October 26, 2025 "Where is God in the midst of tumult?"

Reformation Sunday

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Psalm 46

Romans 3:19-28

John 8:31-36

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ grace and peace to you from the one who is our refuge and strength. Amen

Two questions

Two questions always seem to arise in the midst of tumult

Where is God?

And What do I do?

When the earth moves beneath our feet

whether literally or metaphorically,

especially when things as seemingly solid as mountains tremble,

we cannot help but respond

 because this shaking has disrupted our lives

and the lives of loved ones,

 throwing into question things that we thought we knew

 in ways we never anticipated

So we wonder ‘what do I do?’

 what do I do to steady my life, the life of my loved ones,

the life of my people, creation?

 Can I do anything?

 And Where is God?

 God could surely do something.

 So how about it God, where are you?

 And in our distress

we look high and low

 and as we thrash about

our questions seem to go unanswered

 causing further distress.

God is our refuge and strength,

 a very present help in trouble,

the psalmist cries out

 even while describing the troubles that God is in the midst of,

at least geographically it’s a fairly comprehensive list,

high points, low points,

country and city,

 God’s creation and human systems,

 all in uproar.

This week it struck me

just how much movement the psalmist uses

 to describe the tumult,

 the earth be moved,

 the mountains shake,

waters rage and foam,

mountains shake in the depths of the sea,

 the city shall not shake,

the nations rage the kingdoms shake,

 the earth melts away,

 all unsettling movement.

And in the midst of all this movement,

a word from God:

“Be still, then, and know that I am God.”

Into the middle of earthshaking change

 God calls us to pause and focus on God.

There’s a prayer practice connected to this verse

 that I have found helpful over the years,

 a way of praying this that is calming and centering,

If this feels familiar I have done this in a sermon before

 but I think it is well worth repeating

 It’s very simple,

 we will pray starting with the word ‘Be’

and gradually add each subsequent word

until we’ve said the whole verse

 and then we’ll subtract a word and end on ‘Be’,

you’ll see when we do it,

 and with each set of words

 I invite you to inhale as I say the words

 and exhale when I finish.

Not only is the spirit of God found in the breath,

 controlled breathing is especially good for calming anxiety.

Close your eyes if you like

Inhale Be exhale

Inhale Be still exhale

Inhale Be still and exhale

Be still and know

Be still and know that

Be still and know that I

Be still and know that I am

Be still and know that I am God

Be still and know that I am

Be still and know that I

Be still and know that

Be still and know

Be still and

Be still

Be

Be still, God urges,

 and in the stillness,

 in the pause in the chaos

 we discover the answers to our frantic questions right before us.

Where is God?

God is right here,

with us,

 as close to us as the air we breathe,

the beating of our hearts, 

We heard in our first reading God promise to make a new covenant with the people

and this time God says “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people”

God writes the new covenant on the people’s hearts,

it is part of who they are.

 Just as God has washed us in the waters of the font

and traced the cross of Christ on our foreheads.

Just as Christ comes to us,

becomes a part of us,

in the bread and wine, his body and blood. 

This is where God is.

and in the stillness we rediscover God

 and in rediscovering God,

we discover what we are to do,

join God in the work of God,

because God is at work

 “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Jesus tells the crowds gathered around him, asking him what should we do?

Jesus has been teaching,

there are many words from Jesus

 but more than that Jesus is the word,

 and in his actions we find the way to live.

 Jesus, God

 who set aside the power of God to become human,

who lived the full experience and range of emotions,

sought out those on the margins

 to bring them abundant life in whatever form they most needed,

whether it was healing, food, or hope,

Jesus whose way of life was so powerful

as to be considered dangerous to those in power,

so they put him on a cross,

a cross which Jesus the word went to

 for the sake of love of the world

 love so strong death could not contain it,

 and rising on the third day

he affirmed everything that he had said and done before

and told his disciples,

go and do likewise,

go love the world.

Where is God in the midst of tumult?

If we pause and still cannot seem to find God in the stillness,

next we look to the suffering,

and there as on the cross, Christ will surely be,

so what do we do?

 We join him,

we bring whatever love and life we can offer

trusting that in the words of that old spiritual

 “He’s got the whole world in his hands”

 and hopefully some of the weight on our shoulders lifts

 because we on our own do not have to save the world

 we don’t even have to save ourselves through our actions,

Jesus has already done that.

“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

This was the discovery,

the rediscovery that set Luther on his reforming path,

the realization of the grace of God

that even though all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

we are now justified by grace as a gift,

a gift that is received by faith,

 trusting in God that it is so.

 Christ has set us free

 free to do whatever we want?

 By no means,

rather we are freed to love and serve our neighbor,

to turn our attention outward

 to all the relationships that God has created and called good,

freed to participate with God

in the mending of the universe,

bringing about the kingdom, the way of God.

Luther calls this a paradox,

 two statements that seem to contradict each other

 and yet both are true,

 in his paradox of the freedom of a Christian He says:

 “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.

 A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”

Anything we do

 is done in response to what God has already done for us,

 if we welcome others

 it is because we have been first welcomed by God,

 if we connect to others

 it is because God has already connected with us in love,

 if we serve others

 it is because God served us,

not because God had to

but because God loves us

and offers us the welcome, connection, service as a gift and promise,

 a gift we receive by trusting that God keeps the promises God makes,

 that God is first faithful.

God has already done the work,

God continues to do the work,

 God is alive and active in our world

 whether we perceive it or not.

so, though the nations rage and the kingdoms shake

be still

be still and know that God is our refuge and strength

a very present help in trouble. Amen