Just keep going

  Scripture Mark 13:24-37.  NRSV   

But in those days, after that suffering,

the sun will be darkened,

    and the moon will not give its light,

25 and the stars will be falling from heaven,

    and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

26 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. 27 Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35 Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, 36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

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Today is the first Sunday of Advent. It is the first day of the Church year, which is, as most of you know, the calendar I pay the most attention to.  I have been known to completely miss national holidays.  So, we have Advent candles, Christmas decorations, and music we only hear at this time of year.  

Today is also the Sunday we were supposed to be back in our sanctuary for in-person worship.  Sadly, that was not possible.  In Fresno County, as in much of the country, the number of cases, the percentage of positives out of all the tests given, the number of hospitalizations - all of those numbers are going up, making it much less safe to gather in groups.  To give you a picture of what that looks like - in the seven day period that ended on Thursday there were 85 new cases in Selma.  The week before there were 69 new cases.  The week before that there were 50.  It is good to stay in and stay safe.  It is an act of love to stay in and stay safe.  

So, Advent.  This year the first Sunday of Advent is bookended by Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  It is without a doubt the busiest shopping time of the year, with the possible exception of the day after Christmas.  Even this year.  Retailers are reporting unexpectedly high sales especially in things like decorations and items to make being at home more comfortable, more entertaining.  I would like to remind you, however, that Advent is not just the Christmas Shopping Season.  It is a season of waiting and preparation.  And yes, buying Christmas gifts, baking and sending cards is preparing, but during Advent our focus is preparing for the coming of the Child and the second coming of Christ - both at the same time.  This year we are focusing on prophecies around both of these events.   

Today’s reading from the Gospel according to Mark speaks of the end of days, that day when all persons will be judged, both the living and the dead.  That is the day the Son of Man, the Messiah, will return in glory and gather to himself all his people from everywhere in the world.   The belief among the Jewish people of Jesus’ time was that upon death each person goes to a waiting place, which they called Sheol.  And there they would stay and wait until that last day, when (according to the Pharisees) all would be resurrected in the body and brought into God’s presence.  (The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection, rather that everyone would remain in Sheol for all eternity.)  Jesus speaks of the signs by which we would know that the end was near.  He said that this generation would not pass away before that time came.  His disciples assumed that meant it would happen during their lifetimes.  That didn’t happen, so we fall back on only God knows when that day will come.  Jesus tells his followers that, as they had no way of knowing the actual date of his return, it would be best if they just stayed ready all the time.   Over the time of his earthly ministry he made that point repeatedly, as in the parable of the bridesmaids in Matthew, and the sleeping doorkeeper in this passage.  Later Paul would caution the churches he established to be prepared, even to the extent of remaining unmarried and celibate until that day came, because he, too, believed Jesus would return soon - next week, a month from now, possibly in a couple of years, but soon.  In 1 Corinthians he says - if you are married, stay married.  If you are a slave, serve your master. If you are not circumcised do not seek circumcision.  Just keep going as you are, until the end.  For at the end is glory.

If you read my Daily Journal on Facebook you know that I have been focused on this topic lately.  Especially the “we don’t know what is coming next” part.  I dislike not knowing what’s coming next.   Really dislike it.  I like to plan stuff way in advance if at all possible.  I mean, I am currently planning my sermons for January.  I’m trying to figure out what Ash Wednesday might look like in Covid time.  I know what these things entail under the circumstances I have known since I started attending Treasure Coast Christian Church in Florida.  But now?  When I don’t even have any idea when we will be worshipping in person again . . . We have decided that we will return to in person worship the Sunday immediately following Fresno County’s return to the next tier of restrictions, but that gives us less than a week to completely shift from online to in the sanctuary while live-streaming the service for those who for whatever reason do not attend in person.  Like, maybe you live in Texas (Hi Allyson, my niece!)  So I’m a little freaked.

I mean, never mind the end of the world.  I just want to know when I can go get a pedicure. I want to know when all of this will be over.  Jesus says, be alert.  Keep awake.  Be ready all the time, because we have no idea when that time will come.

