Courage in Crisis

Prayer for Illumination

Eternal God,

Whose Word silences the shouts of the mighty:

Quiet within us every voice but your own.

Speak to us as we hear your word,

That by the power of the Holy Spirit,

We might receive grace to show Christ’s love

In lives given to your service. Amen

Sermon

What we are going to talk about today is courage in crisis. 

Luke 19:28-44 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.  As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them,“go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.  If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them.  “As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs it.” They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.  As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.“When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.  The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

Defying Convention

Courage under crisis often defies convention.

We are all now realizing that in times of crisis the conventional way of doing things simply won’t suffice. The writer Simon Sinek recently recorded a zoom meeting he had with his employees, it was the type of new meeting that I am sure many of us are getting used to these days,  all 20 of them, in their little boxes, like the Brady Bunch, dressed with their nice tops coupled with pajama bottoms, drinking coffee, looking anxiously on, hoping their leader will say something that might draw them out of their concern. He told them that this is not the first time that a company has been impacted by significant change, and the companies that survive are the companies that can adjust. He said many of you may have a different job at the end of this, but if we can make some essential changes, we have the opportunity to thrive in a whole new way.  His final point to them was; “We do not need to be so concerned with WHAT we do, so much as WHY we do what we do. If we truly believe in the reason for why we do what we do, we can always find a way to do it.”

Jesus was driven by the most powerful WHY anyone has ever known.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Luke 4:18-19 

In order to accomplish His WHY, Jesus was not afraid to go to places no one else would go, he was not afraid to speak truths that no one else would say, and he was not afraid to serve hurting people, who no one else was willing to serve. 

Certainly, this is the Spirit that is animating His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (what we call Palm Sunday). The Jews were expecting their victorious King to make his way into Jerusalem on a war horse. Why wouldn't they, It was what they had always seen before. They were expecting Jesus to be the next great conqueror, to finally come and vanquish their Roman oppressors, in the way mythical heroes of the past had done. But Jesus knew what the conventional way produces. “Live by the sword, die by the sword.” It has been the tragic story of humanity ever since The Fall, and that wasn't His mission. Leadership is finding a new direction, not simply putting yourself at the front of a herd headed over a cliff. 

Instead, Jesus choose a humble donkey. A symbol that defied convention and signified His mission. By choosing the donkey, Jesus revealed that He is a new kind of King; with a New kind of Kingdom. He defied convention; when he brought the Kingdom of God to Earth, as it is in Heaven. 

Not Afraid to Cry 

Courage under crisis is not being afraid to cry. 

Recently I listened to a Fresh Air podcast entitled; “Winston Churchill and Fearless Leadership in Times of Crisis.” It described how Churchill was able to keep the people of Great Britain together during, “The Blitz.” From 1940-1941 the Nazis killed  40,000 civilians. In it Erick Larson points out that one of the key characteristics of Churchill's leadership; were his tears. Churchill is widely known for his inspirational speeches, but equally as inspirational were his visits to the cities bombed the night before. When Churchill visited bomb-damaged Plymouth in May 1941, Tom Harrison of the Mass-Observation movement saw, “great tears of angry sorrow in his eyes. He was so visibly moved by the suffering that he saw.” Churchill's tears revealed how connected he was to the suffering of his people. 

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it. v. 41

Jesus tears were not for himself. His tears were for the people. His lost people. They would reject their savior, and separate themselves from their God. Jesus became human; so that he could cry with us. So that he could show that when our heart breaks, God’s heart breaks as well. There was a powerful connection made with His people, as he made his way to the Temple on a road lined with worshippers. Men, women and children laid down their coats, palm branches and loudly declared Hosanna! Hosanna! All the while Jesus wept for them.

Commitment

The third quality of a courageous leaser in a time of crisis is commitment. 

There was a story by Steve Lopez in the LA times this week that exemplified courage in crisis. The story is about three ER Doctors who work together, treating  COVID-19 at Good Samaritan Hospital. All three of them came to the conclusion that since they were coming into contact with the virus everyday, they didn't feel comfortable going home to their young families. Believing that it is only a matter of time before they get infected,  one of the Doctors, by the name of Andrew Herzik, who is a Redondo Beach local, convinced his parents to move in with his family, so the three of them could all live together in his parents home, while they work relentless hours combatting the virus.  Consider the sacrifice, as Andrew intentionally waits until his 2 1/2 year old son Gus is asleep before he goes to see his wife, because he knows if his little guy, who has asthma, sees him; he could not be stopped from running into Daddy’s arms. 

