Times that Try Our Souls

 “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

Who here recognizes this quotation, and who said it?

            And no, it’s not in the Bible.

 

It was Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776.

            “These are the times that try men’s souls.

            The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis,

            shrink from the service of their country;

            but he that stands by it now 

            deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”

 

Thomas Paine, of course, was referring to the American Revolution,

            but the times that try our souls are not just times of war

            but any time when life gets really tough:

                        times of economic strife, like the Great Depression,

                        times of political strife, like the Civil Rights era of the ‘60’s,

                        times of catastrophic disasters, like Hurricane Katrina or 9/11.

 

We are in one of those times right now that try our souls.

We have multiple stressors occurring all at the same time:

            political polarization and power struggles, 

            a world wide pandemic that will continue until the whole world 

                                    can have access to sufficient vaccines,

            climate change with rising temperatures and rising sea level,

            destructive wild fires here and all over the globe,

and that’s not counting the critical time for us here close to home

                        in our calling process for new clergy leadership here.

 

It is in just these sort of times 

            that spiritually we cannot just be “summer soldiers.”            

 

This is the second installment in this summer sermon series

            on Ephesians and the Bread of Life chapter

 

The Gospel for today begins where we left off last week:

            Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.

            Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,

            and whoever believes, that is, has faith in me will never be thirsty.”

 

And today’s passage concludes with Jesus saying 

            that he is “the living bread that came down from heaven.

            Whoever eats of this bread will live always.”

 

Jesus, the Bread of Life and source of our nourishment for life.

 

In the Psalm for today we have this beautiful verse:

            “Taste and see that the Lord is good,

                        happy are they who trust in him!”

 

Now I have to say just a word or two about our Old Testament reading for today,

            the reading from the Hebrew Bible.

This is just a snippet from the epic story of the Prophet Elijah in I Kings,

            a story that would make a good 

                        adventure/disaster/ thriller/action/superhero movie

                                    complete with spectacular special effects.

 

It is well worth reading in its entirety: 1 Kings 17 through 2 Kings 1

                        followed by the sequel about the Prophet Elisha.

 

In this episode Elijah had fled the wrath of Queen Jezebel

            and was out in the desert of the Sinai.

The angel of the Lord provided food from heaven:  bread baked on hot stones, 

            (This actually can be and has been done on the hot stones in this desert!)

 

And Elijah “went in the strength of that food 40 days and 40 nights”

            until he came to Horeb, 

                        which is another name for Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.

 

Again Psalm 34

            “The angel of the Lord encompasses those who fear him,

                        and he will deliver them.

            Taste and see that the Lord is good;

                        happy are they who trust in him.”

 

Where do we find our nourishment?

            And of course here I am referring 

                        not to what gives us the right amount of 

                                                vitamins and minerals and calories to keep us healthy,

                        but to what nourishes us spiritually

 

For us as Christians our primary source of spiritual nourishment 

            will consist primarily of Jesus, Jesus himself.

                        Jesus as he comes to us revealed through the Gospels and Epistles

                        Jesus through the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist

                        Jesus through our daily practice of prayer and meditation

 

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

We need to be able to “taste” Jesus, the Bread of Life, 

            taste him in our reading and hearing the scriptures

            and in the sacrament

            and in our personal prayers.

 

During these times that try our souls, these very stressful times,

            we now need to step up our spiritual wakefulness 

and, as the Ephesians passage two weeks from now will exhort us,

            “Put on the whole armor of God, …

            and having done everything, …stand…”

 

Not summer soldiers, not doing our spiritual practice just when convenient to us 

            or what is comfortable for us without stretching us,

but working to be spiritually equipped to meet all the growing need and stress

                        being faithful in following Jesus

                        living up to the best meaning of what it is to be a Christian.

 

Today’s words from the Epistle to the Ephesians

give us some more good spiritual exercises:

“…let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, 

for we are members of one another…            (verse 25)

 

“Be angry –                                                                                     (verse 26)

 

Yes, we can be angry, but that emotion becomes sin 

            when we let it go on and on,

            when we don’t resolve the issues, 

                        or seek to change the situation so that anger has been dissolved.

 

            “Thieves must give up stealing…                                    (verse 28)

 

Did you know that St. Francis considered it stealing 

            if one had an abundance that overflows personal needs 

            and did not share that with the poor?

Am I stealing from the poor, if I am not generous with what is in my ownership?

                        A good stewardship question!

 

(verse 29)

            “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths,

            but only what is useful for building up.

 

Can we run all our words through this gate before speaking them aloud?

A lot of self reflection here about what is deep in our hearts,

                        what our intentions and motivations really are,

            and how by shifting the focus to what builds up

                                    can dramatically change what we might have said

                                    and become life giving words instead.

 

(verse 30)

            “…do not grieve the Holy Spirit…

 

Don’t make God regret God’s abundant mercy and love shown you,

            as though we could make God regret – impossible

but with all that we are graced with

            what grief and sadness would there be 

                        if we neglected the gifts we have been given?

            “…do not grieve the Holy Spirit…

 

(verse 31)

“Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger 

and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 

and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, 

as God in Christ has forgiven you.”

 

To heed and put into action these words 

            is to discover that we can taste and see that the Lord is good.

 

These are the times that try our souls.

            So now let us claim, each of us for our own selves, 

                        that in our spiritually practice

we will be more than summer soldiers.