Dear Church,
This past week has been very new to me. I know I am not the most social person in the world, but not being able to see you, at least on Sunday, has been saddening to me. I miss yinz all. But we do this so we can protect one another during this pandemic. We do this out of love. Both Manor and Trinity have been using their phone trees to keep in touch and give announcements. I appreciate that we all have been taking advantage of the telephone and are holding each other in our prayers and having conversations as much as we can. Each church also has people willing to shop for those who may not be able to go out. We are all worshiping God through our service to one another.
Our scripture today is John 9. Please take a moment to read it. This is one of my very favorite stories from the book of John. Jesus’ encounter with the blind man starts with a teachable moment and a gesture of power and good will. The ancient’s thought that if someone was born blind then that must have been a punishment from God, either on the parents or on the boy himself. They questioned Jesus in this fashion. But as Jesus usually does, he redirects the attention to something more worthwhile. He says that instead of asking what went wrong, ask what is it that can be accomplished because of the way it is. Instead of seeing a potential punishment Jesus saw an opportunity to show the power and love of God.
This scripture challenges us to look at our present situation with a trust in the provisions and activity of God. We are often tempted to frame situations in a dichotomy; this is a good situation or that is a bad situation. We ask, who’s to blame? What went wrong? How awful are things? This can sometimes be helpful to learn what not to do in the future, but all too often we get hung up on these questions and get stuck. Jesus nudges us to the next steps of the journey with Him. He pushes us to find ways to serve God amid unfavorable happenings. In doing that we can praise God for moments of love, peace, and possibly even joy at times we thought we could find none.
The pandemic we find ourselves in the middle of is pretty bad. There is too much media coverage that seeks to lay blame. I am not sure how that is helpful when people are in need, afraid, and find it difficult to provide for themselves. The Church is called to show love for all those whom God loves and all those for whom Jesus died. That I think we can do. That is where our attention can be placed.
When the going gets tough, the church gets to loving. I understand this is not easy and can be scary. We have Christ encouraging us and giving us one another to rely on for strength. I thank God we are a part of a church that loves well. Let us not quit but keep on finding ways to share in the activity of God.
PTL,
Pastor Justin