These are the heroes living in our neighborhood. They took an oath; the Hippocratic Oath, and nothing will stop them from keeping it. 

When it comes to Us, Jesus is not wishy washy, playing both sides, or hedging His bets. At the beginning of Holy Week, as he stood on the Mount Olives, looking out over the city, he knew what was before Him. He knew he was going to a brutal death, on a Roman cross, but His Passion was for us, there was never any doubt about His commitment. 

Friends, Corona Virus is not the only thing that is highly contagious. So is courage. Jesus’ leadership, displayed during the Holy week, is vital for us to emulate in this time of crisis.

Martin Luther who wrote in 1527:

I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.

- from “Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague”

Nothing

Pain is never permanent.” - Teresa of Avila

Call to Worship

“Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen.” - Oswald Chambers

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your
heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his
kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you
as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:31-34

Sermon

Nothing

There are a few books, movies, and songs that over the years have been passed on to me from my Father. These serve as cultural heirlooms, passed from Father to Son. The implied message is “these are the truths that Dunn men contemplate when times get tough.”  

There are a lot of people around the world that are in very real pain today.  In light of this reality, I wanted to share one of these Dunn cultural heirlooms with you.

It is the collective power of two scenes from the movie, Cool Hand Luke.

If you have never seen this film, released in 1967, Cool Hand Luke, “tells the story of a free spirit who cannot be caged, even in jail.”- Christopher Granger.

When Luke gets sent to jail he is immediately at odds with everyone, this includes the warden, the man with no eyes, and the leader of the inmates Dragline.

(George Kennedy won the Best supporting Oscar for his role as Dragline, the big, charismatic leader of the chain gang inside Luke’s prison.) 

In the first act, the tension between Dragline and Luke grows and grows until it is finally decided that there should be a boxing match, to settle once and for all, who will be running things in the prison.

Dragline is about twice the size of Luke, way out of his weight class, and by the normal rules of boxing the match is totally unfair. 
But, of course, that doesn’t stop Luke from getting into the ring with
him.

As you can imagine, Luke gets badly beaten, he is knocked down, again and again, but he simply will not give up. It gets so tense, that the other inmates watching start yelling at him “stay down,” “stay down,” but Luke will not stay down. The match ends with Dragline giving up, out of pity, as Luke collapses on Him, just to stay on his feet.  Dragline carries him from the fight on one shoulder, as Luke helplessly tries to punch his back.

Cut to the next scene.

The inmates are playing poker, at first they are all betting, but Luke keeps on upping the stakes, “kick a buck” he says with his iconic steely blue eyed confidence. He does this until everyone else is out, it’s down to him and one other inmate, who is in anguish over what to do.  Eventually, Dragline comes in and tells the other inmate to fold. When he does, Dragline flips over Luke’s cards and we find out, he was, of course, bluffing the whole time. Realizing this, Dragline says, “nothing, a whole
lotta nothing. Just like today when he kept coming back at me, with nothing.”

“Yeah well,” Luke replies “Sometimes nothing is a real cool hand.”
Luke had what it takes to persevere under great pressure. He didn’t have the biggest muscles, and he most certainly he wasn’t dealt a winning hand.

Yet, in the end Luke is the unlikely hero, because he had an unshakeable spirit. The external forces of this world made him dig ditches until his hands bled, and his back gave out, forced him to sleep in the “box” for no reason.  No matter how hard the external world pressed down on him, he wouldn’t give up. Somehow, the more they broke his body, the
more his spirit soared.

Civil Rights activist and theologian Howard Thurman, in his classic work Jesus and the Disinherited,  put it this way, “….anyone who permits another to determine the quality of his inner life gives into the hands of the other the keys to his destiny.”

This is not just a theory, or a nice thing to say. This idea became the cornerstone of the entire civil rights movement. Howard Thurman was Martin Luther King Junior’s favorite theologian. King became the enactment of these words, in order to bring justice to his people.

During the movement, racist oppressors did everything they could to make the external life of any black man or woman, boy or girl, as miserable as possible, but they could not affect their inner life. They could not break their spirit, in fact, their spirit soared. 