I am in good company at not knowing what our future holds.  Scientists and medical folks can only give us their best guess about what to expect, as they’ve never done this before either.  Dr Ngozi Ezike, Director of the Illinois Department of Health, said in a recent interview, “Tomorrow remains to be written and we are all its authors.”  Whatever happens down the road comes as a direct result of what we do today.  If we are prepared for what happens, if we just keep going, keep slogging through the difficulties and uncertainties, then just as the bridesmaids who tended their lamps and the doorkeeper who stayed awake to wait for his master had their hopes fulfilled and their vigilance rewarded, so too will we.  

Thomas Merton expressed hope in times of uncertainty this way: 

My Lord God,

I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

nor do I really know myself,

and the fact that I think I am following your will

does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you

does in fact please you.

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,

though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though

I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me,

and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. 

Amen

Jesus said be alert. Keep awake.  Just keep going.  Walk forward in hope.  

The Lord will make a way somehow, and see us through.

That would be enough

Scripture. Psalm 100. NRSV

1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Worship the LORD with gladness; 

come into his presence with singing.

3 Know that the LORD is God. 

It is he that made us, and we are his; 

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. 

Give thanks to him, bless his name.

5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, 

and his faithfulness to all generations.

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Good morning.  It is Thanksgiving Sunday.  Usually Thanksgiving brings to mind traveling, spending time with family and friends, maybe helping to serve a meal to those who don’t have anywhere to celebrate.  Giant turkeys.  We focus on all the blessings we are thankful for, the things we have received during the year. . .

In 2020, things are not as they usually are.  We are not supposed to gather in large groups, so those big family dinners probably aren’t going to happen live and in person.  Which may actually be a relief for some of you, depending on your family.  You won’t have to worry about family arguments over politics, religion, or who makes the best green bean casserole.  Or masks.   Even Black Friday is going to be different this year.  I don’t do Black Friday shopping so I don’t care, but a lot of people do and they will miss it.  Retailers will miss it.  

Speaking of family arguments, you may be involved in the annual discussion over when to put up the Christmas Decorations.  Or you might be one of those folks who has decided to put yours up extra early this year, because we need that - we need the sparkles and the lights and the joy, and even the glitter right now.  IF you are one of those and you took pictures or videos during the process or when you finished,  please send some pix to Jordan this week.  (Mine will be going up later this afternoon.) Also - if you want to help decorate the church - be there next Saturday November 28 at 10 am wearing your favorite mask.

This year, 2020, has been - how do I say this politely? . . .  2020 has been a year full of anger and arguments, social unrest, political turmoil, and Covid19, which itself has caused some of that anger. 12 million Americans have tested positive for Covid.  254,000 have died.  Small businesses are failing, tens of millions are unemployed, food banks are overwhelmed, all charitable organizations are overwhelmed, and there is no help in sight.  We can’t gather for worship, and we really miss that.  We are so tired of staying home!  And let’s not forget the huge, record setting, deadly wildfires and hurricanes and tornados. Apart from the nationwide and worldwide crises, we are going through individual trials and challenges which may or may not have been exacerbated by the pandemic.  How on earth are we supposed to be thankful with all of that going on?  

We are not the first to ask that question.  The exiles in Babylon described the feeling in Psalm 137.  “ . . . our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy.  How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in foreign land?”  They had trouble seeing hope, seeing any way forward. They felt as if what they were going through was going to last forever.  It wasn’t, and the prophets tried to tell them that.  The prophets tried to tell them repeatedly that when the time was right, a savior would come along and liberate them from captivity.  We know that all the people of Israel were exceptionally bad at listening to the prophets.  But seriously, no one in the history of the universe who’s going through stuff wants to hear, “This too shall pass.”   From anybody.  Ever. 

But . . . in 2020, in this terrible horrible no good very bad year, this congregation has welcomed new babies and celebrated a couple of weddings and enjoyed some pretty excellent worship services on YouTube. This congregation has demonstrated our love for one another by putting health first, even though we long to be together, abiding by the restrictions imposed by the State and County.  This congregation has continued to feed the hungry, and has reached out to the homebound in new ways.  And in the pandemic - because of the pandemic, animal adoptions have risen.  People need companionship and if they can’t get out and others can’t come in, bringing a fur baby into the house fills that need for the human, and saves the life of the animal.

