Masks

The governor of this state has issued a quarantine for the entire state.  In addition, each health department for each county has responded with their own recommendations for how to stop or at least slow down the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

People actually follow the advice of  "Shelter in Place" according to their own interpretation.  Some still believe that this is just a political thing and do not take it seriously.  (yes, there may be some strong political undertones regarding the funding and testing) Some act as though there is no information out there.  This is very real.  It is a real virus and despite the origin of it, it continues to make sick and take the lives of many.  We are asked something that is very simple: No non-essential trips.  That means groceries (don't make a bunch of small trips, but 1-2 weeks is sufficient).  Always wear a mask and keep social distance. We do know that the virus is spread through droplets and more forcefully through heavy exercise such as jogging and singing--therefore the mask and no gatherings such as church at this time.

Be aware of that story of the gatherings where people got sick and some died.  Many have been infected.  It may not be someone you know, but probably is someone you know who knows that person.  Many people have lived in this area for generations and many not only know people, but are related to many.

Try to go to the grocery store when it is not peak hours for shopping--early.  You can tell before you step inside by surveying the parking lot.  Take a list with you and follow the list, check out and leave the store.  This is not a time for browsing.

Best source of knowledge on the virus is your local health department (Each county has one), the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO).  The CDC has even put out a video that instructs how to make a mask that requires no sewing.  Use those old t-shirts.  It may in fact, save your life as well as your loved ones.

Be safe!  Care for others by caring for yourself!  We will get through this and if we follow these guidelines, we will get through it sooner.

Pray for our nation (USA).  Pray for our people. Pray for those who have been infected and those who have died from the infection.  Pray for an immunization.

Thank you, God

Thank you, Gracious God, for the grace that you have given to us in this time of increased anxiety, panic and depression.  In a world that has turned upside down, we either learn to survive or give up.  Much of what we have is what we have to live with at this moment. We have to devise new ways of being and reassess what it means to be the people of God in a world that is now so different, so changed from what we have known up to this point.

If one were to write a book at this juncture of pandemic, what would be its title?  Perhaps the title would be something like, “Masks” and it would be about both the physical masks we wear as well as the social masks we wear---yet address that last subject with view to the past as well as the present.

Palm/Passion Sunday is coming up this Sunday, and we are not allowed to gather in accordance with COVID-19 guidelines as put out by the governor of this state, Governor Jay Inslee.  There are those who would have him taken out of office, but he has done well to ignore what President Trump has so loudly proclaimed about the virus.  Precautions should be taken, and taken now.  We all should be wearing masks because we are all at risk for contracting this virus and possibly also dying from it.  We also have the capability of carrying it without knowing and then passing it on to someone else.  It then becomes a chain of what appears to be unstoppable events.

If one looks at the numbers and compares it to past pandemics, it does not yet seem so bad, yet we are yet to see what happens.  This event is not over.  This pandemic has affected us in that we are all aware by the constant news reports, by the work environment, those who worry greatly about whether or not their business will be in operation when this is over.

We can only hope that somehow we will come out on the other end---after constantly checking on our family and friends, praying that nobody we know personally has become infected or worse yet, it has progressed to death.  Hope is all we have.  It is the only sustainer.

God of Hope, We ask for your presence in our lives this day.  That you would walk with us and assure us that for this day, you will be there.  We are thankful for our lives both past and present.  Help us always to be grateful for the present moment, to live in that moment.  Keep us from either looking at the past as being better or the future looking bleak.  Keep us one day at a time in hope.  For this day, we give you thanks.  Amen.

Listen to Him

LastSundayafterEpiphanyA, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church February23, 2020 by Annette Fricke

Today is the last Sunday after the Epiphany.  Some denominations

follow a different calendar and call this one Transfiguration Sunday.  It may be a bit confusing for those of us who were Lutherans.  The great orienting part to this is that the lessons and gospel are the same.  The Greek word that is used to describe what happens to Jesus translates into the English word meaning metamorphosis. Metamorphosis is defined as “a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means.”^[1] Probably the most common way that people explain this five syllable word is the process of a caterpillar that becomes a butterfly. There is something similar to that in our Old Testament lesson where Moses also experiences this type of transformation also on a mountain top.  He comes out with his face shining which is interpreted by the people that he has seen God face to face.  In both instances, the chosen others to experience this are few in number.  For Moses, he took one assistant, Joshua; and for Jesus it was his inner circle among the 12 disciples of just James and John, the sons of Zebedee and Peter.  The response of these disciples is fear.  The text says that they fell to the ground. God wants to make sure that what is said is heard.  Remember the beginning of this liturgical season, The Epiphany?  You know when we talk about the magi bringing gifts to the baby Jesus?  And that Sunday is followed by The Baptism of Jesus? Now we are at the end of the Epiphany season, just before Lent.  The gospels are similar.  At Jesus’ baptism we read, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”  Today Matthew reports not only that Jesus is God’s Son, but what God expects us to do.  In today’s gospel, it reads, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”  Not only is this God’s Son with whom God is well pleased, but we are to listen to him.  We are to listen to Jesus!  This is the preparatory moment where Jesus will now be going to Jerusalem to the cross.  This is a time when people do not want to hear what happens to Jesus.  Crucifixion was the fate of thieves and other criminals.  It was a slow death.  There were no gas chambers or nuclear bombs.  Most of us identify with Peter at this point and don’t want this to happen to Jesus.  Most of us do not like hearing the recitation of Jesus’ trial or reading it on Palm Sunday or the story of the tearing of the curtain of the temple or the earthquake.  We don’t want to see that human side of Jesus because it is not comfortable.  We’d rather see the divine Jesus, not the human Jesus and we forget that Jesus is both.  It is difficult for us to wrap our minds around this one as it also was for the first disciples, even James, John, and Peter. It is a natural reaction to the story of Jesus at this point to go into the journey of Lent, to bury the alleluias, to experience a certain amount of the emotions of what we feel when we see someone we love very much suffer.  When we truly love Jesus and attempt to follow what Jesus taught and lived, those emotions will emerge. It will emblazon on our hearts just how much God loves all of us; so much that Jesus suffered and continues to suffer also with us as humanity of all generations in that faith journey.

