mean that
we get everything we want when we want it. It does not mean that we escape peril
and loss and experiences of profound disorientation but it does mean that just
as Paul could see his way through the catastrophe of storm and shipwreck we too
can see our way through all things that are set before us. And we won’t always
come out alive to this world but we will come out of all things alive to the
eternal presence of our God and ultimate encourager. And that is enough.
So today as we welcome four good friends into membership here and next week as
Scott and Jamie are baptized in our midst we hold hands with each other, all of
us unique and loveable souls in the sight of God and we give thanks. We give
thanks for each other, for this community of friends who meet for worship and
mutual encouragement and we thank our God, to whom we belong, for the assurance
that never in our lives or at any other conceivable time are we ever alone. The
Lord Jesus Christ bless and keep you all. AMEN