Today we have been asked to observe a National Day of Mourning. From the Governor General's message I understand this to be a day of mourning for those victims and survivors of the earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. It is right to mourn for the loss of life and damage caused by such terrible events. In our prayer today we will keep silent for a minute. This will be a mark of respect for those who have died, and a gesture of solidarity with the survivors.
Since the news first reached us we have prayed, in our daily prayers and in our Sunday and Wednesday services of Holy Communion. We have given generously to the appeals for help, both as individuals and as a community of faith. There have been multi-faith gatherings, benefit concerts, and sporting matches to raise awareness of the enormity of the disaster and to raise funds for the relief efforts. All this is good, and today we give thanks for the outpouring of generous love and help for our brothers and sisters in distress.
I say brothers and sisters because that is the great message of the Christian faith. Through Christ we have been given power to become children of God. In Jesus Christ we are united with all people in love. It is a loving thing to do to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep. And so it is right that we should be here on this day of mourning and that we look beyond our own lives to lives broken by disaster.
The tsunami brought terrible destruction to the Indian Ocean, but there is more to mourn over. Bushfires have taken lives and destroyed property in South Australia. Families have been destroyed by fire as well as water. Today we weep with those who weep.
It is also appropriate to weep with those whose lives are ravaged by warfare. There are mourners in Iraq, and in Palestine, in the Sudan, in Afghanistan, in Asia and in Africa. There are mourners, too, in the USA and Britain and Australia, mourning for soldiers and peace-keepers killed while on duty. Is it not right to weep with them as well?
And if them, what about refugees and our indigenous brothers and sisters and all victims of violence and discrimination? Surely if we wept with all of them, there would be a tsunami of tears.
But there is another reason for gathering together today. We are celebrating because the torrent of grief and sorrow has not overwhelmed us. We are celebrating because not even death can destroy us. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is God's promise that we are set free from all that troubles us. God is revealed in the human person of Jesus. In Jesus, God is saying, "See how the presence of God can transform human life. See how the love of God can change death into new life. See how the spirit of God can change cries of mourning into songs of joy!"
We began our worship this morning with a song of joy and we will end with a song of joy. In fact, in the last hymn the light of Christ is compared to the "ocean's tide, rolling in fullest pride." The description turns the dreadful tsunami, the flood of weeping, into the fullness of God's glory and love which fills the heavens and the earth.
The first hymn, "Praise, my soul, the king of heaven!" comes from the Bible, psalm 103. It is a song of joyful praise to God for three reasons.
First of all, God is faithful and loving, dealing gently with his children. God is compared to a loving father who wants nothing but good for his children. God does not raise earthquakes to destroy his children - earthquakes come from the natural forces of the earth.
Secondly, we give praise because God is caring. Human beings are fragile and easily destroyed. They make mistakes, they can be cruel as well as loving, they are born and they die. God knows this and cares deeply. God mourns for the death of his people, of his children.
Thirdly, God is eternal. God does not change, God's love does not stop, God's caring is always there, no matter what else may change; and so the song gives praise and thanks to God.
Our second song, which we will sing in a few minutes, also comes from the Bible, from the Gospels. It was written as if Christ is speaking to the grieving children of God, to encourage them, and to stand by them in their need. I can think of no better message for those we are thinking about today. Of course, those people need peace and security, shelter, medicine, food and water. Thank God that some of them at least are receiving what they need. But they need more than material thing, they need hope, new life, love and laughter; and they need a future. Our song is a song of joy because God can give these things. The song is a prayer, too; a prayer that God will somehow speak to the people who need to hear his voice. I would like those who are broken, lost and in pain to hear that God brings hope. I would like those who have lost everything to hear that God brings new life. I would like those who look in vain for the bodies of their loved ones to find companionship, love and laughter; and I would like those who have been forced to abandon their homes to find a new home in Christ.
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Elizabeth J. Smith
How are you broken, beloved?
Where are you lost and in pain?
I am your hope and your healing,
I am your starting again.
What are you paying, beloved?
What does it cost to survive?
I am the whole of your ransom,
I am your coming alive.
Why are you weeping, beloved?
Whose is the body you seek?
I am your love and your laughter,
I am the gospel you speak.
Where are you going, beloved?
When did your travelling start?
I am your source and your ending,
I am the home of your heart.
God of my joy and delighting,
Spirit on whom I depend,
Jesus, I'll come at your calling,
name you my lover and friend.