COVID-19, March 30, 2020

Dear Church Family,

That’s three now.  Three Sundays where we worshiped on line instead of in our church building.  It’s not ideal, but it’s wonderful to have a this option.  The thing I miss the most, when I deliver these messages, is that you are not there.  It is far too quiet in church. Oh to have some whispering kids, or a crying baby, or that surprisingly ill-timed cough!

Our oldest grandson is in grade 6.  Last week they resumed their school work via Google Classroom.  Nolan’s mom made the comment that the teachers are rather enjoying the option to “mute” a student who might be talking too much.  I get that!  Haven’t we all wanted to “mute” someone now and then.

Please pray for our teachers this week as many of them will be getting back to their classes remotely.  Some parents want their children in class all day, others want the teachers to ease them in slowly.  Parents – please be gracious and patient; we don’t want the teachers pushing your “mute” button.

The preacher, in Ecclesiastes 3:7 says that there’s “a time to be silent and a time to speak.”  May God help students, teachers, parents, newscasters, politicians, pastors, yes, all of us, to be able to discern those times, to know when to speak and when to listen. 

Ça va bien aller.

Pastor Rita

COVID-19, March 29, 2020

Dear Church Family,

Today has been declared a Global Day of Prayer.  And so, I invite you to pray with me, a prayer for a Pandemic, written by Cameron Bellm:

Dear God,
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 the 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.
As fear grips our country,
let us choose love.
During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other,
Let us yet find ways to be your loving embrace to our neighbors.

Amen.

Be blessed,

Pastor Rita

Love or Power?

Love or Power?  Those are two very different approaches.  Love seems so, well, so soft.  Our world prefers power.  During the COVID crisis, we are starting to see that power has not been very effective.  This Sunday, we turn to Matthew 27 where we see the choice between power and love played out as two Jesuses are place before the people - the Jesus of power (Barabbas) and the Jesus of love (the Messiah.).  Our service will be available by 10 a.m. tomorrow morning, from our church website, ancastercrc.org

COVID-19, March 28

Dear Church Family,

My granddaughter Kayla, made the observation that if you take out the middle of the word, “pandemic,” you get “panic”.  Which led us to wondering about the etymology of the word, pandemic.  Kayla’s mom has the girls doing some journaling and this was part of that discussion.

I looked up the word origins of “pandemic” and it was pretty simple.  Pan, means “all” and demic is from “demos”, as in democracy, so, “people.”  All- people. The COVID-19 virus then, is spreading to all people, all around the world.  The way it has spread so fast and so far continues to amaze me.  From one person, to another, to another, and so on and so on.  Highly contagious, highly infectious – “added to their numbers daily.”

That line is also found in the Bible – added to their numbers daily.  It’s in Acts 2.  But there it’s talking about people who were being saved by Jesus.  “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

I had a neighbour.  Her name is Catherine.  I talked to her about Jesus, and she got to know him better.  She told her husband Ken and their daughter Emily. And they talked to Tim and Stacey. And they told Evan and Paige and Abigail.  And so on, and so on.

After Paul and Silas escape from prison, the jailer comes to believe in Jesus and then we read this (Act 16:34): “The jailer brought [Paul and Silas] into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to  believe in God – he and his whole household.”

Yes, his whole household.  That’s because being a Christian is highly contagious. In the first century, Christianity spread because of the diaspora. Wherever people went, they spread the good news. It happens today too.

Wouldn’t it be great to see the love of Jesus and love for Jesus spread as fast as the Corona Virus?  Let’s be infectious Christians.

Pastor Rita

COVID-19, Friday, March 27

Dear Church Family,

Have you been reading some of the funny memes that have been going around on Facebook and Twitter?  These jokes are usually the funniest when you can identify with them. Like the hymn selection one that says us pastors should avoid certain songs during the COVID crisis, like, “Breathe on me Breath of God,” and “Precious Lord, Take my Hand.”

