Ministers Desk March 11 2012

Last week we commenced a series of sermons called the Land Between.  Using the journey of the Israelites across the Sinai peninsula, we're asked to think of our own journey through a time of transition.  We are in the Land Between when the old and familiar has passed away and the new has not yet been established.  The land between can be a time of great uncertainty and anxiety.  It is often in the Land Between that we feel most isolated.  It is also when others are in the Land Between that we often are unsure of how to relate to them.  We might feel inadequate, we might be unsure of what to say or we may be anxious about upsetting someone else and making them feel worse.

Yet it is the nature of God's church that we be a community of care and concern.  We grow stronger and deeper in our faith as we are able to connect with others in the troubles that they are going through.  Paul in Romans tells us to "mourn with those who mourn."

In the book of Job we read of Job's journey through his own Land Between.  Right at the beginning of the book we read "when Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was" (Job 2:11-13).  Considering the words that were uttered when they did begin to speak, this act of solidarity for those seven days was probably the best thing they did for Job.

We too can give a similar gift to our friends as we sit with them during their time in the Land Between.  Often we can't make things better, but we can alieviate the isolation.  We can pray with them and for them.  We can provide a shoulder to cry on.  I am very grateful to the many people in this congregation who are active in caring for each other.  Many of this care is unseen and unacknowledged.  Yet it is all the ministry of Christ and his church.