When we look over our own lives and situations, there is so much to be grateful for, even in 2020.  I think you all know I am in the habit of writing a gratitude list daily.  Aubrey also does a gratitude list, which she posts on Facebook, and I am grateful that she does.  Some days I whip through 10 items I am grateful for as fast as I can type.  Some days each thing takes forever to come up with.  On those days when I struggle, I often write down those things that I kind of take for granted most of the time.  I woke up today. I live indoors. Clean clothes.  My needs are met. I can read. Coffee (Always. Always coffee).  I am grateful for the people in my life whom I can call when I need help.  I can pray. Not one of those things is caused by or in any way affected by Covid19, climate change, politics or any of the other. 

One of the drawbacks to recording these messages in my living room is the lack of .... well, you.  Sometimes I feel that lack more than other times.  Today is one of those times when I really miss having you right there (pointing to spot in front of me).

Because today, on Thanksgiving Sunday, we are celebrating all the things that we have received.  Today our reading is Psalm 100 . . . and Psalm 100 tells us that God is good.

Now, I know that if we were together in the sanctuary, and I said God is good, some of you would say All the time.  And when I said, all the time, you would say God is good.  I might have to repeat that a few times to encourage you to speak up as if you really mean it, but you would respond.  Because God IS good . . . all the time. And if that was all we knew about God  . . . that would be enough for us to be singing God’s praises.

But we know more than that.  We know that God made us.  And we are God’s people.

We know that God is the shepherd and we are the sheep of God’s pasture.

And that would be enough for us to enter the gates of the Kingdom with thanksgiving.

But we know more than that.  We know that God’s steadfast love lasts for ever, and God’s faithfulness extends to all generations.  And that would be enough for us to enter God’s courts with praise.

We know even more than that.  We know that God so loves the world that Jesus was sent to live among us, to teach us about God’s love and forgiveness, to demonstrate God’s Grace, to prove God’s power over everything - even death.  And that would be enough to lift our voices and bless God’s name so that the whole world could hear.

Ok, I know y’all are just waiting for me to say it . . . But wait, there’s more! 

There is SO much more. The blessings poured out upon us by God’s hands are without measure.  When we are aware of them and grateful for them, we are living in God’s house, God’s courts, God’s kingdom.  And one day in God’s house is so much better than thousands of days anywhere else.  On this Thanksgiving Sunday, give thanks and praise to the Lord, Come into God’s house with joyful songs, for God is good . . .  all the time.

Rise Up!

 Scripture. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 NRSV 

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 

4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. 6 So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; 7 for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since  we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. 

11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

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Message   Rise Up!

Good morning!  It is another bright and beautiful Fall morning.  Or at least, I hope it is. I recorded this on Saturday so I have to rely on the weather forecast to be accurate.

In my life, this week is all about celebrations.  Today, November 15, is my 5 year anniversary as pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Selma.  Thursday, November 19 marks 31 substance-free years in 12 Step recovery.  I consider both of these events to be life changing, even life saving.  But I’ll write about that somewhere else.  

Although, you know this passage does talk about the difference between drunk people and sober people . . .

One of the differences between drunk people and sober people is that drunk people are almost entirely focused on themselves - their feelings, their desires, their needs.  It’s not that they are asleep, exactly. More like sleep-walking. Now Paul may or may not have been referring to people who were actually drunk, but he was certainly talking about those who were perfectly happy just doing what they were doing, living their lives as they always had, who didn’t want to hear about having to make changes in the way they looked at and lived in the world, even though the end was near.  His audience would have understood that because, after all, drunks pretty much like to do things the way they want to, and when they are asleep no power on earth can wake them.  And there were a lot of people who were not ready to hear the Good News, or that the kingdom was at hand - any more than we want to believe that guy who carries the sign saying “Repent!  The end is near.”