I have certainly had times this week where I feel like I had a whole lotta
nothing. Maybe you’re with me in this feeling, like you have never put more effort in to something, just to get a fraction of the results you were getting before. I have spoken with teachers who are working around the clock to get some kind of lesson plan online, worrying and wondering if any real learning is going on. I have prayed with friends who work in medicine, who will be sent to the front lines, uncertain of what they will be doing or how they will be doing it. I have sat in mourning, broken hearted, as we all hear how the number of people suffering is growing every day. You may feel like I do some times, helpless, with nothing to offer

But you got something, something great. By not giving up, you
offer more than your effort, you offer yourself. You offer yourself as an
expression of a human spirit that will not be broken. No matter how
frustrating, or exhausting, or scary the external world gets, do not let it
shake you on the inside.  

The spirit which God gives every believer is described in 2
Timothy 1:7. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of
power and of love and of a sound mind. Endurance under pressure is not flashy, it is not produced in comfort, it will never be found in what Robin Leach used to call the Lifestyles of the rich and famous, but it is what we need most. The Good News of the Gospel is that you can possess a powerful spirit of love, and the strength of a sound mind, no matter what comes your way.

Paul puts it this way;

As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in much patience; in troubles, hardships and distresses….. through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report…. dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. -2 Corinthians 6:3-8.

Many of you know that this Pastor has been on a preaching, on patience, streak, and we will just keep it going this week as well. The Hebrew translation of patience used here is ὑπομένω: hupomenó
(hoop-om-en'-o) which can be translated as, to endure under great pressure. We are experiencing the great pressure of not knowing when this dark cloud will lift.  So in this time, we need to ask God for hupomenó.

Of course we will make mistakes, we will have bad days, but we must never give up. Be assured brothers and sisters that God’s grace and mercy covers us, now more than ever. We must remember God’s forgiveness and apply His gift of grace in every situation. With this in mind, no matter how hard we fall, we can rest assured that we will return to the fight with courage and strength.

This section of second Corinthians ends with Paul saying somehow that;

having nothing… is …possessing everything.

2 Corinthians 6:3-8.

 Similarly;

Philippians 2:7 tells us, “…he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.”

When Jesus went to the cross he did nothing. He didn’t speak when insults were being hurled at him, when his own people mocked him, he didn’t call down the armies of Heaven to destroy the Roman oppressors, instead he willingly took every blow. As His body was broken for us, His spirit was saving us.

When we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him, may we realize that the great pressure of our time, is the making of His most beautiful disciples.

Because, sometimes nothing is a real cool hand.

Let us Pray

Father, 
Worry and fear are not of Your heart. 1 John 4 reminds us that perfect love casts out all fear, and we pray Your perfect love upon the hearts of all those who are burdened with the fear of this virus. Lord, we know with
no doubt that You are bigger than the threat of anything, especially illnesses.
Please comfort those who are living in fear, please free them from the bondage that anxiety creates within. Remind them that You are still on the Throne and that You are still in control. Fully rain down the serenity that comes only from the Prince of Peace. Help those who are living in unease to trust You in this time so that in times to come we may rest assured that You will be faithful to be with us until the end of the age. We rest at the Throne of the Almighty such fears and cast them upon You (1 Peter 5:7), for Your burden is Light and Your Yoke is easy (Matthew 11:30), we know You cover us with Your wings (Psalm 91:4). 

In Jesus’ name, Amen 

Joyful in Hope, Patient in Affliction, Faithful in Prayer

Call To Worship

At this scary and strange time in history, we are bombarded by messages of fear, worst-case scenarios, and pictures of empty store shelves. These messages may cause us to give into fear and despair, or may cause us to panic and try to attempt to take control over these uncontrollable times. May I instead point us toward the words of priest and writer Henri Nouwen, who discusses our ability to distance ourselves from these messages of fear and panic broadcasted by society and find our duty in a holy solitude. He writes, “Our primary task in solitude, therefore, is not to pay undue attention to the many faces which assail us, but to keep the eyes of our mind and heart on him who is our divine savior.” Of course we should not ignore the recommendations of health experts and our civic leaders at this time, but while we are finding ourselves in this strange state of isolation, we should find an unexpected vocation in our ability to pray and seek the will of God, dwelling in His Spirit, and interceding through prayer for our neighbors around the world. Let us begin this journey of finding the will of God in times like these by first resting in the assurance of His sovereignty. May the words of Psalm 62 lead you into the valley of God’s faithfulness and invite you into a new state of contemplative action:

“Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from Him.
Truly He is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

My salvation and my honor depend on God;
 He is my mighty rock, my
refuge.
rest in Him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to
Him,  for God is our refuge.”
– Psalm 62:5-8

SERMON

Oh No!

