2025.10.19 | When Earth Trembles
“When Earth Trembles”
Psalm 46 & Isaiah 58:6–12
Preached by
Rev. Dr. Marvin Lance Wiser
Eden United Church of Christ
Hayward, CA
19 October 2025
Yesterday, some of us prayed with our feet at the “No King’s Day” protest, standing alongside millions of others who believe that when the world trembles, faith must show up in the streets. I want to especially thank our Minister of Music & Evangelism, Pastor Ashley, and deacon Jeffra for helping our Eden church members be present in that witness. Many of you in the pews this morning were in the streets yesterday. And thanks for also coming out to our Fun Friday game night, where we could be still and goofy with one another. The goodies were delicious, and the costumes were great.
Friends, have you ever stood in a moment when the ground beneath you seemed to shift? Not metaphorically—but literally. The Bay Area knows something about that, don’t we? We’ve felt the jolt of a tremor, that quick reminder that what feels steady isn’t as unshakable as we like to think. Just this past week some of us participated in the Great Shakeout—Drop, Cover, and Hold on!
And yet, some quakes are not geological—they’re historical. They’re spiritual. They’re ethical. They’re moral. And it’s no breaking news that we’re living through one of seismic significance right now.
Across the world, systems that once seemed immovable are cracking. Wars in Europe and the Middle East, the unraveling of democracies, climate disruptions, economic instability, rampant racism, disinformation, polarization, and deep social division—all remind us that we are indeed not standing on solid ground.
We are living through what many are calling the unraveling of the post–World War II world order—the crumbling of a global structure that, for nearly 80 years, kept a certain kind of fragile stability—at least for some. The old assumptions about how nations relate, how economies function, how truth circulates—they are all trembling. And there might just be good news in some of that, for many of those very systems were and remain unjust.
And for many of us, this tremor is personal. The price of living rises alongside authoritarian regimes, our climate grows more volatile—just this past week a major report from 160 scientists from 23 countries warns that unless global heating is reduced to 1.2C ‘as fast as possible’, warm water coral reefs will not remain “at any meaningful scale.” The very fabric of both public and ecological life feels frayed. It’s no wonder that people everywhere are feeling anxious, untethered, even disoriented.
But the ancient poets of Israel knew something about tremors—both literal and spiritual. Psalm 46 begins:
“God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea.”
The psalmist doesn’t deny the shaking. They name it. They stand in the midst of the quake and proclaim: “Therefore we will not fear.”
That’s an audacious kind of faith—not naïve, not escapist, but deeply rooted. It’s the faith that holds fast when the headlines quake and power begins to shake. It’s the faith that listens for the still small voice even as the elements roar. It’s looking for God from the plankton to the planets.
And it’s that kind of faith Isaiah calls us to embody—not through interior escape or empty ritual, but through acts of justice and mercy, through becoming what he calls “repairers of the breach.”
Ayer, algunos de nosotros oramos con los pies en la protesta “No Reyes,” junto a otros que creen que cuando el mundo tiembla, la fe debe manifestarse en las calles. Y la verdad es que la tierra tiembla, no solo bajo nuestros pies, sino a lo largo de la historia. Las guerras, las crisis climáticas y el desmoronamiento de los sistemas globales nos recuerdan que lo que una vez parecía estable se está desmoronando. Sin embargo, el Salmo 46 nos recuerda que incluso cuando las montañas tiemblan, “Dios es nuestro amparo y fortaleza”. Esto no es optimismo ingenuo, sino valentía arraigada: la clase de fe que Isaías imagina cuando nos llama a vivir como reparadores de la brecha, construyendo justicia y misericordia incluso cuando el suelo aún se mueve bajo nuestros pies.
Isaiah 58 addresses a people who thought true worship was fasting and rituals, while ignoring the wounds of their society. They said all the right prayers, they bowed their heads, they were still, but the prophet demands action.
True worship, Isaiah declares, is liberative. It looses the bonds of oppression. It shelters the unhoused. It feeds the hungry, clothes the naked. It repairs what is broken.
It’s not about retreating from the trembling world—it’s about entering it as God’s partners in repair.
And here’s the kicker: Isaiah’s vision doesn’t wait for things to settle down. It’s not “repair the breach once it’s safe.” It’s repair the breach while it’s still breaking. Faith is not the luxury of calm—it’s the courage amid chaos. It’s in the midst of rupture that God calls us to rebuild.
To be a “repairer of the breach” means to plant gardens in the rubble, to feast amid fallen structures, build peace in the noise of war, to act in faith before the outcome is known.
Isaías 58 confronta a un pueblo que confunde el ritual con la rectitud, recordándoles que la verdadera adoración no reside en el ayuno ni en la quietud piadosa, sino en la liberación. La verdadera fe rompe las ataduras de la opresión, alimenta al hambriento, da cobijo al desamparado y repara lo que está roto. El llamado de Isaías es urgente: no espera la calma ni la estabilidad. Dios nos llama a reparar la brecha mientras aún se está rompiendo, a plantar jardines en los escombros, a construir la paz en medio del caos y a actuar con fe antes de que se conozca el resultado.
