September 10, 2023

1 Samuel 7:10-14

Rev. Kristen J. Kleiman

Ebenezer, Rock of help.  After God showed yet again that God is with God’s people, that God protects God’s people, after God scared Israel’s enemy away and gave Israel the victory, Samuel took a rock and set it as a reminder of God’s mighty deed that had happened in that place.

We know how great God is; however like the Israelites, we often need to be reminded.  We often need reminders that God is with us each and every step of our lives, helping us, protecting us, providing for us.  Reminders that there are miraculous, wondrous things that only God can make happen, that only God can do.

I invite you to join me in praising God and remembering how amazing God is, in remembering the miraculous and wondrous things God has done throughout history, the miraculous and wondrous things God is still doing in our lives.

After each miraculous and wondrous deed that I mention, I invite you to respond with these words “What Only God Can Do”.  If you are feeling a bit more enthusiastic in your praise, I invite you to tap out these words with me. “What Only God Can Do”.  Respond in the way the Spirit moves you.

In six days, God created the heavens and the earth, the land and the seas, the plants and the trees, the birds of the air, the creatures of the oceans, the animals of the land – beautiful creatures like hummingbirds, mammoth creatures like the blue whale, curious creatures like the platypus, and faithful creatures like us.

Praising God, we give thanks for …..“what only God can do”

God promised Abraham and Sarah a land of bounty, a land of milk and honey.  God promised Abraham and Sarah more descendents that the stars, and even though they were long past the age to have children, even though they sometimes doubted and other times went astray, still God fulfilled God’s promises.  Still God continues to fulfill God’s promises.

Praising God, we give thanks for …..“what only God can do”

Despite the ways of the world, despite the world’s preference for the older, the richer, for kings and power brokers, God has always chosen the last to be first.  God has always chosen to work through those society overlooks.  Over and over again, God has chosen the younger sibling, the widow, the orphan, the vulnerable and outcast to be the instrument of God’s mission of love and salvation for the world.

Praising God, we give thanks for …..“what only God can do”

Throughout the generations, throughout millenniums of years, God has continuously freed God’s people from slavery, guided us through adversity, loved us despite our unfaithfulness, provided us with food for our bodies and wisdom for our souls, and led us beside still waters, restoring our souls.

Praising God, we give thanks for …..“what only God can do”

Throughout the generations, throughout the years, God has used ordinary people to do extraordinary things.  People like Moses, people like Esther, people like Simon Peter and Paul, people like us.  God has transformed common people into uncommon forces, changing lives and the world – all for the better.

Praising God, we give thanks for …..“what only God can do”

And each and every time we thought that the outcome was totally and completely dependent on us, God made the miraculous happen: protecting Daniel in the lion’s den, making a handful of grain and a little bit of oil last for days, feeding 5,000 with two fish and five loaves, healing the sick, and raising the dead.  Showing us time and again to trust in God, to have faith in God.

Praising God, we give thanks for …..“what only God can do”

From the beginning of creation, through the fullness of time, to this very moment, God has unconditionally loved all people, loved all of creation.  Loved us even when our hearts were hard and our actions were selfish and cruel.  Loved us and invited all people to humbly walk with God, to humbly walk God’s way of love, doing justice, loving mercy, creating peace, and sharing love.

Praising God, we give thanks for …..“what only God can do”

God’s love for us is so miraculous, so mighty, so amazing, that God chose to come to earth as a little, vulnerable baby, born in a forgotten corner of the world, all to show us the depth of God’s unconditional love.

God’s love for us is so miraculous, so mighty, so amazing, that God walked amongst us showing us in a way we could understand God’s Way of peace and love.  God’s love for us is so miraculous, so mighty, so amazing, that God sacrificed the Son, sacrificed God’s own self, and then raised Jesus from the dead, freeing all people from fear and death, promising always the gift of new beginnings, the gift of new life, the gift of God’s unconditional love.  Wow!

Praising God, we give thanks for …..“what only God can do”

This is our story as God’s people.  Our story of moments when God loved us, God helped us, God guided us, and created miracles in our lives.  This is our story of moments that only God could have made possible.

Each one of us has our own individual story.  Our own story as God’s beloved one.  Our own story of moments when God loved us, God helped us, God guided us and created miracles in our lives, of moments that only God could have made possible.

As God’s people did so long ago, during the remainder of worship or following worship, I invite you to create an Ebenezer ‘card’ to remind you of what God has made possible in your life, of what only God has done, of what only God can do.