Selah
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
November 3, 2019
Psalm 46 (NRSV) Pew Bible: p. 450
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
6 The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord;
see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
Probably because of all the photos I post of the beautiful sunrises on social media, many of you know that each day after I get Sue and the boys off to work and the bus, I take my morning walk. It has become a sacred and centering time for me. The cool air and vigorous walk clear my brain and allow me the needed time to reconnect with nature, my neighbors, and the Creator God I thank for it all.
Often as I walk, I find myself giving thanks for my family, my life, and this Meeting that I not only consider my faith community, but that I have the honor and privilege of serving each and every day. I also often remember those suffering from illnesses or suffering with mental, emotional, or physical pain, and I take a moment to lift their names to the rising of a new day filled with hope.
One day this week as I was walking, I had a moment of divine clarity and direction. Like George Fox before me, I felt God was speaking to my condition and even the condition of our Meeting. What came to mind was not a long message, detailed directions, or even a vision – rather it was simply one word: SELAH.
Now, before I explain that word, I want to give some context. When I started our current sermon series, It’s Time to Get Moving: Quakerism for Today back in September, I knew God had stirred me to wrestle with some heavy topics and craft a set of teaching sermons to address the brokenness of Quakerism and the needed direction for its successful future. I knew the series would speak to more than just First Friends – and it has – as I have received messaged from other states and even countries.
Please understand, after two years of conversations and integrating our family into this Meeting, I have learned a great deal (by no means everything) of the great diversity on so many levels here at First Friends. I deeply value that diversity and what it offers us as a body. Just facilitating the conversations in Seeking Friends each week has been a clear eye-opener to the spectrum of beliefs that this place holds. Many in that class can attest to the beauty of our differences and the importance of learning from each another. As well, attending Yearly Meeting events over the last couple of years have also at times been eye-openers and often left me wondering where First Friends fits in and our place in the future of our Yearly Meeting. These are just a couple of the reasons why I was (and continue to be) hopeful that these sermons could help us transcend our beliefs, and institutional structures, and find a way here at First Friends to “get moving” and keep the vigor and excitement around this place fresh, challenging, and growing.
One thing I have learned in my 25 years in ministry is that sermons can be conversations starters, as well as, fire starters. It is typical with any diverse group, that some sermons and conversations will take time to process. Let’s admit it, some are hard and need time to percolate and brew in our hearts and among us. It is very similar to Quaker Business or Waiting Worship when we need time to pause and reflect on what we have just heard, so the words can settle into our hearts - the very reason we often sit in silence for a time before someone else speaks.
I believe it has been extremely clear when talking with many you throughout the week that First Friends has a hunger for deeper conversations, for deeper thinking, and even deeper relationships among us and within our community. But as I have shared openly from my own journey, this deeper path often takes time.
During the current sermon series, I have used the analogy of migration and making a needed move in our thinking or beliefs – but even migration takes seasons - geese flying south don’t arrive in a day as we would flying in a plane.
Thus we need time to chew, time to reflect, and time to query about our own responses and beliefs.
That being said, I am also very pleased to see the actions and conversations that have already begun during this time. I have been humbled to be part of so many conversations of healing that have taken place as we have grappled with difficult church history, our understanding of God and faith, and finding the Quaker Way rooted in Love.
I am moved by the desire of many in our meeting to actually do something tangible like address the safety of 5G networks, or start a discussion on how we can make a difference with payday lending in our own Glendale neighborhood or seek ways to use our property to preserve our ecological priorities and continue to teach our testimonies. These are just a few of the many conversations and actions that have begun in the recent months.
Now, let me return to Selah. The word Selah is used 74 times in the Bible in only two books – Psalms and Habakkuk. It is a mysterious word that has no specific meaning. It often appears in more lyrical or poetic verse, because many believe it was a liturgical or musical mark. Scholars consider it an instruction for the musician or reader to stop and listen or take a needed pause to reflect on what happened just before or the words prior to the pause.
To receive this word as I walked the other morning was not alarming, but more affirmation that we have been doing really hard work. We have been wrestling with difficult, but important things, and our cups are full and overflowing…and this includes my own.
So, this morning, I am declaring Selah on this sermon series. It is time to stop and listen, it is time to take a needed pause to reflect.
Please note: that does not mean that the final 5 sermons are being scrapped or I am going in a different direction. We will return and finish them in a new season after the holidays – after taking our Selah.
For those in the meeting that are ready for more, or those online waiting for the next sermon to drop, I am simply asking you to pause, listen, and reflect. For those who attend or listen occasionally, maybe take some time during November to go back and listen to the sermons you missed. They were meant to build on each other while laying a foundation for us as a thriving progressive Quaker community. Folks, First Friends is a unique and special place. I believe (as many of you do) that we are the face of a new kind of Quakerism that can take us into the future with hope and stability. Also, if you return to the messages or reflect back over the last couple months, take some time to reflect on your own responses to these messages, what stirred your passions, what rubbed you the wrong way, and why?, what response did they inspire? And then find sometime to have a conversation with someone (maybe someone different than you at our meeting) or make a coffee date or lunch with me or Beth to discuss what is being stirred up in your heart. As I said when speaking at FUM’s Stoking the Fire this summer, “Having conversations are vital to the survival and growth of Friends. When we stop having conversations and assume we have it all figured out then we begin to die.”
So, let us enter our Selah today – take time to reflect, listen, and pause and see how God has been and continues to speak to you and us as a community.
Queries to Ponder:
Where do I need to stop an listen or take a needed pause in my life?
What is being stirred in my heart?
What is rubbing me the wrong way? And why?
In what way am I being led to respond?