Be joyful in hope,

patient in affliction

faithful in prayer.

– Romans 12:12

Remember when “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” was still a thing? My favorite part of that show was when the contestant who was in anguish over some tough question with a great sum of money on the line and decided to exercise their right to “Phone a Friend” – in essence, force someone they love to share the burden and offer their suggestion as to the final answer.

This morning’s sermon text can be described as a “Phone a Friend.” I was in the office all day Tuesday wondering what on earth I could possibly preach on. What scripture makes sense during this apocalyptic time we find ourselves in? 

My head was swirling after a day of filling it with everything being put out into the world, via the news, and also how the church was responding (including myself), and I was wondering if perhaps there was a missing dimension (or at least one I wasn't seeing).

So I called my friend Rev. Keenan Barber, and I described how I was feeling. I said, “Every so often when you are surfing, there is a massive, outside, set wave, that comes rolling in. It is the wave that you knew was possible, but you were not expecting. Usually, with big set waves you paddle frantically to try and get over the top. But every once in a while, there is a wave that you know there is nothing you can do to get over, the kind of wave that you cannot dive deep enough, or paddle fast enough, to avoid its impact. You are out there in this vast ocean, part of something way bigger than yourself, with no way of getting out of the impact zone. Totally vulnerable, with no way to get around it. You are faced with the reality that you are just going to have to go through it. As you watch this massive wall of water coming in, you have this moment before it hits you. What I call an “Oh No” moment, when you realize that there is nothing you can do but prepare yourself to be thrown under, and give yourself over to the mercy of the wave. So I phoned a friend to help me find the answer to the question, “What biblical text do you share with your church when the entire world is collectively going through one of these ‘Oh No’ moments? “

His answer was, “I am getting ready to go lead a Bible study at Hope Gardens, (a shelter for women and children run by the Union Rescue Mission), and his scripture verse was going to be Romans 12:12:

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Sometimes it’s just that simple. 

I told him this phone call was worth the price of admission, and the more I thought and prayed about it, the more I was convinced that the framework of this simple verse is a good guide for what to do as the depth of our discipleship is being tested. 

Be Joyful in Hope

When you are facing a wall of water and you don't know how powerful it is going to be or where it might throw you or when you will surface, that is not the time to lose hope. 

I do not know what is happening at your house, but at mine, living room dance parties are the answer. I have a two-year-old daughter Glory and a five-year-old son Remington, and their energy has to go somewhere… So this morning at 7AM, they decided to have a dance contest. My son made the rule that each person in the family gets to pick a song. So when it came to my turn, I had to choose, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister. My children had never heard it before, but within seconds they knew exactly what to do. They put their little fists in the air and summoned their best posture of rock and roll defiance. 

In times like these, I am thankful to be a parent because even though we’re so very tired, we now realize that every teacher should get paid a
billion dollars a year! If you really pay attention to your kids in these times, you begin to understand why Jesus said the kingdom of God belongs to the little children. 

Dancing during a pandemic is not making light of the situation. No, it is a way of being joyful in hope. 

When the Italians sing from their windows amid a nationwide lockdown and more than 3,400 deaths, that is being joyful in hope. 

People are putting up Christmas lights again! To spread cheer not germs! That is an example of being joyful in hope. 

I love the ever-growing internet list of things we will not take for granted when this is over:

“When this is over, may we never again take for granted a handshake with a stranger, full shelves at the store, conversations with neighbors, a crowded theater, Friday night out, the taste of communion, a routine checkup, the school rush each morning, coffee with a friend, the stadium roaring, every breath, a boring Tuesday. When this ends, may we find that we have become more like the people we wanted to be.
– Laura Kelly Fanucci

We defeat fear with hope, knowing that no matter where we
are when we resurface, there will be lessons learned that bring us new joy.

Maybe today you want to take a second and share this sermon with someone you know needs new hope. I grieve for those who up until now thought they had no one to rely upon during this time of great trial. I pray that this sermon will help others realize that God has been with them through it all. To let God in is to let hope in. May many more of us open our hearts and receive the gift of hope that God has always wanted for us.  
Martin Luther King Jr. had a beautiful message on hope: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. I was taught—and I believe—that no feeling can last forever. Disappointment, sadness, embarrassment, excitement, relaxation, joy—not one of those emotional states, for better or worse, can be sustained indefinitely.”

