The Season of Lent at Corvallis First Congregational UCC

Beloved of God ...

This Lent is not a time for Business as Usual. It isn't ever supposed to be ...

Lent is always intended to be a time to head to the wilderness, to re-think and re-consider.

It is also, every year, 40 days to contemplate our mortality.

This time around, it all feels a little too real.

But, here's the thing: it only feels too real because we are so good at denying our humanity...both the surest thing we can know - that we will all die, and the invitation we are constantly being offered - resurrection, the possibility of living fully into ourselves.

These two things are true all the time - death is ever before us, as is resurrection.

And isn't it curious - that COVID-19 arrives on our doorstep at this exact moment in the liturgical year?

I'm not thrilled about this dose of reality, but maybe it's the kind of wake-up call I needed.

Sleeper, awake! Arise from the dead ... the book of Ephesians gives us this directive in the Lectionary at the mid-point of Lent.

Okay, I'm awake. 

I am not invincible - neither are you. We are but dust, and to dust we shall return...

People we love may die from COVID-19. Certainly, folks within our networks will be impacted. We ourselves may contract the illness. We ourselves may die.

Yikes. 

I know that sounds heavy, but friends... this is always the case. Reality tells us, we will all die. We get into trouble when we deny our mortality and the mortality of the ones we love. 

The season of Lent is meant to offer a conversion to that mind-set. To re-orient us toward our humanness. To remind us, death is a part of life. 

And then, to turn us toward Resurrection. 

As part of that, we are encouraged to re-think our humanity. How are we spending our days? What kind of life have we made for ourselves? Is it the life we want to be living ... or do we need a course-correct?

During the time of the Holocaust, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (a theologian who was executed in 1945 for involvement in a plot to assassinate Hitler) wrote:

The renewal of the church will come from a new type of monasticism, which has only in common with the old an uncompromising allegiance to the Sermon on the Mount. It is high time [people] banded together to do this.

An allegiance to the Sermon on the Mount ... 

5 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely[b] on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. {Matthew 5, NRSV}

Bonhoeffer meant: when we get a handle on our own humanity, both our finiteness and our possibility of resurrection in the present moment, we can turn our eyes away from the panic and anxiety of self-protection and turn ourselves outward. And then we can get about the business of the Kingdom of Heaven: caring for each other with an eye on the most vulnerable among us. 

That is what the Christian community exists for, friends. This is who we are. Perhaps, this is our moment of renewal.

As the world changes, we are shifting the way we gather. For now until we re-open our building, we will engage our church community through virtual tools, good old-fashioned phone calls, and snail mail.

A schedule is posted on the homepage of our website, so you know where we will be live on social media and when. Please feel free to invite your friends and family to join us for virtual gatherings - lots of folks are looking for spaces to find solace and community right now. You will continue to receive a weekly email each week with devotions from Walter - pass them on! And please, keep in touch. Walter, Annemieke, and I are working remotely and are available by email and phone during our usual working hours. 

We may be isolating, but we are not alone. 

You are loved,

Pastor Jen