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Lent 3, 2020: The Sunday the church went virtual

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On Wednesday, March 11, I changed the text and went off script, having decided the lectionary was not the way to go on this odd Sunday when the news changed not by the day, but by the hour. I would preach from 1 Corinthians 12, I decided. I will talk about the one body, our interconnectedness and our need to use whatever gifts God gave us during this perilous time. I rewrote the liturgy. I did the exegetical work. I prayed for the Spirit to give the most needed words. Then things changed again, and news came that worship would be canceled. The church where I was to preach would not meet in person and would, in the weeks following, go digital. The pastor of this church did all the right things: communicating, reassuring, consulting the session, sending out next steps to the flock. I shelved my partially written sermon. Sunday morning arrived and I felt unmoored. Actually, Saturday evening came, and I already felt upended. I had nowhere I needed to be on Sunday morning. My pre-Sabbath … [Read more...]

Tagged With: COVID19

Faithful leadership in times of crisis

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David, the shepherd accustomed to protecting the sheep from wild animals, jettisoned Saul’s ill-fitting armor and instead went to the creek to find five smooth stones for his slingshot. Esther, Jewish and a queen, took to heart her uncle’s admonishment and used her influence to protect her people, even if it meant risking her life. The boy with his fish and bread, did not hesitate to offer what he had to Jesus, meager though it appeared in face of such a huge need. The Samaritan put aside his own safety and saved the man injured in the ditch. Five smooth stones, the ability to influence those in position of power, a willingness to give to God whatever one happens to have available when the need arises, the decision to walk toward suffering rather than away from it —  people of faith through the ages have been called upon to risk and share, speak and care, act and lead in threatening and chaotic seasons. So it is today. David went to the frontlines to bring his brothers’ food, … [Read more...]

Tagged With: COVID19

A village full of goodness (40 years ago)

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40 years ago — March 17, 1980 “During the first four years of the 1940s, a little Huguenot village perched on a plateau on the mountains of southeastern France saved the lives of more than five thousand refugees while the Germans were occupying France, and while the SS troops were stationed near them, ready to wipe out what many called ‘that nest of Jews in Huguenot country.’ … If goodness involves not only following the negative commandment against killing, but also obeying the positive injunction to be your brother’s keeper by preventing others from killing, no matter what the risk, then the people of Le Chambon were of the very substance of goodness, for they killed no one, and hated no one, in those murderous times, and they saved people (mostly children at first, and later whole families) who were marked for the extermination camps. “About a year ago I wrote a book, ‘Lest Innocent Blood be Shed,’ to tell the story of how and why these French Protestants endangered their … [Read more...]

Discussion questions: Who is God, really?

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A basic theological question is this: Who is God, really? This issue of the Outlook is devoted to answering this very question. We invite you to give your own answer to this important question of faith. To that end, here are some discussion questions to get the conversation going. We hope these will provide a way to go deeper into the articles and explore in your congregation who God is, really. God is a (somewhat) knowable mystery — read the article 1. Cynthia Rigby shares a story in her article. She was asked by a dying friend what God was up to and she responded, “I don’t know.” This was certainly an honest answer, but her friend told her equally as honestly that she ought to have something to say, given all her theological education. Every believer ought to have some response to these pressing questions of life and death. Even though we do not have the answer or a complete answer (God is, after all, a mystery) surely we have some answer or at least a partial one. Can you … [Read more...]

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