Mon, 25 Oct, 2021

Homecoming Sunday: A Refection

The Rev. Rob Stevens

Standing in front of a full church this morning was almost more than I could bear. I sit here on a gorgeous fall Sunday afternoon and am grateful…so grateful.

This past week SJC was at her best…full of activity and service. Cleaning, Feeding, Building, Laughing, Grieving, Worshipping, and Remembering. Homecoming week was all of that and much more. Sunday morning for the first time since March of 2020 our community gathered at 8am and 10am in the church. It was GOOD! I tried to express my gratitude for this community and how it has not just “hung in there” but has thrived during crisis and struggle. My words were and are inadequate, yet I am so grateful.

So, onward friends! This a new beginning, an opportunity to BE the Church in ways we couldn’t fathom 2 years ago. The final five questions of our Baptismal Covenant (the promises we make at Baptism) are a very helpful guide as we ponder what God is calling us to now. I encourage you to read them and pray how this might connect us more deeply with God’s will for SJC.

Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
I will, with God's help.
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being?
I will, with God's help.

If you were at church yesterday, you felt the incredible love that this community has to share with the world. If you were not able to be there, for whatever reason, please know that you were felt and appreciated. I continue to be amazed by the Grace of God and am so hopeful of where God is leading us together. While these past 19 months have been a trial, God is still at work. My faith has been sustained by what I have witnessed in this community. You have loved one another and cared for each other in ways that have brought me to tears. The constant small gestures of care, the kind words, the notes, the phone calls, the meals delivered have humbled and inspired me. Thank you all. God is calling us to continue this ministry of welcoming and caring for ALL people. One of the blessings at the end of the service of Morning Prayer says it well.

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen