When Life Hurts

Sermon series: Getting It Together, Part 4

October 2, 2011

Psalm 143

Psalm 143

Hear my prayer, O Lord;
   give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;
   answer me in your righteousness. 
Do not enter into judgement with your servant,
   for no one living is righteous before you.


For the enemy has pursued me,
   crushing my life to the ground,
   making me sit in darkness like those long dead. 
Therefore my spirit faints within me;
   my heart within me is appalled.


I remember the days of old,
   I think about all your deeds,
   I meditate on the works of your hands. 
I stretch out my hands to you;
   my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.


Answer me quickly, O Lord;
   my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
   or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit. 
Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
   for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
   for to you I lift up my soul.


Save me, O Lord, from my enemies;
   I have fled to you for refuge. 
Teach me to do your will,
   for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me
   on a level path.

Basic Point:

As we struggle to recover from trauma and adversity, our faith provides a crucible that transforms these experiences into positive growth and wisdom.

Why am I preaching this series on Wisdom entitled “Getting It Together?”

Personal experiences of persons who have gone through traumas –

Over the years while serving churches I have had the opportunity to hear about the many struggles, adventures and mishaps that people have gone through over the years.

WW2 survivors in congregations

Traumas extend beyond catastrophic and acute – can include ongoing abuse, car accidents, firing from a job, etc.

Wide range of responses, but not everybody becomes incapacitated. Many people display resilience and some even can move into wisdom. One very interesting recent development in psychology has to do with the varying responses people have to traumatic stress. A particularly revealing area has to do with people who develop or display resilience in the face of tremendous trauma. There is actually a lot of literature regarding it, but what is illuminating is the significant role that personal faith and faith communities play in developing resilience. These general factors can be summed up as follows:

·      Self-knowledge and insight. – truth-telling of one’s life and events that have impacted you, tell the truth about your actions and behavior, see connections between actions and how they affect others

·      A sense of hope based in an understanding of how the universe works, religious faith supplying the Big Picture

·      Healthy coping involving sense of humor, problem-solving capabilities, maintaining a locus of self-control and control over situations where that can be appropriately exercised

·      Strong interpersonal relationships, and a community of support and accountability

·      Personal perspective and meaning derived from religious faith and spiritual practice

Reiterate wisdom process and key role of faith.

·      Know your Big Picture, how the universe is put together, Who put it together

·      Tell the truth of your life in context of that Big Picture

·      Identify experiences of injury, trauma and seek healing

·      Integrate these experiences into your life and help others from your unique experience.

Recall Hero’s journey: encountering fantastic forces and triumphing. You may recall that when I started this series on wisdom, I compared the spiritual journey towards wisdom with the Hero’s journey as described by Joseph Campbell: “The hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

The traumas and pain we encounter in life are just these fabulous forces to which Campbell refers. The journey is not easy. It is full of pain, challenges, much of it not of our own choosing. In Christianity, we talk about “trials.” It is such a common part of the spiritual experience that Jesus taught us to pray to be spared if at all possible: the phrase in the Lord’s prayer, “lead us not into temptation” can be translated as “save us from testing, or from the time of trial.” Every era in human history has been a time that tries people’s souls. In this morning’s Psalm reading, the Psalmist is crying out to God for deliverance from some intensely difficult time he or she is going through. “For the enemy has pursued me,
   crushing my life to the ground,
   making me sit in darkness like those long dead. 
Therefore my spirit faints within me;
   my heart within me is appalled… my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
   or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit. 
Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
   for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
   for to you I lift up my soul.”

Life wounds us in many ways. Where are we to find healing? How are we to live in a way that doesn’t repeat the tragedies and abuse and terror of life? Jesus was all about healing and restoring people to wholeness, physically, emotionally, spiritually and socially. That is what he did every day. He practiced and taught a path to wisdom and healing. Every page of the Gospels are filled with stories of how he brought the word of hope. The Big Picture he taught was that God is Love. Love designed and rules the universe. We can have access – direct access to that Great Heart of Love. He reached out and touched people in their pain – lepers, outcasts, people crippled in body and soul. He brought healing, restoring them to their families and communities. He said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. I do the works He sent me to do.” Each person he healed told him their story, the truth of their lives. They named the pain, and in that naming discovered the source of their healing. They sought healing, and Jesus healed them. God wants our wholeness. God wants to heal our injury and pain. God wants to help us integrate our experiences into our lives in a way that not only will we get our lives together, but also in a way that we can help others.

Healing from traumas and the pains of life is possible, with help, support and appropriate practices.

Close with words from hymn:

Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,


Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.


Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;


Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.

Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,


Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure!


Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,


“Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot cure.”

Here see the Bread of Life, see waters flowing


Forth from the throne of God, pure from above.


Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing


Earth has no sorrow but heaven can remove.