Now remember, Paul and pretty much all the other Christ followers truly believed that Jesus was coming back within their lifetimes - any minute. After all, in talking about the End of Days Jesus had said, “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these thing have taken place.” (Matthew 24:34). So he told the congregations to act as if the end was coming today, or tomorrow, or next month.  Whichever, when it did come they needed to be ready.  They needed to already be living the way Jesus had told them to, not putting anything ahead of their salvation.

In Act 1 of Hamilton. . . . yes, I am a Hamilfan.  I’m pretty sure some of you are too . . . Kathleen.  David.  Katie.  Anyway, in Act 1 John Laurens, Hercules Mulligan and the Marquis de Lafayette are having a drink or three, toasting the Revolution, when Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton come in to the tavern.  They get in a conversation about the need for a Revolution and John Laurens asks the musical question, “When are these colonies gonna rise up?”  Aaron Burr said he was going to wait and see which way the wind blew.  He’d hang out with the guys, but he wouldn’t fully commit until he was absolutely certain he was picking the right side.   

And you know, that’s kind of the attitude Paul was talking about.  Not people who didn’t know about Christ, cause they didn’t know so they couldn’t make a decision for Christ.  But people who had heard and thought, yeah, well, maybe.  I’ll show up, hang out with everybody.  But, you know, everything is fine right now, it’s all good.  And I don’t wanna give up stuff.  I like going to the pagan festivals.  They’re fun.  When I see the signs that the End is coming, then I’ll make the changes in my life. 

These are the ones, these are the people who are of the night, and will be asleep when the Day of the Lord comes.  Meanwhile, Paul said, “encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you are doing.”

Now, I don’t know when the end is coming.  As Jesus said, no one knows except the Father.  And time doesn’t have the same kind of meaning for God as it does for us, cause there’s that whole God is eternal thing.  I imagine it would be like us losing track of what day it is. You know how it is. “Wait, how did it get to be Friday already?”  Well,  for God it would be like, “Where do the millennia go?”

So, yeah, I don’t know when the end is coming, but I do know that we all ought to live as if this is the last day before the Day of the Lord.  And I gotta say, we’re not. Not even close.  I’m sure some people are, but have you turned on the news?  Or checked your email? Or looked at Facebook or Twitter or Parler or Instagram?  There is some really ugly stuff out there, and people are rejoicing in the misfortunes or reported misdeeds of others.  People are spreading gossip which, like all gossip, may or may not be true.  And yes, as far as I am concerned, “fake news” from either side is just gossip, but gossip intended to hurt someone.  I have seen ugliness and name calling even from other ministers - I mean really hateful stuff - from both sides.  OK?  Both sides.  Hate speech abounds.    I see comments and memes every day that are explicitly racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic and just plain ugly in political posts and religious - Christian - posts.  And let’s not even mention posts about the pandemic.  

I’m pretty sure Paul would have a hard time saying, “encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you are doing.” today.   But this is what we are supposed to be doing - encouraging and building each other up - loving each other - NOT calling each other derogatory names. It is not ok to call others names because you disagree.   And I am pretty sure that names like rethuglican and libtard are not loving in any understanding of the word “love”.  

Look, I get that a lot of people are not happy right this minute.  And it is perfectly ok to be not happy about a situation.  It is not ok to be ugly, to be un-Christian about that situation.  Even if they started it . . . you do not have to finish what someone else starts.  Even if someone else is doing it . . .just because someone else is doing it . . . you’ve all heard that one, right?

I don’t know when the end of days is coming, but I do know “...the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” and we need to be ready because . .  “you are all children of light and children of the day . .  [and] since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” 

Let us put on the breastplate of faith and love.  Now.  Let us put it on now, so that we are ready.  Don’t wait until it looks like the End is actually near, because we all know that it could be here right now for any one of us.  

“Keep awake and be sober.”  Getting sober isn’t easy.  It requires a desire to do something different, to live in a new and often confusing way. It means waking up to the world as the world is, and choosing to respond to the world in a radically different way than we ever did before.  And making that choice that every day.  Choosing to wake up every day.  Choosing to rise up every day.  Choosing to respond in the way Jesus taught us to.  Returning love for hate.  Giving your enemy water when they are thirsty.  Turning the other cheek.  All that good stuff. 

