June 6, 2021
5 For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. 6 For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. 11 For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Today is our last Sunday exclusively on Zoom. We will continue on Zoom for a while as we transition back to worshiping in person. Next week we are returning to the sanctuary. Soon we will go to live streaming so that you can be in worship at home or while you are traveling. It will also be an outreach ministry to people beyond our walls. We had 68 weeks of not being physically together in worship. 15 months of praising God from our homes and taking communion in front of a screen. I want to thank Kathryn and Don for their magnificent music that has lifted our spirits and kept our hearts and ears engaged! Reflecting on this time I feel like we have some silver linings- positive takeaways from a dark time. Paul described it as God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness” referring back to Genesis (1:3) and Isaiah (9). We have certainly weathered dark clouds for over a year. But as with every silver lining their luminescence shines brightest compared to the contrast of the ominous clouds. So I ask you, what was the hardest part of this year of Covid? What hung heavy over your days and heart, darkening your soul? It helps to claim our darkness, so that we can more fully enter into the light. Of course, I missed seeing all of you, but the part that plagued me most was the mental toll of not being out of the house and interacting with people. My silver lining to all of that was having Cooper and Parker living with me and being able to hug my kids and chat with them face to face. I was thrilled to come back to the office and be on campus again. I know you are looking forward to that as well. Another silver lining….
Hearing Irma read this passage, did you relate to Paul’s litany of courage, the power that comes from God. We have been afflicted but not crushed; perplexed without despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed (vs. 8-9). And I think at times it felt like maybe we had been all of those things. Coming out of this long tunnel, and starting to stand in the light, we know God has seen us through. We rejoice in our faith even when it went dark for a while. We claim God’s power in our lives as Christ is made more visible. Paul writes, the light of the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ. That has new meaning for me, as I long to interact with people without a mask; to be able to fully see their face. The same way I want to be in this world without a mask, I want to be fully present with Christ face to face. Thérèse of Lisieux a French nun wrote: “Jesus, Your ineffable image is the star which guides my steps. Ah, You know, Your sweet Face is for me Heaven on earth. My love discovers the charms of Your Face adorned with tears. I smile through my own tears when I contemplate Your sorrows” (Canticle to the Holy Face). Contemplating Jesus, his face, his love, his claim on our lives helps us to stand in the light and glorify God.
It also helps us to be aware this power does not come from us, but from God. A church member this week said how grateful she is to be returning to in person worship, and how she cannot imagine how people got through this past year without God, without faith. Paul uses a beautiful image to help us understand this idea. We have a treasure in clay jars. That treasure is our faith, the priceless and eternal source of strength in every circumstance of life. The gospel of Jesus is the richest of all treasures and reflects the permanence of God as compared to the fragility of our humanness. We are the clay jars, breakable, common, useful and made from the earth. That is why KJV calls them earthenware. Yes we are created in God’s image, but when things get hard and life throws punches, we feel the cracks, we are reminded of our fragile nature. This helps us turn to God who is the source of all our strength and the one who sees us through the tough times. For it is when we make it through those hard times, like this past year, that we lean into God. Paul explains it this way, “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.”
French philosopher, “Simone Weil volunteered in the Spanish Civil War despite her poor health. Throughout her life, she struggled with the meaning of suffering and pain. In her book Waiting for God, she reveals that her work emerged after she learned that ‘when an apprentice gets hurt, or complains of being tired, the workmen and peasants have a fine expression: ‘It is the trade entering his body.’ Each time that we have some pain to go through, we can say to ourselves quite truly that it is the universe, the order, the beauty of the Word and the obedience of creation to God that are entering our body.’ Our faith in Jesus Christ does not mean we will never experience adversity, but rather that such adversity will grant us the opportunity to discover and come to trust that by God’s grace light is always brighter than darkness, life is stronger than death, and what resides inside our broken apprenticed bodies is the glory of a resurrection waiting to burst forth.” (Feasting on the Word, B3, Mark Barger Elliott, p. 91).
Overcoming the trials of this past year is a daily kind of resurrected life. It is our way of connecting our own hardship with Christ’s dying and resurrection. We have had small deaths and are bursting forth into new life as we once again enter the world, with the strength and hope of Christ, right by our side. One commentator writes, resurrected life “does not just have to do with an afterlife. It has to do with relying on God now amid whatever may be happening to us — trusting that the one who has rescued us in the past will continue to rescue us” (see also 2 Corinthians 1:10)(Working Preacher, Lois Malcolm).
These moments of rescue we might call silver linings of faith. “The beauty of a silver lining is that they don’t take away the rain. Rather, they provide an umbrella” (Elizabeth Messina). So what are some of the silver linings of this past year? How have we seen God’s light bursting forth out of our darkness? First, we are more grateful. Grateful for hugs, for seeing our family, for being able to worship, for our faith. I know I am thankful for the chance to gather with a handful of our members and just chat for an hour each week. Second, we had the gift of time. Time to do some projects around the house, and redo Thomas Lounge at church. Say thank you to Don, David, Ray and Linda when you get a chance. We have also had more time to seek out and be with God. As our schedules came to a screeching halt, space was made for prayer and reflection. Finally, this past year has cleared the way for us to create an online worship service expanding our ministry beyond what happens in our sanctuary on Sunday. We are purchasing a camera that will allow us to stream our services each week and allow you to attend even when you are not with us. It means Linda and Bob can worship with us from back east, and Randy and Carol will also be able to participate from the Northwest. Myles’s friend Joanne in Massachusetts can be with us, and college student in El Salvador could share her story. A blessing to be sure, one that I doubt we would have gotten to any other way. So I am thankful for this time of rethinking some things and digging into others. A final blessing is our sharing communion over Zoom. I had to ask if this was OK because it went against everything I had been taught. But over this year we have experienced the lifegiving divine through the breaking of the bread. Not because of the liturgy, or the lack of trays, but because the power of God transcends space and we are unified through the Holy Spirit, sharing in the Christ’s body and partaking in healing food for our souls. Soon we will taste the resurrected life, the glory of God thorough Jesus Christ. We will see Christ’s face in the breaking of the bread, and we will be united as Christ’s church even as we are sitting in our homes. I am so grateful for a God that transcends space and time, who welcomes us in this moment and meets us in our pain, all the while shining forth the Light of Christ for all the world to see! Amen.
