Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
Original Manuscript:
Deuteronomy, as you may remember, is the final book in the Torah. It is Moses' last words to the Hebrews before they make it to the Promised Land. It's the end of their 40 year journey to make it to the land that will be their home.
But Moses won't be joining them on this trip. Moses is getting ready to die, to leave them. So before he is gone, Moses is imparting the last of his wisdom to the Hebrews.
There would have been a lot of anxiety over the future. There always was a great deal of worry from the Hebrew people in Scripture. Throughout Torah, we see Hebrews worried about what will happen or what will lead to their inevitable demise, like we often do today.
Moses words today are meant to be a comfort to the Hebrews. Though he will soon be gone, God will continue to look after them. Just as God provided Mana to keep the Hebrews fed, God will provide a new person to lead. God will provide a new person to share His Word. God will provide the soon to be Israelites with a new prophet.
That's what God did throughout Israel's history. He continued to provide His voice and leadership through various people. Not all were great givers of the law like Moses. Not all had something miraculous like Moses' face that shone from being close to the presence of God, the light of which Moses had to hide with a veil over his head. Some of the leaders, be they prophets, judges, or kings, were better than others. Some made mistakes. But throughout it all, God continued to provide those people who would go out and speak in His name.
Times changed. People changed. But there was always someone ready and willing to give God's word to His people. Throughout it all, God provides what His people really need.
At St. Paul's we are getting ready to make a similar transition. I am in the final several months of my time with you. Some of you may be calm and focused through this time, and I am thankful if you are. Some of you may be anxious, and that is understandable.
It wasn't too long ago that St. Paul's was looking for someone to minister to this church. It was a process that took some time. There were times where we thought we found the right person and for one reason or another things didn't work out.
But then our Diocesan Transitional Officer, Sarah Sartain came in to help. She had some thoughts on what to do, the result of which led to y'all raising up me.
And this wasn't the first time this had happened. There have been times before where we have been waiting expectantly for the next minister to come into our midst. While at times it took God's time, not our own, to pass, each and every time we have found someone to minister in our midst. Each and every time God provided. Whether He did so when we wanted Him to is a completely different question.
Like the Israelites, we know God will raise up for us a person to share God's word with us because like the Israelites, we have gone through times where we needed a priest, a minister, a prophet to come among us. If He's done it before, we know He can do it again.
[And this is not because we do nothing. We do something very important. We continue to listen to what God is saying, and we try our best to follow what it is that we hear. We continue to be patient and wait for when God is speaking. We don't act when we want, but when it is the opportune moment for us to do so.]
Our assurance that all will be well is that all has been well before. We have been down this path, and each time God has raised up a prophet to be among us.
I was a seminarian the very first time I preached among you. And the words I spoke then are still true today. In the words of Dolly Parton's "Light of a Clear Blue Morning": "Everything's going to be alright. It's going to be okay."