Dear Friends in Christ,
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice.
These are the words of St. Paul to the church in Philippi as he sat in a Roman prison for proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. While it is highly unlikely any of us will ever see the inside of a Roman jail (thank God!) all of us have been experiencing confinement during this pandemic. In order to love our family and our neighbours we have and continue to practice strict social distancing – and this, frankly, can be hard. It can make us feel like a prisoner in our own homes. We may acutely feel this sense of imprisonment as we approach Thanksgiving on the October 11 weekend and find ourselves unable to give thanks with friends and family surrounding us.
And yet St. Paul reminds us of our call as Christians to rejoice in the Lord always. I don’t think St. Paul is asking us to deny the reality of the pandemic and its impact on us in this call – St. Paul was hardly in a pleasant situation himself when he wrote these words! Rather I think St.Paul would have us see that even in the situation you find yourself in God is with you. God is with you.
I rejoice that we have re-opened our church building to in-person worship. I rejoice at being able to see some of you for the first time face-to-face. I rejoice that I am able to celebrate the eucharist amongst you. I rejoice that many of you continue to love your neighbour by faithfully worshiping from home on the computer. I rejoice in hearing stories of many of you calling one another, making sure everyone is alright, in getting groceries for those in need. I rejoice in all of you, because God is doing something amazing in amongst us, gathering us in all sorts of ways by His grace.
This thanksgiving will be unlike any other. I urge all of us to reach out to one another this Thanksgiving. For some amongst us Thanksgiving will be very difficult, and so I encourage all of us to rejoice in God by remembering God has given us each other to care for.
And even in the midst of these trying times through the miracle of Zoom, or in what we will never take for granted again – the strange new landscape of in-person church – we give thanks that God still calls to gather as his people. In God’s love – and in turn our love for one another in the church, we cannot be separated. Truly, Rejoice in the Lord Always, again I say rejoice!
Andrew+