Sunday March 29, 2020

Sunday March 29, 2020


It is Sunday morning, and as 11am approaches, things are very quiet here in the building at Côte des Neiges Presbyterian Church. In a few weeks time, we hope to be able to begin broadcasting online a brief Sunday morning service by Zoom, but for this morning again, I will stand alone in the sanctuary, a representative of the congregation, sanctifying this place with humble acts of worship as has happened every Sunday here for almost 156 years.

As I think of all of those who would like to be here turning to God in trust, I will spend some time at the piano, filling the empty sanctuary with the notes and melodies of the great hymns of faith. As I rise to the pulpit to pray, I will think of the many who are most affected by our current crisis, thanking God for the privilege of caring for many of them through the deliveries of groceries and necessities, pleading for solace for the lonely, healing for the sick and comfort for the grieving. The familiar words of the Lord’s prayer offered aloud will echo back to me in the empty stillness.

Then I will open the Scriptures, reading from the beginning of Isaiah 43 …
But now thus says the LORD,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Four words will catch my attention.

God is the one who has CREATED us. Surprisingly, Isaiah goes back to the Hebrew word used in Genesis 1 where God creates the world ex nihilo. Out of nothing. In one sense this is not technically true of Israel, the country was formed by God from her ancestors, from Abraham, Isaac … But God is making a point. We might think we know how we got here, and we might even think that we have made ourselves who we are, but God affirms differently. All that we are, that fact that we are here at all, it is all His doing.

“I have REDEEMED you” says God. The verb is in the perfect tense. It is an action done once in the past that has continued ongoing effect. God has redeemed His people. What needed to be done has been done. No more needs to be said or done. It is settled. We are redeemed, redeemed forever, and we are His.

Some people suggest that being redeemed and belonging to God means that we are spared from any trouble. Not so. For the text doesn’t go on to say “IF you pass through the water …” The text says “WHEN you pass through the waters …”
The trials will come. There will be the waters and the fire that sometimes speak of judgment in the Scriptures. Because we are His redeemed, we have nothing to fear of judgment. But when the waters and the fire of everyday adversity come, then too, we have nothing to fear because He will be WITH us, and He is the Lord our God, and our Savior.

If you were here with me, we would end our worship by raising our voices together to affirm our faith with the words of the first question and response from the Hiedelberg Cathechism:

Q: What is your only hope in life and death? 

A: That I am not my own,
but belong with body and soul,
both in life and in death,
to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins
with his precious blood,
and has set me free
from all the power of the devil.
He also preserves me in such a way
that without the will of my heavenly Father
not a hair can fall from my head;
indeed, all things must work together
for my salvation.

Therefore, by his Holy Spirit
he also assures me
of eternal life
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him.

AMEN