Lest you think that I am suggesting you can’t get angry, or respond to the ugliness at all, let me tell you about my friend Sandhya Jha.  She is the director of the Oakland Peace Center, and she does battle with ugliness every day - the ugliness of racism and economic oppression, and so many other forms of ugly.  And she does get angry, but never ugly.   She does battle with hatred and oppression by speaking truth, even to supporters of these causes who don’t quite get that they are still part of the problem. She does it by teaching and dragging the rest of us there blinking our eyes, wondering how we could have missed that, and realizing we must have been asleep.  We are not as woke as we thought we were.  So we keep waking to new things, new realizations, new realities, and new choices.

In this very difficult time, and it is a very difficult time, our work is to return love for hatred,  peace for anger.  Our job is to “Encourage one another and build one another up.”   Our job is to love one another.  Let us Sober up!  And Wake up!  And Rise Up!  

Rise up, you saints of God.

But we’ve always done it this way!

 Scripture. Amos 5:18-24.   NRSV

5:18 Alas for you who desire the day of the LORD!  Why do you want the day of the LORD? It is darkness, not light; 19 as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake.   20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

21 I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.  

22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. 23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps.

5:24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.

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Good morning.  Just in case you are one of the people who is having trouble keeping track of the calendar while staying at home, it is November!  It maybe has only felt like November weather the last few days but it is indeed November.   November plays host to a number of important days - Daylight Savings Day, All Saints Day, Day of the Dead, Election Day, Armistice Day aka Veteran’s Day, and Thanksgiving Day.  And I suppose some people also consider Black Friday and Cyber Monday to be important days.  Ooh, they’re going to be different this year.

Pretty much everything has been done differently this year.   One of the benefits of that is that from this point on we will not be able to say, “But we’ve always done it this way!” because whatever way that was, this year we did it differently.  

The people of Israel - the people of the Northern Kingdom, not Judah - were enjoying a pretty good life in about 750 bce.  They had defeated an enemy and were pretty sure God was on their side.  They were doing what they had always done since they had broken away from Judah, except for the whole worshipping in the Temple in Jerusalem thing.  They built their own Temple, which of course the people of Judah thought was blasphemous.  They were following the Laws of Moses, sacrificing burnt offerings and incense to God, and prospering. Then comes Amos up from Judah to tell them that they needed to make changes.  

He pointed out that the rich and powerful were oppressing the poor and needy of their land, overworking and overtaxing them, ignoring the suffering of the widows and orphans.  He said to them, “12  I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins—you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate.” He gave them an option - they could avoid the punishment the Lord is going to inflict upon them if they embrace good instead of evil, and establish justice in the Lord’s name. But if not, beware.  Because they would call upon God for help, and there would be no help.   They believed that if enemies threatened, they would call for the Day of the Lord to come, the day when they expected God would smite their enemies, as happened over and over throughout the time of the Judges.  and Amos said to them, “18 Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord! Why do you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness, not light;”

The day of the Lord is mentioned in the Bible over twenty times, and refers to a day at some future but unknown time, when the people of the earth will meet God's judgment. For those who are in opposition to God, who deny any need for God’s mercy and grace, that day will be a terrible day of battle (Isaiah 2:12; Isaiah 13:6; Ezekiel 30:3; Revelation 16:14), which they are doomed to lose. The day of the Lord is almost exclusively painted as a day of destruction, darkness, and division, during which even the earth itself will suffer.  Even the people who think of themselves as God’s people will be judged, and they won’t get off lightly.

It was pretty common for God to offer the disobedient the opportunity to repent.  Sometimes they did - Ninevah did.  Sodom and Gomorrah did not.  Given their track record, Amos was pretty sure the tribes of Israel would not hear his words, would not change their ways.  But they were given the chance, because God is always willing to offer another chance . . . 

