We Are All In this Together Preached for Wollaston Congregational Church During Virtual Worship on June 14th, 2020 Scripture: Matthew 9:35-10:8 Whether or not we attend school or college, most of us think of breaking for the summer. This is typically a time when we pause to reflect on what we have accomplished over the “school year” and wonder what we will be doing in the fall. And so, this week I took the opportunity to stand back and take stock. Where are we now as a church? How are we all doing? Have we accomplished what we hoped to accomplish? What more do we have to do? These questions apply to our church, to our communities and also our individual lives. There is always work for us to do. And still, once in while we need to evaluate how we are doing right now. As I posed these questions, as you might imagine, I felt quite overwhelmed. Last fall we could not have imagined that we would end this program year in the midst of an ongoing global pandemic. In March we did not expect our worship to move to online for the remainder of the program year. The projects we hoped to do were put on hold while we tried to get a handle on what the future would look like. This year has not shaped up the way we expected at all. The pandemic has been a traumatic event in everyone’s lives. Some of us have been sick, some of us have had friends and family become sick and die. Many of us have been separated from loved ones, whether they live in residential care, or we simply cannot visit them in their homes because of quarantine restrictions. Many of us have been confined to our homes and are alone. Many have lost their employment, and no one knows what life will look like when “all this is over.” As a colleague said to me, this past week, there is no “us” and “them” in a community disaster. Those who provide care are in the midst of the same event as those who receive it. As Arun Rath’s daily program on WGBH radio reminds us, we are all “In It Together.” [1] Even as we, church people, seek to help those who need food, shelter, shopping, and social contact, we are experiencing the same shock waves as everyone else. Those who provide medical care, emotional and spiritual care in hospitals and other places, are experiencing the same distressing effects. Just these past couple of weeks we have also been challenged, yet again, to remain engaged in the struggle against systemic racism in our culture. We have been challenged by our black American siblings, to step up and act as allies in this struggle. We have been reminded that whenever our communities experience hard times, it is people of color who suffer most. We have been reminded that complacency is not acceptable, especially in the face of police brutality. And indeed there really seems to be a tide change in opinion and engagement with this issue. At best, white, and other allies with the black community can adopt an attitude of “we’re in this together.” When one member suffers, we all suffer. We can show our solidarity and support by confessing that systemic racism is our problem. Systemic racism is a white problem. There’s a lot going on. There’s a lot of work to be done. And there are enormous challenges to that work. This morning’s gospel reading, from gospel of Matthew, fits this situation perfectly. In the story we meet Jesus in the midst of ministry. He has gone about the countryside healing the sick, casting out demons, feeding the hungry, and teaching, always teaching about the Kingdom of God come near. Now he is ready to commission the disciples. They are going to receive a new job description. Instead of being “disciples”, that is students or followers, they are going to become apostles: those who are sent out. Jesus looks out over the crowds he sees that they look harassed and helpless. They look like lost sheep without a shepherd. He has compassion for them, and he realizes that the work of caring for them is enormous. We might expect Jesus to be overwhelmed. Instead he seems to see this as an opportunity. He says to the disciples “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”And so he gives the disciples authority to cast our demons and heal every disease, every sickness. And then he tells them they are to do just that, proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has come near. He warns them that this is not going to be easy. It’s going to be hard. He says “see I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be as wise and serpents and as innocent as doves.” Not everyone is going to accept them. Their proclamation that the Kingdom is coming near is going to upset some people. They will be dragged before governors and kings because of their testimony to the way of Jesus. This work is not for the feint of heart. The work of caring for, healing and feeding the lost sheep, and speaking out about the coming kingdom, is going to be exhausting and overwhelming. And yet, the Jesus movement needs them to survive. Jesus needs them to remain healthy and rested, so that they can continue the work when he is gone. He has already demonstrated to them the need to observe the Sabbath, not out of a sense of duty, but for their own needs. He has shown them that they need to regularly withdraw from the crowds to pray. He has attended to their need for nourishment and social interaction, eating, drinking and laughing with them. When they no longer have Jesus to turn to, they will have one another. The are all in it together. Exhausting and overwhelming. These words may resonate with us all right now. A few days ago, this meme came up in my newsfeed: “If You’re Tired, Learn to Rest. Not to quit.” I thought this message for quite some time. It answered a question for me. I’ve often wondered why I have given up on certain things in the past. Why, when I was so committed to a project, did I decide to stop? What was going on? Sometimes a former passion has been re-ignited in me, and I’ve wondered, why ever did I let this go before? The answer is that I got tired. And then, instead of taking the advice of the meme, I quit. That can happen when we keep going too long on something without taking a break. It can happen, in general, if we don’t take a weekly Sabbath. Rest is especially essential when there is an emergency … or we live, as now, in an ongoing disaster mode. Remaining healthy, as best we are able, is also essential. Last week “A Memorial for George Floyd, A Call for Unity” was broadcast on Boston’s Channel 5 from the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Jamaica Plain. This was a powerful service of memorial and a call to act, delivered by black clergy from the Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths. The church was not filled with worshipers, as we might usually expect. Instead the representative clergy were very carefully distanced from one another. There were a few musicians, equally carefully distanced. All those present wore masks until it was their turn to speak. Then they came forward to a lectern and microphone, well distanced from everyone else. Another person, in mask and gloves cleaned the lectern and the microphone between speakers. All other worshipers watched the service on TV or online. Rev. Dr. Gloria White Hammond, co-pastor of Bethel AME, spoke to her congregation and others who had joined the service. She said “We, as a congregation, are committed to adhering to our public health colleague’s wisdom Because we need you to survive. We need your voice to speak truth to police power. We need your voice to speak truth to the political powers We need you to survive We follow these recommendations Because we need your body to act up in civil disobedience We need you to survive ... ” [2] Resting, physically distancing, refraining from in-person worship does not mean we have given up on doing the work of the kingdom of God, which according to Jesus in Matthew has come near. And so, I ask you … what are your passions in life? Where do you see lost sheep and feel compassion for them? Perhaps you -Care for the elderly -Or you seek justice for the poor and the outcasts -Maybe you support for our veterans and others who serve us -Perhaps you are the nearest relative or support person for someone whose health is vulnerable Friends, whether we are doing church work, community work, or caring from our friends and loved ones, there is no “us” and “them.” When one person hurts, we all hurt. When one person dies, we all die a little. When one person is weary, we are all weary. We are all in this together. And so, let’s commit ourselves to one another and the work we have to do. This summer let’s rest, let’s prayerfully consider our responsibilities in remaining distanced and refraining from in-person gatherings. Let’s remember, we have our family and friends, and we have our church family. We need you to survive, because we’re all in this together. May all God’s people say “Amen” [1] https://www.wgbh.org/news/inittogether [2] http://www.bethelame.org/
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