Five Fruits at Once

Okay, okay, I know. I said I would be back after two weeks’ holiday and it is now a month since my last blog post. What happened? Well, a good break and then an avalanche of after holiday catch up, particularly pastoral care issues and a new desktop computer. I decided to hold off, knowing you would understand.

So this blog is a mashup of what were to be two different ones - faithfulness and generosity, and kindness, gentleness and self-control. This fall I’m going to be exploring some themes of the return from exile of God’s people. It was faithfulness and generosity that pulled the remnant of the Israelites through being taken from their spiritual home. It was faithfulness and generosity that allowed them to later rebuild the temple and their holy city. They held tight to their God in a foreign land and persevered (well, we’d like to think it was that rosy - the prophets often had a tough time convicting and reassuring them as it stretched on and on).

As we return to worship from the exile of our homes, faithfulness to the command to love God with all that we are and our neighbours as ourselves will be paramount. We will need to be generous in spirit, in sharing our gifts and in continuing financial support as we rebuild our community of faith intentionally. Leaders have needed to pull the rest from despair to envision a new way of being that will continue for at least a while. Our faith in what God can do in and through us, despite ongoing protocols that will make in-person worship strange, will make all the difference.

Kindness, gentleness and self-control are all critical to ensuring that we extend compassion to everyone. There are many people still uncomfortable with the thought of being back at public worship. There are still people who are not vaccinated for a variety of reasons. It would be very easy to allow these differences to put wedges between us and to fracture the family. We all need to be intentional about how we include everyone - those who are shut-in, those without internet at home, those who are fearful for their own health or the health of loved ones, those who are impatient and frustrated, those suffering financially.

We need to remember, in the midst of this, whether as leaders we feel rested or not, concerned or readily able to hand it all over to God, that ultimately God is there for us and walking with us. Whether still in exile or back home rebuilding, we are all important. We need to pull together and to discern carefully what God is asking of us in this moment to fulfill God’s dreams for us. It would be so easy to slide back into old habits and ways of being, but the old Jerusalem is gone and the landscape of worship is wildly different. What it means to be the church has changed dramatically.

I will be welcoming back exiles this Sunday - the tired, the anxious, the jubilant, the barely refraining from hugging, the angry, the disillusioned. I pray that I can humbly project the love and comfort of our God who has never left or forsaken us. May peace be with you.