The
steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they
are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. – Lam. 3: 22-23
Most
of you know that I love owls. Owls are a symbol of wisdom in the Western world.
This time of year, we see graphic representations of owls wearing glasses with
a graduation hat on their head and a diploma in their wing. Why the owl? Because
of its keen vision and ability to see in the dark, Greeks connected the owl to
intellectual insight. The owl was often depicted on the shoulder of Athena, the
Greek goddess of wisdom and war. Western culture has continued to symbolize
wisdom with the owl.
The
Sacred Teaching for this morning is wisdom. Indigenous knowledge represents the
sacred teaching of wisdom with Beaver. Beaver represents wisdom because it
uses it natural gift wisely for survival. The beaver alters its environment in
an environmentally friendly way and sustainable way for the benefit of his
family.
The
rest of the teaching, as presented in the Eastern Synod series explains: To
cherish knowledge is to know wisdom. Use your inherent gifts wisely and live
your life by them. Recognize your differences and those of others in a kind and
respectful way. Continuously observe the life of all things around you. Listen with
clarity and a sound mind. Respect your own limitations and those of all your
surroundings. Allow yourself to learn and live by your wisdom. (CRJ-Eastern
Synod Resource 2024)
The
approach to wisdom is markedly different. One symbol of wisdom is self-centred
and an intellectual pursuit, formed from a paradigm of conquest. The other
symbol of wisdom is other-centred and a using of gifts, formed from a paradigm
of community.
Beaver
as a symbol of wisdom has been gnawing at my heart since Synod Assembly was
addressed by Bp. Azhar from the ELCJHL and has since been amplified by today’s
reading from Lamentations.
Lamentations
is wisdom – Beaver wisdom- in practice. The book of Lamentations is a community
response to mass trauma. The Babylonian army has tramped across the land,
destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, disrupted a nation, and displaced thousands
of people. Lamentations is a work of blended voices, mixed emotions, and diverse
opinions of God’s part in world events. Lamentations doesn’t give answers.
Rather it is a space of lament - allowing a people, and individuals within a people,
to acknowledge and process their deepest thoughts, confusion, fears, griefs, desperation,
hopes, prayers - and to let it all out. Lament is the space given to cry to God
for help, to be angry and ask God why, to give up believing in God, to strongly
cling to God, to commiserate with God, to understand the situation as God’s judgement,
to see God suffering with the people, to repent, to speak hope, to concentrate
on maintaining faith in the suffering . Lament dances around the question of
whether God’s mercy, God’s steadfast love, never ceases, even when there is
war, violence, terrorism, displacement, famine. What is God’s role in these
events – creating them, allowing them, crying in them, railing against them; punishing,
saving some and not others, taking a side? Lament is the complexity of
perspectives and the inability of our theological understandings to make sense
of it all. Lament is human beings sitting side-by-side in complexity and
messiness without trying to fix anything, or make a statement, or provide a
theological answer to the situation.
And
in that mess, in the clutches of lament … what is the Good News, the common
denominator, the glue? … steadfastness.
Bp.
Azar, in his recorded address to our Synod, repeatedly used the Arabic word, Sumud.
It was the only Arabic word he used, which he followed with the English translation.
Sumud is an Arabic word literally translated ‘steadfastness.’ For Bp. Azar, Lutherans in the West Bank, and
Christians across the Palestinian Territories, sumud is a living cultural value.
The University of Harvard on-line ed. describes
sumud; [sumud] it captures a collective response to chronic adversity and a
people’s will to survive, endure, and remain connected to the land.
Bp.
Azar spoke with conviction of God’s sumud, God’s steadfastness; of the sumud
of the remaining Christians and Lutheran expression of church struggling in the
West Bank and East Jerusalem; and he spoke of sumud of the Eastern Synod and
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada --- our steadfastness in continued
prayers for them; sumud in standing side-by-side lamenting; sumud in encouraging
through social media and financial support; sumud – much, much sumud- in
praying for peace.
In
the words of lament, on the lips of Palestinian Lutherans: The steadfast
love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new
every morning; great is your faithfulness. … and on days when sumud seems
heavily shadowed or far away, the knowledge of the sumud of others, us, our
prayers, is the sumud that holds a people in continued sumud – and faith in God's sumud.
Friday
was the commemoration day of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons who died around 202. Augsburg’s
resource for this week, connected for me steadfastness and Beaver’s living of wisdom.
Irenaeus believed that the way to remain steadfast to the truth was to hold
fast to the faith handed down from the apostles. …One of the first to speak of
the church as ‘catholic.’ By catholic he meant that local congregations did not
exist by themselves but were linked to one another in the whole church. He also
maintained that this church was not contained within any national boundary. He
argued that the church’s message was for all people… (Sundays and Seasons 2024,
Augsburg Fortress)
Steadfastness
– sumud – is an embodiment of Beaver’s way of wisdom.
Faith,
church, is not a singular exercise to get ourself into heaven. Faith, church,
is not about an individual congregation preserving their building. Faith, church,
is catholic and spans generations. Faith, church, is lamenting with siblings, remaining
steadfast in faith, prayer, and support. Rms. 14 says: We do not live to ourselves, and we do not
die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the
Lord.
Use
natural gifts wisely for survival. Alter your surroundings in environmentally friendly
and sustainable ways that are of benefit to the whole family; be kind,
respectful, observe the life of all things around you. We do not live to
ourselves -
Bp.
Azar spoke of embodied sumud, quoting 1 Cor 15: 58 Therefore, my beloved,
be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know
that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.
These
words were used to describe the work of the ELCJHL and also a reflection and
continued commissioning of the Canadian church – Bp. Azar says to us: Therefore,
my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord,
because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.
God,
we watch and hear the news from the Middle East, from the land you walked in human form, and we lament. The footsteps of mercy and compassion you shared have been trampled in violence and hate. We give thanks for your sumud, to be incarnate among us; through the feet and hands of the ELCJHL and the Christian community to remain steadfast in showing mercy and compassion. We pray for our siblings, for Bp. Azar and his people, for sumud. And we pray for peace on the land and in the land; peace in hearts that have turned to stone; peace between peoples; peace in surrounding and intervening nations; peace in every grain of sand. We pray for peace.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. – Lam. 3: 22-23
Amen.
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