Hope is not an emotion; it is a Holy Spirit gift. It is not transitory; hope endures forever. Dr. King believed this and so did Emily Dickinson who wrote,

“‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the
words –
And never stops at all“

Be Patient in Affliction 

Last month I preached on patience. We remembered together how 1 Corinthians 13 starts its definition of what love is with “love is patient.” Patience becomes possible only when we understand time from God’s point of view. Romans 12:12 adds another dimension to this biblical instruction. Paul instructs us that when we are going through affliction, we must be patient. 

We are presented now with an opportunity to apply this teaching.

I have to confess that my first instinct, when the reality of this pandemic sank in, was to start paddling frantically. We need online church! We need to call everyone! Everyone row twice as fast! But now after a week of this, I feel more like the disciples rowing in the storm. I am still trying to overcome the storm, trying to conquer something that I cannot conquer with my own strength. I need my Savior.

Perhaps you found yourself listening to or scrolling this week through each item of “breaking news.” Endless scrolling and channel changing is a recipe for emotional disaster. If we are not careful, too much information will consume us. We will lower ourselves into the pit of despair. 

It is good to stay informed, but I would also encourage you to spend as much time reading the Psalms in this season as you spend scrolling or channel changing. 

Ten verses earlier in Romans 12:2, it says, “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

If you have never actively read the Bible before, now is the time to start. If you read the Psalms for the next few months,  you will be the better for it. God’s word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. When God’s word enters your heart, it really changes how you navigate difficult times.

Additionally, if we are to be patient in affliction, we need to know how to lament. To lament is to acknowledge the breaking wave in front of us, seeing it for what it really is. As a Pastor, I feel a lot of pressure to come up with the magic solution that will make everything better. But the adversary is real, and the fear it brings is natural. There are no easy answers. We must make space for real and honest conversations that allow everyone to come as they are. 

The biblical tradition of lament is longstanding, and it helps us stay patient by inviting us to take inventory, to make space for our emotions.  

The great Protestant reformer Martin Luther treasured the Psalms of lament. Of them he said, “What is the greatest thing in the Psalter but this earnest speaking amid the storm winds of every kind?…Where do you find deeper, more sorrowful, more pitiful words of sadness than in the Psalms of lamentation? There, again you look into the hearts of the saints, as into death, yes, as into hell itself…When they speak of fear and hope, they use such words that no painter could so depict for your fear or hope, and no Cicero or other orator has so portrayed them. And that they speak these words to God and with God, this I repeat, is the best thing of all. This gives the words double earnestness and life” (Word and Sacrament, Luther’s Works, vol. 1, ed. E. T. Bachmann. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1960, pp. 255 –56).

Psalm 22:1-12
A Psalm of Lament

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish?
 My God, I cry out by day, but You do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest.

Yet You are enthroned as the Holy One;
    You are the One Israel praises

In You our ancestors put their trust;
    they trusted and You delivered them.
 To You they cried out and were saved;
    in You they trusted and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
    they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
“He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
    “let the Lord rescue him.
Let Him deliver him,
    since he delights in Him.”

Yet You brought me out of the womb;
    You made me trust in You, even at my mother’s breast.
 From birth I was cast on You;
    from my mother’s womb You have been my God.

Do not be far from me
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.

If the biblical writers can speak this freely with God, so can we. I invite you to have as many honest conversations with God as you need during this time. It is a cruel paradox that with all the hurting people out there, somehow the best we can do for them is to stay at home. It feels counterintuitive to me. So we need to bring these new and complex emotions to our God. When we give expression to our suffering, it becomes a source of solidarity.

Lamentation Psalms like this one are works of fine art. They identify what is going on inside all of us and name the emotion. It is the gift of learning we are not alone in what we feel. We are hurting as a community. We lament our common suffering. We remain patient in our affliction. We come together in a common lament. Take a moment to worship in a spirit of lament.

Faithful in Prayer 

Prayer is a Christian’s secret weapon. When we have nowhere else to go, it is essential that we get on our knees and pray. Jesus tells us that our best prayers are done in a secret place, a place where you and your Heavenly Father can be together, just the two of you. Now is the time to develop a regular prayer rhythm if you do not already have one, and to refine it further if you do. In times of turbulence and uncertainty, we need to remember that apart from God we can do nothing that will last. Being faithful in prayer means that prayer is a regular practice. If you make prayer a regular part of your day, it will anchor you in the Lord. It is essential, and if sincerely practiced, it will stay with
you for the rest of your life. 