Some of us can laugh at the jokes.  But others don’t see any of this as a laughing matter. 

Is it ok to be happy when so many are suffering?  It’s a question that comes up often in the life of a Christian.  Can I express, publicly, my thanks that I am safe and healthy and even able to laugh now and then when others are unable to do so? 

A nurse from our congregation shared this prayer request with me: Please pray for all the doctors and nurses, we are scared. We don’t have enough supplies; we are worried that we will get sick and make our families sick. Also pray for all those people in hospital who now can’t have visitors. So hard for them.

This is certainly no laughing matter.

And yet, on those days when you can laugh, consider your optimism and your cheerful attitude as a gift – a gift to be shared.  I remind people often, that being blessed isn’t about living the good life.  We are blessed in order to be a blessing. Already with Abraham, God chose him, decided to bless him, but for a purpose:  that all peoples on earth would be blessed through him (Genesis 12:3). And this great verse, II Corinthians 9:11:  “You will be enriched in every way (blessed) so that you can be generous on every occasion.”

If you are in a good place right now, then you have room to bless others.  Not necessarily to share a joke, but maybe just to encourage someone to have a “closer walk with God,” at least figuratively.

Pastor Rita

COVID-19, Thursday, March 26

Dear Church Family,

Earlier this week we had a council meeting.  Yesterday I had my profession of faith class, and our youth group met as well.  It all sounds like a typical week at church doesn’t it.  Except, all these meetings happened via zoom, a video conferencing tool.

I’ve heard a few newscasters swapping out the term “social distancing” for “physical distancing.”  That’s a good correction.  In this era of social media, there’s no reason to limit our connections over email and Instagram and twitter…. (ya, you know the list), and even the good ol’ telephone.

We are social beings, and even the most introverted introvert was made for community.

·       *As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)

·       *In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Romans 12:5)

·       *My command is this: Love each other as I have love you. Greater love has no one that this: to lay down one’s life one’s friends. (Today’s chapter from the Gospel of John, if you are following our reading guide, 15:12,13).

I could go on all day, but you get the picture.  And God himself, wants to be in community with us:  “I will walk among you and be your God” (Leviticus 26:12).

The students, with whom I met yesterday, said that they weren’t particularly frightened.  Bored, yes, but not scared.  One of them said that if feels as though Someone has their back.  I put a capital S on “Someone,” because I think they know that they belong, body and soul, to our faithful Saviour Jesus Christ, and he has our back.

Keep your physical distance today, but don’t slip into social distancing.  Make at least one social contact today, ok?

Pastor Rita

COVID-19, Wednesday, March 25

Dear Church Family,

Yesterday an announcement was made that, in order to quell the spread of COVID-19, only essential services and businesses would remain in operation in Ontario.  While I understand the intent and importance of these measures, it did cause me to pause and wonder, “What’s essential?” The Hamilton Spectator this morning asked that same question.  And then what followed was “A look at businesses that can stay open in Ontario.”  It’s quite a list!

The concept that any of us might not be essential runs contrary to what we read in the Bible.  Each one of us is created by God, in his image, to serve in his kingdom. That high view of humanity is what has inspired scientific advancement and technological developments and artistic endeavour through the ages.  Sociologist and author Rodney Stark says this:  “SCIENCE AROSE ONLY IN Europe because only medieval Europeans believed that science was possible and desirable. And the basis of their belief was their image of God and his creation. (The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion).

I recall the words of a colleague of mine who spoke at his own son’s funeral. He said (I’m paraphrasing here) that when Christ returns and establishes the new earth, we’ll all still be working – construction guys will still be building houses, artists will still be painting, accountants will still be balancing the numbers.  The only ones who will be out of a job will be us pastors.  That’s because when people ask us to show them Jesus, we’ll just point and say, “there he is!”

God has created each of us with a purpose. Ephesians 2:10:  “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Go do something good today, something essential. 

Pastor Rita