You Healed Me (AKA You Are Healing Me)

"You Healed Me" (AKA "You Are Healing Me")
a condensed version of the sermon delivered by Rev. Kirk Moore on Sunday, July 8, 2007 at Union Congregational Church in Somonauk, Illinois.

PODCAST of "You Healed Me (AKA "You Are Healing Me") (coming soon)

This Morning's Scripture reading is:
Psalm 30

"You Know You’ve Arrived When . . ."
(Wisdom culled from the Internet . . .)

you find your novel in a used book sale
when you have 11K+ friends on MySpace
you've reached a no preset spending limit on your credit card
you've got a Wikipedia Entry
you have a fragrance named after you
Weird Al Yankovic writes a song about you
people start interpreting your quotes in the wrong way and making something out of nothing
you've had both a good and a bad review in the newspaper
your name or likeness shows up in comic strips
you become the subject of political cartoons
your name falls into use as an adjective or a verb
you begin complaining about being known
people bother to mock you
your name is in a crossword puzzle
you're featured on the cover of Time magazine
you own land and you've never been there
your name becomes synonymous with a certain style of clothing
you're a guest on Letterman or Leno or Conan

Here’s my favorite:

You know you’ve arrived when you get there.

This morning we’ve arrived (not in the "we’ve made it" way, but as a stop along our journey) at Psalm 30

Psalm 30 reads like someone’s journal entry that comes right after they finally feel like themself again after a long time of suffering. They’ve arrived after a long illness.

I can look back on my life and find times where I experienced great pain. Most or maybe even all of us have been through times of great pain in our lives. I can remember crying out to God and complaining about how I felt. Most or maybe even all of us have cried out to God complaining about our situation. I can remember asking for God’s healing and for God’s help. Most or maybe all of us have prayed to God for healing and help. As I look back I can see what things were like when they weren’t so good and what things occurred as things got better. And I mostly feel peace about it.

Mostly.

I also feel sadness that I feel like I’ve "arrived" at this great place after things weren’t so great. I feel sadness because I don’t feel like I savored the journey as much as I savor the arrival. When I first look at Psalm 30 I see a look back at the journey, but it is past and gone. There’s no celebration or lament except as it relates to "Now that things are all better."

I want to cry to God for help and to shout to God in celebration and know that in all the times of my life God is present. And I think if I look deeper into this Psalm I can find the thoughts of someone who feels the same way.

What if this Psalm was written while during someone’s life at a really sad point. What if it was written during struggle, fear and despair? What if the writer was looking forward to better times as if they were already true?

What happens if the time of the Psalm is adjusted?

I will extol you, O LORD, for you will draw me up, and will not let my foes rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cry to you for help, and you are healing me. O LORD, you bring up my soul from Sheol, restore me to life from among those gone down to the Pit. Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. For God’s anger is but for a moment; God’s favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. As for me, I say in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved." By your favor, O LORD, you have established me as a strong mountain; are you hiding your face? I am dismayed. To you, O LORD, I cry, and to the LORD I make supplication: "What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be my helper!" You turn my mourning into dancing; you take off my sackcloth and clothe me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I thank you forever.

I don’t think we ever really arrive – there is always something to experience – something to learn – someone to help – an opportunity to be helped.

I don’t think we ever really arrive – there is always more of God’s love to experience and more of God’s love to share.

And throughout this journey we are on – there is value and love in all our experiences. There is value and love for all – no matter who they are or where they are on life’s journey.

Organizations like Pathways to Promise understand that. They seek to remove the stigma of mental illness and to celebrate how precious all of God’s people are. They seek to teach us to welcome people who suffer from mental illness with God’s unconditional and extravagant welcome. They show us that God’s love extends to people at all points of life’s journey. Today we receive an offering to support Pathways to Promise.

Throughout the year we collect offerings for several missions we support here at Union Congregational Church – to show love for people no matter where they are on life’s journey.

The Christmas Fund helps provide pension and health premium supplementation to low-income retirees, emergency assistance to the families of clergy and lay employees and Christmas Gift Checks to hundreds of retired clergy.
CROP Walk raises funds for local hunger-fighting agencies as well as for the international relief and development efforts of Church World Service. The agency works in partnership in some 80 countries globally, and has offices in South America, East Africa, Southern Africa, Pakistan/Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Indonesia.
The Food Resource Bank engages the grassroots agricultural community, along with individuals, churches and urban communities, to grow solutions to hunger problems in our world.
Habitat for Humanity – offers home ownership to many who would otherwise not be able to buy a home.
Neighbors in Need supports ministries that address poverty, economic development, human rights, peacemaking, violence, racial and economic justice, environmental concerns, and public policy advocacy
One Great Hour of Sharing seeks to build sustainable communities, respond to disaster and to minister to refugees.
Safe Passage cares for those who have lived through and are in need of help due to violence in the home.
The Sandwich/Somonauk Good Samaritan Fund – Provides emergency assistance to those in our community.
Strengthen the Church strengthens and renews existing congregations. It funds leadership for new congregations. It provides exciting new programs for youth and young adults
Our own Angel Fund provides emergency assistance to our church family.

Please support these mission opportunities generously. We’re all on a faith journey – and we all need to help and be helped along the way.

This week’s sermon title is "You Healed Me." We have seen healing here in our congregation. But I believe that healing -- just like "arriving" is an ongoing process. We’re all experiencing it every day. So this week I simply would like for all of us to remember the new title for today’s sermon. Repeat it often in prayer: "God, you are healing me."