Peace Beyond Understanding

In these unparalleled times for our nation and our world, I find myself at a loss for what best to say to you as my congregation. The assumption is that as a pastor, I should know.  I should.  As we now find ourselves cloistered in our homes to ensure the safety of the most vulnerable among us, a number of paragraphs have volunteered themselves for the printed page.  They have! Up until this point, they have been unsuccessful. Frankly, this word/communication angst is the same many pastors feel (if they are honest) in the weekly crafting of a sermon that will teach, inspire call to action (and countless other things)–a myriad of unique people with expressly varying views and needs. This work is forever an auspicious enterprise. For me, a vocation. Which is why I cannot shrink from it, even though I sometimes question my capacity for it.  For allowing me this place of vulnerability, I thank you. It is an act of grace.

Perhaps one way to approach this liminal space (boundary/threshold) in which we find ourselves is to keep things in proper perspective. Many folks before us confronted or lived through other crises: natural disasters, plagues, Civil and World Wars, the Great Depression, the Holocaust, 9-11 and more.  I can only imagine they too thought that life as they knew it was over. And in some ways, it was. Indeed, we have much to learn from history. Not to minimize the place in which we find ourselves, it is apparent by report, that we are in an unprecedented global pandemic. Truly in all its beauty, world travel, global economies and modern medicine have their challenges and limits. We are not invincible after all.

It occurs to me that learning to view life in a new way is not entirely a bad thing.  In a world that rushes ever on with us and despite us, I want these moments, these days, these months ahead to wash over me in a fresh way.  Admittedly, I pray for the church that they might do the same.  We presume far too much both as individuals and as the Church that things will forever remain the same. Christian history will tutor us to this effect!
As we face these gravitas days ahead as both individuals, families and the church, may we keep in mind that it is the simplest of things that may bring the greatest comfort: a virtual barbecue or Bible Study with friends over Zoom.  Surrendering to a social distancing stroll at sunset. Pulling out our almost dried up art supplies and tackling a new canvas. Preparing a meal together with the family and actually sitting at the table together to enjoy it.  Dusting off a book we keep putting off.  Learning to use an on-line giving app for the church and other needed causes because we convinced ourselves it was simply too difficult to understand. Sending thank-you notes, texts or phone calls to every medical professional we know, given their sacrificial front-line work on all our behalves.  Remembering all High School Seniors who will miss their prom this year and likely their Graduation ceremonies, college grads too!  Then there’s our salaried teachers and hourly workers in the school system to consider. Pray for national capacity to continue delivering education in a myriad of safe and creative ways. And then, let us not neglect to check in with friends, and neighbors whom we know have lost their jobs and do what we can to be there for them.

And may we learn to harness this fortuitous time as a way to expand the reach of the Gospel and community connection, both in person and virtually.    As Rick Warren said in his now classic book The Purpose Driven Life, “the gospel never changes, but the means by which we deliver it, changes with every generation.”    

Moreover, let me encourage us to continue practicing the disciplines of the Christian Faith, both ancient and contemporary monastic practices, that have been our focus each week in worship (now on-line) and will continue to be so through Easter.

1.  Lectio Divina. The prayerful reading, meditating and contemplating on Scripture for it’s devotional and life-changing value. Just read the text and sit with it. Let it speak!

2.  Humility. What does it mean, even in our earned accolades, to put another’s needs above ourselves and to refrain from calling attention to or taking credit for something? Let us resurrect random acts of kindness among us and discover the job of silent blessing!

3.  Manual Labor (or any labor). What does it mean to see work as a gift?  As a way to grow closer to God and others?  How can we bring an atmosphere of ora et labora (prayer and work) to every task, no matter how important?  How might that revolutionize the way we view and do work?

4. Rest or Sabbath.  What does it mean to take intentional and regular time apart from labor to focus on the Divine, on the gift of life, family, food, creation, music etc…? How do we let our Sabbath, as practiced of old and anew, become a gift both to our lives, those around us and to our Creator?  What creativity might grow out of the isolation, quiet and refrain of these days?

6.  Hospitality.  And especially in these times, how can we practice the ancient act of Christian hospitality in a world of social distancing?   What does it mean to be hospitable with our words as well as our actions?  What is the greatest act of hospitality ever shown to us?  How can we “pay it forward?’

7.  Stability.  What does it mean to face each thing, each person in our lives (this situation notwithstanding) with unflappable faith and resolve? 

With a peace that passes understanding ~ Philippians 4: 7
A different kind of peace that the world gives?  ~John 14:7
To welcome each new day with an assurance that “God’s mercies are new every morning?  ~Lamentations 3: 22-24

And that “yea, though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death [or the throes of a global pandemic] that the Almighty is with us?  And that God’s rod and staff, they comfort us? ~Psalm 23

Dear friends, these are the things that remind us who we are and whose we are. We belong to God, who told his nail-biting disciples then as now:

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them [the virus or otherwise]  for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you” ~Deuteronomy 31:6. 

Who assured us we can “cast all our anxiety on him, for he cares for us!”~ I Peter 5:7

How auspicious, the timing of this pandemic!  As one brutally honest FB meme has reminded many this week that “when we said we would give up something for Lent, this is not exactly what we had in mind!!”

In closing, I invite us to hear these compelling words from the book of Esther in an on-line Zoom Bible Study that I began with interested congregants this past Monday. (Let me know if you are interested and I will send you a link to join us!)

When Queen Esther questioned if she was up to the task of saving her Jewish people in the face of her own fear and royal subterfuge, her cousin Mordecai called forth her courage with these words:

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”  ~Esther 4: 14

Who knows?  For such a time as this, how might God call upon and truly impress upon us, what it means to trust unswervingly in his faithfulness?  To do a bold and unthinkable deed on the behalf of God and others?  Finally, what might it mean to accept God’s otherworldly peace in our deepest places of anxiety?  A peace that defies our greatest capacity for understanding?  Surely, this is the place where faith can be found.  Let it be so!

With Unbounded Hope,

Pastor Michelle.