Ebenezers
November 23, 2014 | Patrick Preheim

As a young lad when I sang verse two of “Come, thou fount” I always wondered about raising an Ebenezer.  “Who is this Ebenezer?” I wondered.  The only Ebenezer I knew was Ebenezer Scrooge, and with his crusty attitude he seemed an unlikely sort to be raised up.  It was relief, therefore, when I finally learned that Ebenezer is actually a composite of two Hebrew words:  eben (אֶ֣בֶן) and ezer (עֲזָרָ֥).  The two words stand apart in the Hebrew text whereas many English translations collapse them into one word.  As it turns out Samuel took a stone, set it up, and called it “rock of my help” as a way to remember the saving presence of God in his life.  He sees the rock; he remembers God. This made so much more sense to me than some 1st century opaque prophecy referring to The Christmas Carol.  Samuel, you, me, all of us—we are drawn to memorials and concrete rituals which help us remember God’s saving presence in our lives.

The Bible is one such rock for me.  I was reminded of that this past Monday at our Deacon Board meeting.  2nd Corinthians was read as an opening.  Paul wrote the Corinthians: “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”  In the reading it dawned on me, again, that we should not be surprised at hardship in serving God, Jesus, and his church.  The Corinthians, Romans (8.35ff), and communities receiving Fist Peter (1st Peter 2.13ff) each faced suffering.  Why, then, do I assume life should be easy?  Why do I mope if church people question or criticize, or if family tax my reserves?  I come undone when I lose my stones which remind of God’s help.  I tend to fall apart when I fail to pray, when I no longer sing hymns, when I neglect scripture.  When we read the bible we are reminded that God is bigger than it all.   God is bigger than epidemics, bigger than conflicts, bigger than hardships, bigger than our self-pity.  Scripture is a rock and we need to touch this and like Ebenezers to bring spiritual stability to our lives.

Remembering our loved ones can be a rock of help for us.  Here I am not thinking of a sentimentalized pining for those who have died.  Rather, I mean an intentional reflection on the grace of God which has been mediated through those who have predeceased us.  These (point at tree) are the ones through whom God has shaped us, through whom God has taught us the deeper truths, through whom God has loved us into the people we are.  The reading of names on In Memonriam Sunday or a memory tree remind us of God’s ministry through the generations.  They are wonderful Ebenezers which ground us in God’s care from age to age.  These Ebenezers touch us every time we speak their names.

Communion is another memorial to God’s rock like help in our lives.  It is a ritual, an Ebenezer, which testifies to spiritual truths.  In communion we remember again that God loves us enough to die for us.  We remember again that God loves humanity enough to raise the dead.  We remember again that in Jesus Christ we have a High Priest who has in every way been tested as we are tested and stands beside us (Heb 4.14-16).  We remember again the church’s calling through the ages to feed and tend the sheep of God (John 21.15ff).  Communion has been celebrated through the centuries, across the nations, and in all denominations.  It is a ritual which points to the unity of the church even when our diversity makes unity seem implausible.

So let us continue to raise our Ebenezers in our worship life together.  Let us not cease to read and reflect on God breathed scripture.  Let us regularly remember God’s providence to us in those who have gone before us.  Let us enter joyfully and intentionally into the mystery of God’s communion with us and our world marked in the breaking of bread and taking of the cup.  Amen.