A Liturgy for the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic Week of March 8-14 in Worcester, Massachusetts
In absence of a mass or service of worship this weekend, below is a "liturgy for the week," including songs, a prayer, a practice, homily links, a Lenten creed, and a benediction that touches on the pandemic in light of our "Desert Spaces: The Deliverer Who ... " theme for Lent. Also, here is a special sermon given the day everything shut down:
Special sermon video + liturgy notes post: Christ & the Coronavirus Lenten Special | Matt. 9:18-25: Journeying with Jesus to Welcome Unexpected Interruptions
We can't overcome the desert on our own. We can't overcome the disease on our own. We can't overcome the distress on our own. But we can die with Christ to our fears, and by His Spirit, surrender to the Deliverer who overcomes and resurrects.
+ Singing "He Will Hold Me Fast" Along w/ Playlist for Pandemic: We recently introduced this song to Emmaus City Church during Lent, and it has been a mainstay for me to sing for us this weekend ...
"When we fear our faith will fail, Christ will hold us fast; when the tempter would prevail, He will hold us fast. We could never keep our hold through life's fearful path; for our love is often cold; He must hold us fast. He will hold us fast, He will hold us fast! For our Savior loves us so, He will hold us fast! ... "
Other songs that have been coming to mind and stirring as a playlist for this pandemic are: Psalm 23 (I Am Not Alone), This Glorious Grace, Lord Have Mercy, Let Justice Roll, Heal Us, Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace), May Your Power Rest on Me, Lord, I Need You, Even When It Hurts, Tremble, Prince of Peace, King of My Heart, The Cross Made the Change, Resurrecting, Your Spirit, Your Labor Is Not in Vain, We Labor Unto Glory, Overcome, Blessed Assurance, It Is Well with My Soul, Solid Rock, Take Me Back, and My Deliverer.
+ Prayer for a Pandemic: Here is an adaptation of a prayer recently posted on social media that may be good to come back to again and again in the weeks ahead ...
Jehovah Rapha, God our Healer, Jesus, we thank You that You ultimately don't leave us to disease and death, but provide the Way to life, now as well life after the grave because the grave could not hold You. We long for that day when all things will be made new by You in the new heavens and new earth. As we wait, help us to live for the life of others and the world. Thank You for being the God who sees us in our condition, hears our cry, and gives us every promise and blessing in Christ. We trust You are with us, so may we be your Kingdom of priests in action in our neighborhoods and workplaces that need Your care. Holy Spirit, breathe Your peace into us and strengthen Your practices among us for the sake of those You have sent us to love. May we who are merely inconvenienced remember those whose lives are at stake. May we who have no risk factors remember those most vulnerable. May we who have the luxury of working from home remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent. May we who have flexibility to care for our children when their schools close remember those who have no options. May we who have to cancel our trips remember those that have no safe place to go. May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market remember those who have no margin at all. May we who settle in for a quarantine at home remember those who have no home. May we remember, God, and may we respond with Holy Spirit initiative and Christ-like action. As fear grips many in our country, let us choose sacrificial love that shares and shows the Good News of Jesus, giving You our and others' burdens again and again because You care for us. During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other, let us yet unveil the ways of Jesus to be the body of Christ, the loving embrace of God to our neighbors. We pray all these things in humble and hopeful confidence because we are praying in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
+ Potential Kingdom Outpost Practices Among Neighbors During Pandemic: As you consider how to reach out to your friends, neighbors, and communities with care and compassion, perhaps one way would be to invite some people you're in connection with to share their concerns with you (ex. over text or email), and, if openness is expressed, prayer with them if they are longing for a spiritual outlet for their concerns and fears. We would love to see God multiply prayer nights throughout our neighborhoods in Worcester as a way to be outposts of Jesus' Kingdom of hope and healing during this time of questions and uncertainties for many. Below is an example of an invitation I sent yesterday morning to some people we know:
" ... If you have any specific prayer requests or thoughts and feel comfortable sharing them with me, feel free to pass them on, and people in our Emmaus City Church community will be praying. ... "
Also, possible ways to creatively serve others could be to make meals for close neighbors and deliver it to each of them one day in the weeks ahead; offer to help cover the cost of childcare for a week for a single parent who doesn't know how they are going to handle their child(ren)'s school being suspended until early April; make a free grocery run for the older person who lives alone near you or for marginalized people whose income and security is being shaken, etc.
+ Psalms + Deliverer in Desert Spaces Gospel Sermons Including Audio & Liturgy Posts: In light of us not gathering this weekend, here are some links to sermons and liturgies from the past two months with specific texts, themes, confessions and assurances, and songs that we may need to remember again this weekend:
+ Psalm 23: The Need Is Already Met (35+ minutes)
+ Psalm 4: The Midnight Prayer (23+ minutes)
+ Psalm 42: The Thirst for the Living God (26+ minutes)
+ Psalm 107: The Deliverer Who Walks with Us in Desert Spaces (35+ minutes)
+ Genesis 16:7-13, 21:8-21: The Deliverer Who Sees You, Hears You, and Is with You (36+ minutes)
+ Creed in the Midst of Coronavirus Considerations: We introduced this creed during our Sabbath gathering recently ... a bold declaration to remember and proclaim together throughout the days ahead:
Lenten Creed by Patmos Abbey, Order of St. Columba
We believe that our lives are held within the all encompassing love of God our Father, who knows our names and recognizes our deepest needs.