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, founder of Repairer’s of the Breach and organizer of Moral Mondays and the Poor People’s Campaign, reminds us:
“When the forces of extremism become so overwhelming that they depress the hope of the people, the prophetic voice and mission is to connect words and actions in ways that build restorative hope, so a Movement for restorative justice can arise.”
Dr. Barber calls our moment “a Third Reconstruction”—an invitation to rebuild our democracy and our moral imagination around the disinherited. And it should be the rejected, as it was with the rejected cornerstone, that must lead this movement for love and justice. We must stand, in the way of Jesus, against systems and policies rooted in systemic oppression. And “When we come together, we win.” Love wins. Amen?
Psalm 46’s trust and Isaiah 58’s justice are not two separate calls—they are one. Psalm 46 teaches us trust amid turmoil. Isaiah 58 teaches us justice as true worship. Together they call us to be trusting repairers rooted in God’s vision of liberative justice and equity.
To trust God is not to stand still in fear—it’s to center oneself to be able to move with concerted courage. To believe in God’s refuge is to in turn become refuge for others. To worship truly is to do justice; to love God is to love neighbor, especially the neighbor who trembles most when the earth shakes.
When the psalmist says, “Be still and know that I am God,” it’s not a call to perpetual passivity. It’s a call to root ourselves in divine presence so we can act in divine power not disorienting panic. Trust then doesn’t mean denial—it means deep rooting, and justice doesn’t equate with just rage—it leads to repair. Both are beats to a divine rhythm that lead to change.
Vivimos en una época de profundas rupturas: sistemas políticos que se resquebrajan bajo la polarización, brechas económicas cada vez mayores, colapso ecológico y comunidades fragmentadas por el miedo y la desinformación. En estos tiempos, la tarea profética es reconstruir la esperanza mediante la acción, surgir como un movimiento por la justicia restaurativa, arraigado en la compasión por los pobres, los desheredados y la tierra misma. La confianza del Salmo 46 en medio de la agitación y la justicia como verdadera adoración de Isaías 58 son un mismo llamado: ser reparadores confiados. La verdadera fe no se detiene ante el miedo; nos impulsa a actuar con valentía, a convertirnos en refugio para los demás y a actuar desde la firmeza divina en lugar del pánico, para que la justicia no conduzca a la ira, sino a la reparación.
When the earth trembles, individual faith is not enough. If the tremors of our age are isolation and fragmentation, the antidote is community—what sociologist Parker Palmer calls “the shelter of each other.”
Community is what holds us when everything else feels uncertain.
It’s what keeps us steady when the world spins.
It’s where trembling faith finds solid ground in the presence of others.
We need communities that embody both the Psalmists’ calm, power not panic, and Isaiah’s courage leading to action. Communities that repair breaches—not only in society, but in hearts, families, and neighborhoods. Our faith response to any type of shaking or quaking is “Be still, then show up!”
Here at Eden Church, we are not passive observers of shaking—we are participants in God’s rebuilding.
Every time we share food through Comida Para Cherryland,
every time we empower neighbors through the Eden Power Collective,
every time we welcome folks to the Newcomer Navigation Center, every time we gather youth in leadership, art, and song
every time we tell The Story of We,
we are repairers of the breach.
These are not side projects—they are acts of worship.
Each act of justice, each meal shared, each bridge built across difference is a living psalm, proclaiming: “God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved.” And in our case, God is in the midst of urban unincorporated areas as well. Amen?
If you’re interested in building and sustaining community amid the shaking and quaking of life, you’re invited to request to join the relaunch of our Spirit In Action group on Church Center, where in the coming months we will be able to collaborate in good trouble together.
Cuando la tierra tiembla, la fe individual no basta; el antídoto para nuestra era de aislamiento es la comunidad, "el refugio mutuo". La comunidad nos sostiene cuando el mundo da vueltas y arraiga la fe temblorosa en la fuerza compartida. Necesitamos comunidades que conserven la calma del salmista y la valentía de Isaías, reparando las brechas en la sociedad, las familias y los corazones. Aquí en la Iglesia Edén, no somos espectadores del temblor, sino participantes en la reconstrucción de Dios: a través de Comida Para Cherryland, el Colectivo Eden Power, el Centro de Navegación para Recién Llegados, el liderazgo juvenil y las artes, y La Historia de Nosotros. Estos no son proyectos secundarios; son actos de adoración, salmos vivientes que proclaman: "Dios está en medio de la ciudad", y sí, también en medio de las áreas urbanas no incorporadas.
Friends, we are living through a tectonic shift in history. But faith has always been forged in such seasons.
When the earth trembles, do not retreat—root.
When the world breaks, do not despair—repair.
When systems fall, do not flee—form community.
So let us be that foundation together.
Let us be repairers of the breach—not once it’s over, but while the shaking is still underway. And let us proclaim with the psalmist, even now, “The Lord of hosts is with us.” Amen.