A Note to the Parish:
"In a Troubled World, the Church is Reborn"
May 29, 2020
Dear Friends,
This Sunday we will celebrate the great
Feast of Pentecost. In church we will hear the story of the first Pentecost,
when the Spirit-filled followers of Jesus finally leave their room, head out to
the streets of Jerusalem, and begin sharing the best news of all time - love
defeats hate and life conquers death:
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen
indeed! Alleluia!
Thanks to the Holy Spirit, people from
all over the place were able to hear this best news ever, and slowly the Good
News about Jesus and God's Love began to spread beyond the holy city that was
under the brutal hammer of Roman occupation, and out into every corner of the
world.
Pentecost is rightly remembered and
celebrated as the birth of the Church. But, Pentecost is not just history.
Pentecost happens all the time. God gives us the Holy Spirit every day,
especially in times of trouble. Jesus continues to be with us, no matter what.
And, the Church was not just born once two thousand years ago on a noisy day in
Jerusalem. No, the Church is reborn in every age. The Church is reborn in the
water of Baptism. The Church is reborn each time we share the Good News with
our neighbors. The Church is reborn each time a person hears the call and
chooses to follow the Way of Jesus. The Church is reborn each time we work
together to meet a need in our community or beyond. The Church is reborn each
time we confess our sins and ask forgiveness, and each time we offer
forgiveness. And, the Church is reborn each time it faces challenges and renews
its trust in God, and its dedication to God's mission.
Our own church has been reborn so many
times, hasn't it? We have been reborn in all the ways I just listed and more
and, most of all, we were reborn in a spectacular way just a few years ago when
two neighboring Episcopal congregations, separated by about five blocks and
decades of not-so-great history, heard God's call to join together and create
something new and even more beautiful than what had been before.
So, in fact, we're experts at rebirth.
And, I'm convinced that, in this moment of suffering and fear, this time of big
trouble, our own church, and the whole Church, are once again being reborn.
If you're like me, you haven't yet
wrapped your mind around the fact that we will not be able to go back to
exactly the way things were before the pandemic. Because there is still so much
unknown about the virus - and because none of us can see the future - we don't
know what our worship and other gatherings will be like the next time we are able
to be together in person, but they will be different in ways that may be hard
for us to accept.
But, the good news is our church is already
transformed in ways that are wonderful and a blessing to so many. It's
Pentecost again! We have left our room! We have been reborn!
Just look around at the work of the
Holy Spirit! Many more people are now worshiping with us during the week and on
Sundays. Even if we can't see them, we can hear them - we can read their
comments - and we can surely feel their presence, praying alongside us.
Parishioners are checking in with each other more regularly and more deeply
than before, taking the time for long conversations. We've been given the
resources to offer some pretty big help to our friends at Garden State Episcopal
CDC. Family Promise is providing shelter on Storms Avenue. The Triangle Park
Community Center is busier than ever, helping to feed and clothe our neighbors.
And Deacon Jill has started a brand-new ministry in Hoboken, gathering goods
from those who have and giving them away to those who have not, and we're
looking to expand this amazing service to Jersey City.
It's Pentecost again! We have been
reborn!
And, it’s not a moment too soon. This
past week, we've been once again painfully reminded that the old demons of
racism, hatred, violence, and ignorance are on the loose. Although we had made
some progress over the course of the last century, it seems that all the ugly
fears, resentments, and prejudices have risen to the surface - or, perhaps, have
been raised by some for their own cynical purposes. Or, some suggest, maybe progress
was always an illusion and now the only difference is that we have cellphones
readily available to record at least some of the evil. In any event, there
don't really seem to be words to adequately describe what it's like watching a
police officer crush the life out of George Floyd on a Minneapolis street, with
bystanders begging for the brutality to stop, and the dying Mr. Floyd gasping the
heartbreaking and haunting (and familiar) words, "I can't breathe..."
And, closer to home, in Central Park, we all saw a white woman quick to use her
privilege - and the ever-present racist presumption of black male menace - to
escalate a conflict about an unleashed dog into yet another potentially tragic
incident.
The killing of George Floyd has set off
storms of protest in Minneapolis and elsewhere, as people understandably release
long-suppressed grief, frustration and rage, accelerated by some who always
enjoy adding fuel to the flames. This sure would be a good time to have leaders
of wisdom and compassion. Unfortunately, at the moment, those with the most
power obviously have other values and priorities. On the other hand, it wasn’t
that long ago that our leaders with the most power sometimes at least aspired to wisdom and compassion. And, if
that didn’t make much difference, maybe it’s because our chronic social and economic
illnesses are at root a destructive and deadly spiritual disease. We have
refused to learn the lessons that God has been trying to get through our hard
hearts and thick skulls from the beginning: we are sisters and brothers,
created to love God and to love one another.
The Church has been reborn, but the
world is still what it is. So, as always, the Holy Spirit must work in and
through us, and with all people of goodwill.
I've told you before that I believe
with all my heart that, because we are a church of many different kinds of
people who love each other, we have been given a special vocation - a call from
God to show the world that it is possible for us to recognize and even
celebrate differences but to live together in harmony as brothers and sisters.
Unfortunately, before our recent rebirth, people usually had to work pretty
hard to somehow find us, tucked away on a side street, hidden behind our old
walls and stained glass. But now, look, it's Pentecost again! Physical
distancing has been tough but, ironically enough, it means we have left our
beautiful room and gone out into the world! And, just like those first
disciples on that long-ago noisy day in sorely oppressed Jerusalem, just like
Christians throughout the centuries, the Holy Spirit will continue to be with
us, no matter what.
So, since we have been reborn, let us
go forth into our beautiful but troubled world, rejoicing in the power of the
Spirit! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Your brother in Christ,
Tom
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