Sunday, 22 March 2020

COVID-19, Sunday, March 22


Dear Church Family,
Just a week ago we were surprised to have taken the step to cancel our Sunday service.  Now a week later, no one was surprised that we were not gathering at 70 Garner Rd E.  How things can change in one week.

And now we wait.  We wait for things to get worse, or to get better.  I think for the first time, I’m getting a small taste of what the people of Israel were talking about when they said they were waiting for the coming of the Messiah.   Waiting.  At first their waiting would have been with a sense of urgency,  that the  Saviour of the world would arrive any day.  By the time we read about Simeon, who “was waiting for the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25), the waiting would have become more like a dull ache, always there, but in the back ground.

Waiting for God to rescue us from this pandemic  is nothing like waiting for the Messiah, of course.  And yet, the notion of “being saved” has suddenly become real to us.  To be saved is more than religious language.  God’s salvation impacts every aspect of our lives – our financial instability, our cancers, our social isolation and relationships.  What do you need to be saved from? And what does that salvation look like?

We’ve been reading through John’s gospel in preparation for Good Friday.  John talks about the “signs” that Jesus does.  Signs, not miracles.  Each sign gives us a foretaste, a glimpse, a sample of what salvation in Jesus will look like in the fullness of time.

And so, we wait.  May God give us a sign, soon, in the control of this pandemic,  that will give us a taste of what it will be like when ALL our diseases are healed, when all our worries are calmed, when all our tears are dried.

As we enter this new week, “wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:14).
Pastor Rita

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