One of my favorite verses in the Bible is John 11:35: “Jesus wept.” One reason I love it is that it describes the scene when word came to Jesus that his friend Lazarus had died. He responded to the news with spontaneous emotion. It is what one expects from a true friend. Little vignettes like this make the Bible believable for me. They make it real and true to life. Another reason I like the verse is that it is short. It is the shortest verse in the Bible. I am living a long life and I am glad for that. But I am coming to the conclusion that shorter is generally better than long in this world. I can remember the invention of the foot-long hotdog. It was a wonderful thing. I loved it because it was twice as long as the original. But the innovation of lengthening hotdogs never went any further than that. It is clear that to push that envelope would make the mustard and onions start falling off into your lap. Shorter in many things is better. If I could start over, I would make my sermons shorter for sure. Another short verse in the Bible that is a favorite of mine: “It came to pass.” This verse appears many times in the Bible, especially in the Hebrew Bible. It simply means, “It happened that….” But I have taken the liberty to think of it whenever something unfortunate, bad, uncomfortable or threatening arises. For instance, a storm arises and I console myself that it won’t last forever with a philosophical shrug and , “It came to pass.”

     This morning I turned on the news broadcast to get the latest news on the national and world economy crisis. My stomach churned as I then checked to see what effect the stock market crash has had on my pension fund. Not good. Then I thought of the anxiety and fears sweeping households everywhere. I remembered the story of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee: “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” I turned on my favorite recording of Charles A. Tinley’s 1905 song, The Storm is Passing Over, Hallelujah!. It is based on that Bible story. It restored my soul.

          “O courage, my soul, and let us journey on,
            For the night is dark, it won’t be very long.
            O thanks be to God, the morning light appears,
            And the storm is passing over, Hallelujah!

          “O billows rolling high, and thunder shakes the ground,
           The lightning flash, and the tempest all around,
           But Jesus walks the sea and calms the angry waves,
           And the storm is passing over, Hallelujah!

         “The stars have disappeared, and distant lights are dim,
           My soul is filled with fears, the seas are breaking in.
           I hear the Master cry, 'Be not afraid, ‘tis I,'
           And the storm is passing over, Hallelujah!”

     So, if you are distressed and anxious, trembling with emotion, remember this: that’s okay. Jesus wept. And as the Bible often says, “It came to pass.” It won’t rain always. And as the great African-American hymn writer wrote with the memory of the bitter season of slavery still fresh, “The storm is passing over, Hallelujah!” This too shall pass. The important thing is to keep Hallelujah alive!

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