The people of Israel - the 10 tribes that rejected the rule of Solomon’s son -  were descendants of Abraham, after all, God’s chosen people, followers of the Laws of Moses . . . They were pretty sure they were doing all they were required to do - sacrifices, incense, festivals, burnt offerings, various rituals - the things laid out in the Law.  (Except for the whole worshipping in Jerusalem thing.  And the having other gods thing, but they had Solomon’s example to follow there . . . )   And even though God said through Amos, “I don’t want your sacrifices and burnt offerings and festivals. I don’t want your praise songs!  I want you to do justice! I want you to act right.” they kept doing what they’d always done, because they’d always done it that way.

Amos was not the only one to carry this message to Israel.  But no matter what the prophets said to these leaders, they would not change.  Because they would not believe the prophets, because they would not change, twenty-some years later they were defeated by the King of Assyria.  The rich and powerful were taken from their land, the poor scattered, the land re-settled by other people, who had been taken from their lands in previous Assyrian wars of conquest.  And the Northern Kingdom, Israel, was no more.  Because they insisted on doing what they had always done, the way they had always done it. 

In addition to all the special November events I mentioned earlier, November is known as Gratitude Month.   There is just so much to be grateful for - even in the midst of a pandemic, even in the midst of a very fractious election season. 

We are grateful for the rain . . . because it is raining, and we really need the rain.  The leaves on the trees in my yard were brown - from dust, not because it’s Fall.  Now they are green again.  Between the rain and yesterday’s wind storm the air is clean today.   It is supposed to rain all weekend.  For this we can be very very grateful.

We are grateful for Jordan and the Quarantine Qrew.   I can’t begin to tell you just how much work they all do to make sure worship happens every week.  It’s more than just singing or running a camera.  Jordan does much of the worship design, music selection, and most of the techie stuff.  He has been on a really steep learning curve for months now, they all have, and I would give them an A+ for the quality of the worship experience they bring us every week.  For them, we are grateful.

We are grateful for our Elders, who have stepped forward to do new things.  They knew how to serve at the Table, but not how to get themselves recorded while doing that. They have been writing beautiful invitations to communion, and learning how much time to leave for the folks at home to partake of elements before they pray.  Along with the Board, they’ve become proficient with Zoom and attended webinars on how to deal with the pandemic restrictions.  For the Board members and Elders of our congregation, gracious in the face of change, we are grateful.

These things and many others are things we have never done before.  And when we come back - hopefully on November 29th - worship will look different than it has in the past.  Even different from our virtual worship. Even different from past Advents.  We will be doing things we have never done before, and we will not be doing some of the things we have always done.  We will share the Lord’s Supper, but it will not be distributed to us by deacons.  We will sit in pews, but maybe not the exact one you have been sitting in for decades, and we will be sitting 6 feet apart from anyone we don’t live with.  We will have music, but we will not sing.  The order of service will be different.  There will be no bulletins.  We will have our temperatures taken.  We will wear masks.  We will not hug each other.  We will offer our gifts, but in a box in the narthex instead of the offering plate.  It will be substantially different from the way we have always done it.  But if Amos is right, and I am sure he is, God doesn’t really care that we do these things exactly the way we have always done them.  God cares about justice, and mercy, and right acting - righteousness.

So we continue to do the other things we have always done, the things God cares most about  - helping the people who need our help.  Reaching out into the prisons, the homeless community, and the Selma convalescent hospital.  Feeding the hungry through Selma Cares and our food ministry on Thursdays - and Christian Cafe when that re-opens.  Supporting missionaries, providing help for people who have been impacted by fires and earthquakes and hurricanes.  Providing scholarships through the Christian Women’s Fellowship. Standing firm against racism and all the other forms of hatred that separate God’s people.   We will continue to welcome all persons into our midst - physically distanced and masked, yes, nevertheless all are lovingly welcomed here in heart and spirit - and all means ALL. 

If we continue to serve as God’s hands and feet in the world in these ways and new ways we haven’t thought of yet, carrying the Good News of God’s kingdom on earth, loving one another as God has commanded us to do, forgiving those who have harmed us just as God forgives us . . through our efforts we will see justice rolling down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream, washing away anger and hatred with a river of healing love.