In prayer, we should intercede for those who are sick, in fear and in danger of losing their livelihood. So let us close our time together with some intercessory prayer. 

In doing so, let us remember to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. We will get through this together. 

Benediction



Give Yourself Grace

Dear Friends and Family of St. Andrew’s Children,

As we come up on another Sunday when we can’t meet together, I have a few thoughts and words for you. We may not be able to see each other face-to-face, but we are still a strong community, group of people God put in each other’s lives for a reason. We can lift each other up in prayer, and we can support each other remotely.

I’m praying for each and every one of you as you sift through a world turned upside-down. We each have our own struggles through this pandemic, but in some ways, our lives look more alike than ever.

We are isolated. We don’t know what is coming next, and our work/school life looks completely different for now. Our children are home and, in varied degrees, coping with the changes themselves.

Something that I have noticed in talking with others is that many of us are dealing with some level of anxiety—either resulting from possible danger or from the impacts of being alone. We don’t have the usual coping mechanisms of distraction and productivity (“If I’m working hard on something, I don’t have time to worry.”). We don’t have the support of sounding boards or of camaraderie. We don’t have childcare, parks, libraries, other kids to play with, teachers to learn from. And many are trying to figure out how to get just as much work done remotely with all of these added things.

I was pouring these thoughts out during a Zoom call with some friends, and that group of wise souls told me this, “Give yourself grace to not make big goals or put expectations on yourself. You are keeping your family safe and doing your part for the larger community, and that is enough. If you don’t get in the best shape of your life, organize every cupboard in your house, create an epic garden, write the next bestselling novel, and whatever else… it will be ok. If you don’t stick to strict screen-time limits, it’s just for a season. If you’re not an instant, ‘just-add-coronavirus’ homeschool teacher, your kids will be fine. It will be ok.” Or at least they said something like that!

You guys… it will be okay. It all comes down to that. God has each of us in His loving protection. He has a plan. We may not understand the plan, but I can tell you—this is not His Plan B. God only works in Plan A mode. And we only have one job—to trust Him. Through thick and thin.

We will be okay. If we pray, He will help us to find the next right thing (please forgive the Frozen II reference, but it’s just so applicable!), and we trust in God that we still have a place and a role to play for His kingdom. What we are doing is enough.

I love you all. Let’s stay connected via the Facebook page. There are fun challenges coming soon there (like a craft show-down, Bible memory verse challenge, and more!). If you are not on the Facebook page and want your kids to stay connected with their church friends, let me know and I will add you!

Stay in His peace my friends,

Ms. Keighly

LOVE > FEAR

  Call to Worship

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the
peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:6

Morning Prayer

Great and loving God,
your will for us in Jesus is the peace which the world cannot give;
your abiding gift is the Advocate he promised.
Calm all troubled hearts, dispel every fear.
Keep us steadfast in love and faithful to your word,
that we may always be your dwelling place.
Grant this through Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead, who lives with you now and always in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever.

Amen.

Intercessory Prayer

Take some time to pray for those who are most affected by COVID-19.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. - James 5:16

• For all who are forgotten and vulnerable, and especially for
  the poor, the sick and the aged: that God might change our hearts and move us to love them as the image of Christ;  We pray to the Lord.

•  For nurses and all professionals who care for the sick and
  dying: that they will be given the grace to love each patient with the love of Christ, and the energy to do this most essential work; We pray to the Lord.

• That the sick may find strength and courage in the cross of
  Christ and healing in His presence; We pray to the Lord.

• For Children who are in need of daily meals to nourish their bodies; We pray to the Lord.

•  For those tempted to despair because of fear and anxiety; We pray to the Lord.

•  For the Church to be the body of Christ to all who are in need; We pray to the Lord.
  
  

Sermon

Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, "Son, your sins are forgiven. -Mark 2:3-5

I do not know about you, but my heart is heavy. I am thinking of all the people, all over the world, who are struggling. I want to help, but I am not exactly sure how.

I have chosen this passage from Mark because it serves as a guide for how we should approach this dilemma. In this story, the problem is paralysis. For years a group of friends had watched someone they love struggle, not able to move or make progress.

Though most of us do not struggle with physical paralysis, one of our instincts in times of great anxiety is to freeze, to shut down, to cancel.

