Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
Original Manuscript:
This is an interactive manuscript. To follow links, click the highlighted words below.
Once again this week, we have a reading that seems to speak directly to us in our times.
In 1 Thessalonians, Paul speaks of uncertainty. He speaks of people saying “there is peace and security” only to find everything shaken up. That is something we can understand intimately with this Pandemic.
Paul also speaks of being ready and prepared, just as we heard last week. He tells the Thessalonians that they live in the light of day, so they are not to fall asleep like those around them. The same is true of us as well.
To keep awake is to be watchful. It means to be ready. It means looking around us and seeing how things continue to change. It means being ready for that change.
Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to put on the armor of Christ Jesus. We must do so too. We must prepare ourselves for those changes that are to come.
St. Michael’s is fortunate to be in a unique position to be prepared for the changes to come. Our history has not been a conventional one for a parish. Often this church has had to rely on its lay leadership when clergy leadership was not available. This parish stepped up to be a haven and a training ground for newly ordained clergy, and in doing so, some of the best clergy members in this Diocese have gone forth from these walls.
Our openness to accepting whatever change was needed to continue to spread the Good News of Christ Jesus is a strength of St. Michael’s that will help us move forward in continuing to do the work God has given us to do and to be an example to all parishes for how to do so.
So much change has come, and more will come, and we will need to continue to be ready. We will need to be ready to work with other parishes to both learn from them and also help them in our common work for our Lord. We will need to continue to embrace technology and use it as a tool not to spread hate and fear, but to share love and connection with one another. Technology has allowed those who are not and do not feel safe joining us in person yet to continue to be a part of this community. For our annual parish meeting, we will have the opportunity to send members to our Diocesan Convention who might not otherwise have had the chance to go because our convention is being held digitally. If we can continue to be open to both learning and teaching one another how to better utilize our technology, we will not only be able to speak and be connected to those in our immediate community, but we will also be able to share the Good News of Jesus Christ to all those in the world.
If there is anything we can take away from both Scripture and this time of Pandemic, it is that nothing is certain in this world that is in constant flux. In order to continue to do the work God has given us to do, we need to be prepared for the changes we will face. We at St. Michael’s have done that over the years, and we must continue to be an example to other parishes of how to deal with change so that we can continue to let the world know of the love God showed us by coming down into this world in the form of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Fortunately, while the way we share that Good News may change, the message itself will always remain the same.