We believe that Christ is the only begotten Son of the living God, and that His grace is like living waters that can never be exhausted.
We believe in the birthing, renewing, enabling Spirit of God who yearns over our welfare as a mother yearns for her child.
We believe that God is in the arid desert as well as in green pastures, and that hard times and disciplines are also loving gifts.
We believe that our journey has a purpose and a destination, and that our path leads to a glory we cannot yet imagine.
We believe that in Jesus' Church we are fellow pilgrims on the road, and that we are called to love one another as God loves us.
This is our faith and we are humbled to profess in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
+ Benediction As You Go Each Day: Here are some final thoughts to consider from the witnesses who have gone before us as we seek to walk by faith today ...
We have the family of God throughout history and around the world who have remembered and embodied the words from Psalm 91: " ... do not fear ... the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday ... " as they came face-to-face with previous outbreaks. And they did this with historic heavenly hope and the joy of Christ. When the Deliverer came to them and asked, "What do you have in your hands ... ?" to give to their suffering and sick neighbors, they courageously responded by offering their medicine, time, money, food, care, and very lives for others (sociologist Rodney Stark chronicles some of this powerfully in his The Rise of Christianity). This quote from Eusebius, as he observed the Christians respond to the early 4th century plague that hit Rome, fills me with wonder: " ... All day long some of the Christians tended to the dying and to their burial, countless numbers with no one to care for them. Others gathered together from all parts of the city a multitude of those withered from famine and distributed bread to them all ... "
Along with Eusebius' records, we also can hear how a church father addressed such a moment, nearly 1,800 years ago, when North African Bishop Cyprian of Carthage preached the following potent words among a communion of saints who trusted in Christ's sufficiency then (and preach to us today through the example of their faithfulness), " ... The apostles maintained this discipline from the law of the Lord, not to murmur in adversity, but to accept bravely and patiently whatever things happen in the world … adversity does not call us away from the truth of virtue and faith, but strengthens us by its suffering ... ”
I greatly appreciated reading these words from Pastor and Author Scott Sauls of Christ Presbyterian Church this week: "In a time like now, Christian neighboring looks less like fearful self-preservation and more like servanthood toward the elderly, those with HIV, autoimmune disease, or no healthcare, fatigued and under-resourced healthcare workers, etc. Wash hands, for sure. Then, wash feet." As the children of the God of the universe who have been given His eternal life giving Spirit, we have His love, peace, goodness, and self-control to practice in the face of our very real emotions of fear and anxiety (for a good article about this, check out: "CCEF: Anxiety, Waiting & the Coronavirus" by Alasdair Groves from Vermont). We can encourage each other to secure our hope in Him and look to care for our communities and neighborhoods from His overflow. When we read in the Scripture, "Do not be afraid," we not only get to hear this as ones who have received the Spirit of power, love, and a sound mind, but we can ask our Father for belief again to trust that King Jesus, our Emmanuel, is with us and nothing can separate us from His love as we seek to share His hope with those who are harried, hectic, and hopeless. He is our Deliverer in this desert space for such a time as this. So we can sing again " ... We will never doubt His promise though we doubt our hearts, we doubt our eyes! Our Deliverer is coming, our Deliverer is standing by! ... " as we seek His Kingdom first and His justice and righteousness in our actions. Practicing this can be as intentional and simple as:
+ Check in with the lonely, anxious, and isolated in your neighborhood, at work, and connected with your micro City Group. As the Spirit leads, pray with people over phone, text, or email and offer to share or give what they do not have, passing the peace of Christ in this great time of need.
+ Wash your hands regularly, and with a liturgy of the ordinary mindset, remember your baptismal identity that not only washes you clean in Christ, but sends you in the Spirit to wash feet.
+ Fight xenophobia and racism when it rears. Some are lashing out due to this "foreign" disease coming to our shores. Be the peacemakers if you encounter this in your community or among your peers.
+ Pray even more intentionally. Join us and remember this words from the Psalmist ...
"Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.' ... You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday." + Psalm 91:1-2, 5-6
We are blessed and empowered by the Spirit of the living God during this season of Lent 2020, whether doubting and/or believing in the presence of King Jesus' authority over life and death (Matt. 28:17-18), to continue in our discipleship together of being transformed into Christlikeness (2 Cor. 3:17-18; Philippians 2:1-11) and to seek to embody and comprehend personally and communally, "To live is Christ, to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21) as we practice true love and service in the face of this pandemic: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters" (1 Jn. 3:16).
Go into this desert season with the Deliverer and discover again the steadfast grace, peace, provision, and resurrection power of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Next post: Practicing Christ's Compassion During the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic in Worcester, Mass. Week of March 15-21
Christ is all,
Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan
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