I give thanks to God for our ability to gather this way. And I give thanks for this wonderful moment. This is a time of anxiety for many of us, myself included, but as I sit here right now, I know that I am in worship with each of you who are God’s church. And that makes me happy.
Also, I notice that the sun is shining. It’s a beautiful day where I am, right on the border between Long Beach and Signal Hill. And I give thanks for that.
The present moment is all we have. It’s the only thing that’s real right now. And in this moment, I know I am blessed… WE are blessed.
Today, we are worshiping God, each of us in our own homes, yet united by God’s spirit.
Last week, a few of us gathered in the sanctuary, and some of us worshipped online. We all knew that worship was going to be very different for awhile; that life was going to be very different for awhile.
And as we came to the end of our service last week, emotion overwhelmed me.
And I realized that I hadn't made room in my life for lament. And that I needed to.
And probably, you do too.
We need to make room in our lives for lament.
We need to make space for sadness.
The psalmists certainly did. There are dozens of psalms of lament, expressing sadness over all sorts of situations. One of the most well known is Psalm 139, in which the people of Israel lament being forced out of their homeland:
By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and there we wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there
we hung up our harps.
For there our captors
asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’
How could we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?
Reading our Bibles, we also discover that there was a time when even Jesus wept, after his friend Lazarus passed away. Even though Jesus knew that resurrection would come, and that Lazarus would rise again, Jesus still made room for lament.
So if you haven’t yet made room for lament in your life - maybe you need to. We are grieving. We are grieving all sorts of loss right now. Let me name just a few:
We grieve not being able to worship together, in person.
We grieve the interruption to our daily routines.
Even schoolchildren, though they may not realize it, are grieving the loss of the routines and schedules around which their lives were structured.
We grieve the cancellation of so many events. Graduations and proms. Vacations. Big family milestones and parties - birthday celebrations and anniversaries...
We grieve so many little things - like a daily or weekly meetup with a friend for coffee or a meal.
So acknowledge that grief, that sadness, within you, whenever it comes. Tell God about your sadness, just like the psalmists did.
And if you are feeling anxious or afraid, acknowledge that as well. Tell God about that. Tell God how you feel...
Then listen for God’s response.
It just so happens that one of the lectionary readings for today - the fourth Sunday in Lent - is Psalm 23. Perhaps this is God’s response to our present state of sadness, fear, and anxiety.
Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.
Someone posted on facebook that maybe we should just unplug 2020, wait a few minutes, and plug it back in. Because sometimes, if the computer isn’t working, that’s what you do, to reset everything: you unplug it, you wait, then you plug it back in.
So maybe we should try doing that with the year 2020.
But then I realized: that IS what we’re doing, isn’t it? We’ve pulled the plug on 2020. Some are calling it “The Great Pause.”
And we’re not sure when we’ll be able to plug 2020 back in and get things going again. Some are hoping for a couple of weeks; more likely, it’s going to be a bit longer than that.
But at some point, we will plug 2020 back in. And then what? How will our lives have changed? What will we have learned?
When you unplug the computer and plug it back in, the hope is that it will start up without any of the glitches that prevent the programs from running smoothly.
Maybe this is a time in which we can get rid of some of the glitches in our lives that have kept our lives from running smoothly… so that, when we plug 2020 back in, everything will run just a little better.
Another one of today’s lectionary readings comes from Ephesians chapter 5. Verses 8 & 9 say: “For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light - for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.
In this difficult time, look for the light. Perhaps you couldn’t see it before, because of all of life’s distractions and glitches, but maybe in this time of unplugging, you CAN see it.
In this challenging time, BE the light. Be the light in someone else’s darkness, as so many of you have already been doing. You’ve been the light to each other. You’ve been checking up on each other, making phone calls, offering help and assistance, and providing encouragement...
And of course, you’ve been maintaining that social distancing that will help keep us healthy. Please: stay home. Usually, we show our love to one another by coming together, but right now we are called to show how much we love one another by staying apart, at least physically.
You can step outside. In fact, I recommend it. Step onto your porch and enjoy the wonderful sunshine God has blessed us with today. Sit there for awhile, if the temperature is right. Let the light shine on you as you ponder how you can be the light in these times.
I promise, it will make you feel better.
And tomorrow, if it rains, sit in front of your window and watch the rain. Turn off the news - you don’t need to get a news update every 20 minutes. Once or twice a day is enough.
Just sit in the sun. Just watch the rain. Maybe listen to some music.
These things help.
And one day, this difficult time will come to an end. We will come together.
But even now, you can welcome the light into your life... and you can be the light in the lives of others.
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