“God: Our Refuge and Fortress.”

Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16

May 10, 2020

Sermon by Rev. Caela Simmons Wood

First Congregational UCC of Manhattan, KS

There are a pair of thrashers who have made a nest in front of our house. Every day, our kids watch them and report on their well-being. One of the birds is always at the nest because there are two very small eggs that need to be protected. The two parents-to-be take turns guarding the lives entrusted to them. And they are serious in their protection. No one is getting near that nest - not on their watch. 

The thrashers remind me of the words of the psalmist: “Be a strong refuge for us, O God. Be a strong fortress to save us.”

Psalm 31 is a psalm for war-time. A psalm full of lament and anxiety. A psalm of trust. 

A desperate plea for God’s protection and refuge. 

Which is to say...it’s a psalm for today. 

As the battle against COVID-19 continues, other battles are close at hand. We fight for good information. We argue with loved ones who refuse to listen to science. We push back against white supremacy, toxic masculinity, and idolatry which tries to convince us that the stock market matters more than human life. 

Many of us are exhausted by our anger. Our sense of helplessness. 

We NEED large-scale cooperation to defeat the virus and these other problems. But instead we are, once again, separated into factions, looking across the chasm at those who disagree with us. Shaking our heads and wondering how they can believe what they believe. 

On this Mother’s Day, as I watch those thrashers guard their nest, I am thinking about how much of mothering is about protecting. In our sacred texts there are many references to God doing just what those thrashers are doing in front of my house. Spreading her wings over us, protecting us. 

“Be a strong refuge for us, O God. Be a strong fortress to save us.”

I watched an interview earlier this week with a woman named Wanda Cooper Jones. She is the mother of Ahmaud Arberry. Her son, who was Black, was killed while out for a run in Georgia back in February. Two white men chased him down and shot him. Despite the killing being caught on tape, no one was arrested for his death until just a couple days ago. 

Ms. Cooper Jones spoke about her son’s dreams and how much unrealized potential is now gone. She said she remembered bringing him into this world and spoke of the pain of watching him leave it. As I listened to her, I saw her mothering wings spreading out over her nest in protection. And I saw the wings of God spread out over Ms. Cooper Jones in protection. 

“Be a strong refuge for us, O God. Be a strong fortress to save us.”

Mother’s Day is not a Hallmark holiday just reserved for telling our mothers we love them. Of course, if you are fortunate to have a mother that you love, you should thank her for all she’s done for you...not just today, but every day. And if you have other people in your life who have protected you, nurtured you, loved you, guided you...well, today’s a good day to thank them, too. 

We know, of course, that Mother’s Day can bring complicated feelings. There are those who desperately wish they could become mothers but are unable to do so. There are those who have lost their mothers and those whose who have painful relationships with their mothers. There are the mothers who have hurt their children and wish they could undo the harm. There are women who have no desire to become mothers and chafe at the ways we can idolize motherhood in our society. 

And there are those who are in the thick of mothering themselves (which has been particularly thick these past few months, you know) who struggle make it through the day...often with very little support from wider society. 

It can be a hard holiday….so however it hits you today, I hope you will be gentle with yourself. Celebrate the parts that make sense and let the rest go. 

I always like to go back to the roots of this holiday, which wasn’t created as a day to make Mom breakfast in bed. Instead, it was a radical anti-war protest and a global call for peace. Julia Ward Howe wrote the original Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1872, If you’ve never read it, I commend it to you. 

Ward Howe called for mothers around the world to band together and boldly fight against war. She called all mothers to build a world of peace for all people.And so, for me, Mother’s Day is about the ways we all work for peace in our world. Doesn’t matter if we have children or not, or what our gender is. This day is about the ways we commit ourselves to spreading our wings over whatever corner of the world we live in and promising to protect one another. 

That image of a bird spreading its wings over vulnerable young ones is an image of comfort right now. With so much chaos swirling around us, we are finding we need to double-down on spiritual practices that connect us deeply and intimately to God, who is our refuge and strength. 

If we have any hope of staying centered and collected these days, we are finding we need to trust in something much larger than ourselves or our human leaders. The language in Psalm 31 is decidedly military. A battle is being waged and the stakes are high. And so the psalmist speaks of utter and complete trust in God, the protector. “Into your hand, I commit my spirit. Let your face shine upon me. Save me in your steadfast love.”

This psalm is a prayer from a human to a God who is intimate, close, and steadfast. 

The God we see here is the One who never stops hovering over us. This God never leaves our side, even when the battle threatens to overwhelm. This God draws us beyond ourselves when the chaos threatens to make us small-minded. 

This God, our rock and fortress, gives us strength for each day so that we can get up again and again...and keep loving loudly. This God is the one who calls us to radical trust and acceptance of God’s love, not violent lashing out at our enemies. 

This God’s strength strengthens us….so that we can spread our own wings - created in the image of God. 

We can spread our wings far and wide and say to one another, “I’ve got you. I’m staying with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. We are in this together. We will stand together, work together, cry together, celebrate together, love together, fight together. We will not let anything become between us. 

We will remember that each and every person is created in God’s image and we will honor them. We won’t rest until all are protected. We will do what it takes to care for one another. We will denounce violence and hate when we see it. We will cry out for justice. We will proclaim that all are beloved in God’s sight. 

We will work together to dismantle systems that harm. We will create a world where people of every race, culture, nationality, age, family configuration, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, and socioeconomic status are valued and protected from harm.”

When we feel the big, strong, sheltering wings of God reaching out over us….that’s when I think we find the strength to dig deep and spread our wings over one another, too. 

I’m not going to say it’s easy. Because it’s not. There is much danger in the world right now - not just the virus….but hate, misinformation, misguided leadership. To protect one another we need many, many sets of wings all spread out at once. 

We need to spread our wings wide and far. And we need to take turns watching the nest so that others will be able to take breaks from the work. 

But I believe we can do this. Because we can do all things through Christ, who gives us strength. 

And I believe we are called to this work. Because we are made in the image of God. The God who spreads her wings over the whole world, never backing down. 

“Be a strong refuge for us, O God. Be a strong fortress to save us.”

May it be so. Amen.