Hi Church! What a wild time we are living in! I wanted to take a few minutes to let you what St Thomas is doing in the midst of this pandemic. As you may have seen on Facebook or on our website, the district has cancelled all rentals on their properties through April 8th. Further, as I’m sure many our aware, our Governor has banned gatherings of 250 people or more. While St Thomas doesn’t quite crack the 250-person barrier, we have felt that it is in the best interest of the marginalized in our communities to cancel our Sunday gatherings for the time being. As it stands right now, we have agreed that for the next 2 weeks we will be gathering online. After that time, our Leadership team will make a decision whether we should continue digital gatherings or come back together.
I do want to be clear, however, that these decisions are not being made out of fear. While CoVid-19 is a serious illness, and does pose a threat to at-risk populations, it poses very little threat to the vast majority of people who make up St Thomas. And that means we have a beautiful and unique opportunity in the midst of this crisis. We get to love and serve our communities in a myriad of ways. Firstly, we can slow the spread of this virus by practicing good hygiene, implementing good social distancing, and staying home when we are sick. By doing that, we can significantly hamper CoVid-19’s ability to overwhelm our health care systems and lessen the number of lives that will be lost. Secondly, we get to be the support system for people who do need to self-quarantine, who are sick, and who will have to deal with this illness. Let’s be the community who goes to the grocery store for those that ought not go themselves. Let’s be the community that checks in on our neighbors. Let’s be the community who pays attention to the facts and doesn’t fall victim to the fear.
In the midst of this, I want to remind us of a reality that many seem to be forgetting. This is a little bit of a preview of my message Sunday but tune in either way! In Mark’s Gospel from chapter 4 verse 35 through chapter 5 verse 43, Mark tells us about four back to back miracles that Jesus performers. It starts with Jesus and his disciples on a boat, a great storm rises up and Jesus calms it with only his voice. The disciples are gob smacked! “Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him!?” They reach the other side and as they get out of a boat a demon possessed guy runs at Jesus, calls Jesus, “the Son of the Most High God” and tells Jesus there are a legion of demons inside him. Jesus casts out the demons, and the man returns to his senses. Jesus gets back in the boat, heads back across the lake and a Jewish leader asks Jesus if he could come heal the leader’s sick daughter. On Jesus’ way to the Jewish leaders house a bleeding woman brushes up against him and is instantly healed. Jesus sits to listen to her story before continuing on to the leader’s house. Upon arrival he finds that the girl has passed away but Jesus marches on and brings the dead girl back to life.
In 49 verses Jesus demonstrates power over nature, demons, sickness, and death. Mark is very deliberately answering the disciples’ question in the boat. Who is this? This is the God of everything. Fam, we serve that very same God. Yes, this pandemic might feel scary. But the way I see it, we can forget that truth and go forward in fear hording toilet paper and only looking out for ourselves, or we can hold on to that truth and go forward serving those who need to be served. This is an event that has left some much more vulnerable than it has left others. Let’s serve the vulnerable. We might not be a huge community, but we are able!
Stay tuned to our Facebook and Instagram for more info as events pop up or get canceled. We’ll do our best to keep everyone in the loop. Obviously if you aren’t sure about an event’s status, text Mat or Linda and we’ll let you know. And Obviously, obviously, if you are sick, just stay home! -Mat
