Calling and Waiting in the midst of Grief

10th August 2025 Preached by Penny Pullan at All Saints with Holy Trinity, Loughborough

Readings for Proper 14 Year C

Genesis 15.1-6

Hebrews 11.1-3,8-16

Luke 12.32-40

Father God, in our waiting and our hoping, We pray that you would speak your word of life to us today, through your living Word, Jesus Christ, and in the power of your Spirit. Amen.

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How are you?

How are you really?

For me, I’m feeling a jumble of mixed emotions today. Our friend Marek has died. For those hearing this news for the very first time today, I know it will be a shock. We will miss him very much.

As we gather today in the light of that news, let’s allow God to speak to us through the Scriptures. We want to hear God’s living message of comfort and hope in our grief today, and God’s call to faithfulness and readiness in our waiting.

These readings are particularly pertinent today - reminding us that even in uncertainty and pain, God’s promises still hold true. Our part is to keep the faith, stay ready, and keep our hearts open to the One who is always with us, even through waiting, and hard times.

As I stand here, I’m very aware that this message is for me and for all of us. It feels as if I have one foot in grief… and the other planted firmly in hope. I suspect I might not be the only one.

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Let’s start with Abraham from our Old Testament reading. Back then, he was still called Abram. God had promised him, back in Genesis 12, that his descendants would become a great nation. When we meet him in our reading, many years have passed. Abram is troubled.

He is still waiting. No promised descendants have arrived — not even one child. Could he really still keep believing in God’s promise, when it all seems so unlikely?

In the story, God takes Abram outside under the night sky, full of stars glistening: far too many to count, and God says, “So shall your descendants be.” It’s a breath-taking moment, with the majesty of creation reminding Abram of God’s promise, but also who God is – the creator of all of those stars! No child has yet been born, but somehow Abram dares to trust again. His faith is renewed. And God calls him righteous because of his belief.

Years later, Abram will be renamed Abraham, and, eventually, in God’s time, in his old age, a longed-for son will be born.

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Our New Testament lesson from Hebrews 11 calls this faith: ‘the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen’.

Abraham by faith kept going, even when the promise had not yet arrived. By faith, he kept talking with God, even when the waiting hurt, right through until he was a very old man. He kept faithfully holding on, for years and years, until his hope was finally realised.

I wonder if that resonates with you?

In a sense, we’re all waiting. We’re waiting for God’s Kingdom, even as we hope for it and work for it. We know it’s not here yet in all its fullness, but one day it will be. Things are still messy and sometimes things happen that make no sense at all.

Perhaps you know what it is like to hold on by faith when your heart aches or you can’t see how God’s promises will unfold for you?

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Into our mess and uncertainty, in our Gospel passage, Jesus speaks gentle words of reassurance to us all: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

‘Do not be afraid’ is not a demand to pull yourself together, in a stiff upper lip sort of way. Instead, it’s full of tenderness: Don’t be afraid because God holds us and the future in God’s loving hands.

We are not alone. We are held by God. Have faith!

God met Abraham in the midst of uncertainty. And God meets us too, by faith, especially in the waiting, and Jesus reminds us not to be afraid.

I wonder if you have noticed in your life how God can meet us and shape us in long seasons of waiting?

I know I have.

Perhaps you, like me, have waited a long time for something: a breakthrough, an answer to prayer, a sense of clarity or calling?

Maybe you, like me, have known false starts, closed doors or moments when you’ve wondered if you’d misheard God altogether. But the truth is that we also experience times when hope is renewed, faith is rekindled and God’s purpose becomes clearer, just as it did for Abraham.

This happened for me recently. After years, indeed decades, of waiting, wondering, doubting, trusting, and exploring a possible call from God, I was recommended for training for ordination a week ago. God willing, in a few years’ time, I will serve as a self-supporting priest alongside my normal work.

I’m really glad to say that I’ll be staying here at All Saints for another couple of years during training. Like Abraham, I’ve learned that God doesn’t tend to work to our own timelines and plans. Waiting can really test our faith, yet God is faithful, even through the waiting.

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Our Gospel story adds an important perspective on how we should wait: That waiting shouldn’t be passive.

Jesus says that we are to be dressed for action and have our lamps lit. We need to be ready, watching, full of hope, even as we wait.

Shakespeare put it well in Hamlet: ‘readiness is all’.

Like Jesus, we are encouraged to show faithful obedience, ready and prepared for whatever God asks of us. For some of us today, that readiness is being very active. But for others, especially in times of grief, that readiness is simply keeping our hearts open to God and daring to have faith that the promised Kingdom will one day be fully here, the waiting will be over and there will be no more tears.

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So, whether you are weary today, or full of joy… whether you are grieving, or giving thanks… (or indeed, both, as I am) whether you are in the midst of waiting, carrying unanswered questions, or rejoicing in prayers fulfilled… know this:

You are seen.

You are loved.

You are not alone.

Have faith.

Wait for God’s time.

Be ready.

And remember — readiness isn’t about frenetic activity; it’s about hearts awake to God’s presence, hands open to serve, and lives willing to follow when God’s call comes.

Hold fast to this: The God who calls you is faithful — keeping promises from age to age.

The Christ who redeems you walks beside you — guiding you through the darkest valleys, even the shadow of death. The Spirit who sustains you is closer than your own breath — pouring peace like living water into what feels like cracks of your soul.

So come to Communion, ready to meet this God: to taste and see the hope of the Kingdom in bread broken and wine poured out.

For God is faithful, and God is with us, even here, even now, in the grief, and in the waiting. 

Amen