            Then one day, the news got around that Jesus was coming back to Capernaum. He had been traveling the countryside, healing and casting out demons. So, the paralyzed man’s friends get their first glimpse of hope. If they can only get their friend to Jesus, maybe, just maybe, he would be healed. But there was one big problem, everyone else was thinking the same thing. I am sure they tried to get through the front door, attempted to push through the crowd, threw some elbows. On this day however, traditional methods simply were not going to suffice.  It is safe to say most of us would have called it quits at that point. After all, they hit a major wall (literally!). But not these guys. Later in the story Jesus reveals why. These friends were animated by their faith.

Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD. -Psalm 112:6-7

When these friends were faced with a major obstacle, they decided to get creative. Breaking and entering style creative. They got a ladder, a shovel, and some rope, and on a hope and a prayer they went for it. It wasn’t plan “A”, but somehow it was just the right thing to do, for the circumstances they found themselves in.

            Today we are faced with a major obstacle. We cannot take it on in a traditional way. We do not know what the future has in store us. We are afraid.

            This story reminds us of two essential truths. The first is nothing can separate us from the love of Christ Jesus.

          “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or the sword?  As it is written:

          ‘For your sake we face death all day long;
          we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 8:31-39

The Apostle Paul; who wrote these words experienced his fair share of suffering. He was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, robbed, imprisoned, and persecuted. But he tells of his greatest source of suffering in 2 Corinthians 11:27-28, where he writes:

        “I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food. I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”

            I find it hard to relate to all of the struggles Paul list in this passage except for that last one. As a Pastor my concern is for our Church, St. Andrews. My concern is also my greatest desire; that you to know that no pain, panic, or pandemic can separate you from the love of Christ.

            The second truth this story tells us is that if we summon our faith, muster our courage and get creative; we will find new ways to be the Body of Christ. Church is not, and cannot be cancelled, because you are the Church. You do not, nor have you ever needed, a physical building in order to be the Church. This is, in fact, a really important theological point. 1 Corinthians 3:16 tells us;

        Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives among you?

Although we are not gathered in a large group setting, we need to be the Body of Christ now, more than ever. So get creative! Look around you, be present, seize the day for Jesus.

 Get inspired like Rebecca Mehra, who came upon an older couple in their car, in a grocery store parking lot, they were in tears; because they were afraid to go inside. They were in their 80’s and had heard people their age were at greater risk. Rebecca, moved with compassion; asked how she could help. They cracked the car window just enough to slip a hundred-dollar bill and a shopping list out to her. When she came back with the groceries, and had placed them in the trunk, they told her how grateful they were as they had been waiting in the parking lot for 45 minutes, paralyzed with fear. Like Rebecca let us pray we will be present, creative and compassionate in these uncertain times.

Our first priority as a staff, as we get creative, will be identifying those of us who are most vulnerable and figuring out how to best care for them. If you would like to partner with us, maybe help us make phone calls, identify particular needs, and address them, please let us know. Yes, become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in our time. You can email gboysen@sntandrews.org for more information.

We will also continue to serve the homeless and working poor on Tuesdays and Thursdays here at the Church. We will not be doing a sit-down meal, but we will be providing food from our pantry to anyone who needs it, a sack lunch, clothes, toiletries, mail, prayer, and social services.

If you or anyone you know is in need of assistance please give the church a call at (310) 540-5252.

 Times of great suffering have historically been the times when Christ followers are at their best. Whether it has been time of war, persecution or pestilence, Christians have always risen to the occasion with courage and compassion. So, shall it be in this, our time, that once again, “they will know us by our love.”

May these words of Jesus inspire us anew this day;

           “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.  No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory Father in heaven. -Matthew 5:13-16

Heavenly Father,

Thank you that you made us in your image. Help us to reflect your light and your image in this world. Thank you that you made us the light of the world. Help us to never shrink back from who we are. Thank you that we are not meant to be hidden. Strengthen us to live as a city on a hill. Thank you for your grace. May you be pleased with our good deeds offered in response to your grace and may they bring glory to you. Thank you, that you have called us the salt of the earth. Help us to be salty. Let us bring out the flavors of righteousness, love, and mercy in this world. Help us be salt to the world. Let us lead others to eternal preservation through Christ Jesus. Help us to sting as salt does in a wound. Let us speak the Truth in love so that others may come to know the Truth. Mix us into the earth to salt the fields of a defeated enemy. Let us proclaim that death is defeated by our Lord Jesus Christ!

Amen