Psalm 86: 1-17

In the 1980's and about five or six years before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of socialist East Germany, I became acquainted with the pastor of Martin Luther’s church in Wittenberg, which at that time was a part of East Germany or the DDR (Deutsche Democratische Republik). Although the government’s oppression of the church did not typically take the form of physical harm, the governing forces did find a myriad of ways to make life harder for those who belonged to the church and professed faith in Christ Jesus as Lord. And they kept watch. The secret police, known as Die Stasi, were rumored to be everywhere. What made die Stasi the more dreaded is that it was not as though you could know who was working for them from something obvious like their wearing a certain uniform. Die Stasi were good at recruiting ordinary citizens to spy on their neighbors. For my pastor friend in Wittenberg and for his wife, after the Berlin Wall fell they eventually learned that neighbors of theirs who lived right across the street from them—and who they regarded as friends and good neighbors—had actually been spying on them for years and turning over anything they found to die Stasi. Their experience of disbelief, sorrow, and disorienting shock over this discovery was repeated all through East Germany once it began to come to light who had been spying on whom. For this pastor and his wife, they had known for years they had actual enemies in the government who shunned, pooh-poohed, and ridiculed their religious faith. They just had not known how extensive that network of enemies had actually been...

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, the “Fellowship of the Ring” consists of four Hobbits, two men, one elf, one dwarf, and one wizard. The Hobbit Frodo Baggins is the ringbearer who has to do what he can to get the dreaded and evil Ring of Power back to the only place where its evil can be unmade: the evil land of Mordor. But early on in their quest this Fellowship gets fractured and two of the Hobbits, Frodo and Sam, leave the rest of the group and disappear for months on end. The rest of the Fellowship, including the wizard Gandalf and the other Hobbits, Pippin and Merri, have no idea where Sam and Frodo are or even whether they are still alive. It had been ages since they had any clue of their whereabouts. There had been no news, no signs they were still OK and trying to fulfill their quest. But there is a wonderful moment—captured nicely in the Peter Jackson film—when Gandalf and the Hobbit Pippin run into Faramir who had only just recently encountered Frodo and Sam out in the wild. When Faramir catches sight of Pippin, the glint of recognition in his eye tells Gandalf and Pippin that this was not the first Hobbit Faramir had encountered recently. Indeed, he had just seen two other Hobbits named Frodo and Sam and for Pippin and Gandalf, this is the first sign in many weeks that Frodo and Sam were still alive. The look on Pippin’s face at this revelation is one of profound joy and wonderment. So it can be for believers when we, too, now and then encounter signs that Jesus is on the move, that the kingdom is advancing. The poet at the end of Psalm 86 prays that God just give him a sign. And when such signs of hope come, our joy is great!

includes “Gospel Medley” by Beyoncé Knowles, Kirk Franklin, and Richard Smallwood Performed by Destiny’s Child