It is not a nice feeling, living in chaos. Just ask anybody who has ever had their home destroyed by a natural disaster, or has ever lived in a war-zone. They can tell you a lot about chaos. Or there are those other, perhaps less dramatic events, that nevertheless are chaotic, such as the loss of a loved one, or being separated from a good friend, or moving, or a change in employment, or getting married. In modern terms, such events are referred to as "stress," but the effect that they have is to plunge our lives into chaos for a time. Any time there are big changes around us, the result can seem to be chaos.

As I was pondering the words of Psalm 46, it struck me how great the chaos is that is being described. The psalm begins with an expression of confidence, with the familiar Reformation Day words, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear,..." It sounds simple enough, at first, and quite comforting, but look at the chaos that follows! The psalmist is writing that we will not be afraid even though the whole earth changes. Even though there are mountains shaking in the sea with the water roaring and foaming all around them, we will not be afraid. Those are truly great and vast changes. We're talking about natural disasters that affect the whole earth. We're talking about BIG chaos!

Perhaps it is because of the greatness of the chaos described in this psalm that Martin Luther was drawn to its words and used them as a basis for the hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." He, too, lived in chaotic times. The society in which Luther lived was changing drastically. The Black Death had wiped out much of the population in some areas. The political systems which people had known were breaking down and power was shifting from the feudal lords to the towns and the nation states. As well, the church was experiencing a relaxing of morals on the part of the pope and a breakdown into groups with different emphases in their beliefs. In some ways, it doesn't sound a whole lot different from today!

Meanwhile, for Martin Luther, there was also chaos in his personal life. Having devoted himself to living the life of a monk after being narrowly missed by lightning, Luther's conscience constantly plagued him. He was never sure if he had done enough in order to merit God's salvation. Through this constant tug-of-war with his conscience and with God, Luther finally came to the realization that Jesus had already paid the price for his salvation.

One of the passages of scripture which led to this realization for Luther is our second lesson for today, from Romans, chapter 3.

These words were truly liberating for Luther, and he sought to share their liberating power with others in the church. But as he did so, he realized that the emphasis of the church on building up merit through buying indulgences and doing prescribed good works had totally obscured God's gracious gift to us in Christ Jesus.

As Luther sought to share his insight into the liberating power of God's grace, he found himself in direct conflict with the only church that he had ever known. Church leaders did not take kindly to ideas that would threaten the income that they received from the sale of indulgences and other means of securing forgiveness and salvation. From the marvellous insight into the nature of God's salvation that had at last brought peace to Luther's conscience, he was again plunged into chaos, as he found himself persecuted for his teaching and shunned by his church. It is no wonder that Luther would be drawn to the words of Psalm 46 that speak of such great and chaotic changes.

However, this psalm does not speak only of chaos.

In this verse, the river is not a force of chaos, but is a source of life, of safety, and of healing. In a vision of the prophet Ezekiel, this river is described as a river of life that flows out from the temple and refreshes stagnant water. Where this river flows, trees grow, and new life springs up in the desert. The trees that grow along the banks of this river give fruit for food and leaves that are for healing (Ezek.47:1-12). What a contrast to the chaos that went before it!

Instead of a raging and foaming sea, the waters of this river bring new life and healing. These waters are more like the waters of baptism. For it is in baptism that we die to sin and are raised to live a new life through Jesus Christ. It is our relationship with God that is healed in order that we might continue to grow and to be regenerated through God's Holy Spirit. It is an image of new life, of healing and of re-formation.

However, just as with Luther's realization of the power of God's grace, the story doesn't end here. We are not left simply to sit and bask in the beauty and the transforming powers of this river. There is still chaos that will confront us.

The psalm continues with national disasters.

Yes, "there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God," but there are still changes, and disasters, and revolutions. Reformation is a continuous process. God continues to make all things new. And, like the psalmist, we often move back and forth between confidence in God's strength and being swept up in the chaos that surrounds us. The refrain sounds in the midst of the chaos, "The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."

And why should this refrain bring us confidence?

"Stand up and look!" says the psalmist. Look at how powerful our God is! He has power even over the whole earth. How much more so does he have power over the chaos in your own life!

And how do we find out about this power? "Be still, and know that I am God!" There may be natural disasters or national disasters or any kind of chaos going on all around, but if we will take the time to stop, let things alone and be quiet, the confidence that God really is our refuge will become ours. You know, this sounds so simple, and yet is one of the most difficult things for people to do these days. Our lives are so often go, go, go, all the time and doing three or four things at once, and maybe trying to juggle work and family and friends and other commitments, that we often don't stop long enough to focus our attention on what God is doing in our lives and all around us.

I mentioned earlier the chaos that surrounded Martin Luther at the time of the Reformation and afterwards. For him, it was the realization that we are saved by God's grace and not by our own efforts that became his focus -- his anchor for all windstorms. And you can bet that it was only through a lot of prayer and many hours of study that Luther was able to realize the full richness of God's grace and take a firm hold of that hope.

I would like to invite you today to take the time, in whatever way works best for you, to think and pray about God's grace, which has come to you through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Perhaps you might want to take another look at today's lessons, and at the wonderful images of renewal, healing and liberation that are in those lessons. I am constantly amazed by the many different ways in which the nature of God is revealed to us in the Bible, and there is certainly enough material there in the Scriptures for a lifetime of meditation and study. I invite you to take the time to think and to pray, not only today, but every day, as a way of staying rooted in the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. The confidence in God's power and God's love that arises from such times will be enough to anchor us in any chaos.

Reformation Sunday Psalm 46 October 31, 2004 Rom. 3:19-28 St. Luke's Zion Lutheran Church Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore

? 2004 Lynn Hutchison Moore All Rights Reserved