          The transfiguration of Jesus is a true mountaintop experience which testifies to the glory of God.  It is fuel for the journey, a long spiritual journey as we contemplate the voice of Jesus in our everyday human lives here on earth. As we listen to the mission of Jesus and go about our mission to the people around us, those who are fearful like James, John, and Peter; remember that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Unlike James, John and Peter, we know for sure that light is there, it’s just a matter of time--40 days.  That light is the resurrection.

---

^[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=definition+of+metamorphosis&rlz=1C1SQJL_enUS854US855&oq=definition+of+metamorphosis&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.14981j1j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Come and See

2EpiphanyA St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, Moses Lake by Annette Fricke

This gospel lesson takes place the day after Jesus’ baptism. There are just three points that are worth making from today’s gospel lesson and they are this: John the Baptist did not know Jesus before he came for baptism.  This is an important point because this is said twice.  Number 2, Jesus is identified by John the Baptist as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.  This is also said twice.  Note that sin is singular, not plural.  Thirdly, the result is that Andrew decides to follow Jesus and tells his brother Simon Peter who also becomes a disciple of Jesus. 

We might be puzzled at John the Baptist no knowing Jesus because stuck in the back of our minds is the account in Luke where John the Baptist’s mother and Jesus’ mother meet when they are both pregnant.  How is it that John the Baptist and Jesus did not know each other until now?  Aren’t they cousins or something?  We are not told how to fill in that gap.  John tells us that John the Baptist knows this is Jesus because he saw the Spirit descending onto Jesus from heaven like a dove when he baptized Jesus.  This is how John the Baptist recognized Jesus. The text says “the one who sent him,” but ultimately God seems to have told him that this would be the indicator, this would be the identified Messiah who had been prophesied for many, many years. This was the fulfillment of that prophesy.  And John the Baptist knows that even though he has gained prominence as a leader and maybe even seen as a prophet, he knows that Jesus is the real thing.  He knows that comparing him to Jesus means that Jesus must become the leader now in order to carry out the mission of God, of how God will through Jesus be the savior of the world, the entire world.

In that role of Messiah, John the Baptist says twice, just in case we didn’t hear or notice it the first time, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  Note again that the word ‘sin’ is singular; it is not ‘sins.’ Jesus is not one of many lambs with lower case l, but is the Lamb with a capital L. The word sin that this Lamb takes away is our condition of sin.  One of my seminary professors describes it as “It is not possible to not sin.”  I know this is a double negative, but this is the condition of humanity from which we need to be saved.  We will continue to sin as in plural sins.  Jesus takes away the barrier caused by our sinful nature so that our relationship to God in a very real sense is restored.  Both the cause of sin is taken away as well as the effects, even guilt.  God does not see our sin as we do.  We forget this and need reminding.  God is always with us and everything God has is ours.[i]  That is the grace of God in which we are called to live every day, each day. That, my friends, is good news and a cause for celebration. 

And because this is good news, we have good news to share when we go out into the world, when we gather for worship, when we share what we have with people we don’t even know.  And just maybe our approach should be just that, asking what people are looking for in a church and then saying to them, “Come and see.”  Many people will say that they want to go to a church where they preach the gospel and because that can mean something different to different people, it is enough to say, “Come and see.”  Allow people to see for themselves without our pronouncements or explanations of what we may believe or think.  Simply put, “Hi. What are you looking for in a church?  And listen to what that person has to say.  If they ask if we have that, say that we are open to input. Then invite them—you can hand them one of the pens up front at the table where the greeter hands out the bulletins and crayons.  Tell them, “Come and See.”  You don’t have to say that Jesus sent you, even though Jesus did send you.

---

[i] Frederick Dale Bruner, The Gospel of John: A Commentary, p.81