Being a beacon of Christ doesn’t mean we need to be perfect. It means we still need to help others even when we feel lost.
trusting God in 2021
Epiphany 4B | Mark 1:21-28
Last year, I reminded us that we are called to be Beacons of Christ to our neighborhood, our community, and along with our many neighbors, to be Beacons of Christ to our region and our world.
To do that, we need to recognize how we are beacons—casting a light out into the night to help others make their way in the world safely. For us to be beacons is a sacred duty.
I also said that we probably don’t feel completely capable of being that. We often feel like we’re the ships out at sea more than the lighthouse on the shore. To get our moorings in a shifting sea so that we might be of service to others, I shared this slide:
It reads
Practice
Our three tools:
- The Daily Office
- Scripture
- Each Other
We began 2020 responding to the call of our bishop, heeding one of our beacons to be a beacon for others. And I reminded us that we would need to ground ourselves in the practices our tradition offers us: praying the Daily Office, reading our Scripture, and learning from each other.
What I did not anticipate was just how prescient that call to the people of St. Stephen’s would be.
We don’t need to rehash 2020.
We survived a difficult year. And we are anticipating that this year will also be a little rocky. But that call to remember the root work of our tradition is not dependent on being in our precious church building. For we are anchored by our tradition’s call to common worship. And by common, we do not just mean together, the same way, week-after-week. But that we, each and all, might fully worship alone, at home, with friends or family, and increasingly, on Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube.
These practices shouldn’t be seen as a permanent replacement for the stuff we love about coming to our church each week. And yet, these are practices we are supposed to be doing on our own anyway. And this pandemic has exposed just how out of shape all of us really are. Not just physically, but spiritually.
No one who prays the daily office would say they have no need for Sunday morning. But, they also would not feel disconnected from God should they miss it.
Beaconing 2021
So as we usher in this new year with great anticipation, we do so needing to keep the faith. Because we have not reached the other shore. But we can see it. We know it is there. Our beacons are guiding us away from the rocks and toward the safety we desire.
And yet, at the same time, we have many others looking to us to help them to safety. Those who cannot see our beacons, but for whom we are the beacon.
And that sensation: of being a beacon while still looking for beacons ourselves: that is the central Christian commitment. From the time Jesus sent his students to literally be him to other people while still following him to this very day when we are called to be students and teachers to one another. That is the constant Christian story.
I was thinking about this idea the other day.
One of the phrases I heard constantly in seminary, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), and from bishops and colleagues, was the importance of being a non-anxious presence. How important it is to avoid being anxious when trying to serve those who are.
And as someone who has felt a great deal of anxiety living through this past year, this daily reminder to avoid living into my anxiousness to allow you to be anxious in the midst of a non-anxious presence has been among the greatest challenges of my life.
It is also just like being a beacon while needing to watch for other beacons so none of us drowns.
Expanding Our Minds
When Jesus walks into the synagogue in the gospel we heard this morning, the people are amazed at the teaching.
But when Jesus is confronted by an evil spirit, exposed by it as being more than a teacher, Jesus doesn’t shy away from the moment. And surprisingly, neither do the people. They see it for exactly what it is: a new teaching. That Jesus is more than a teacher. More than a healer. He has power beyond what any person should have.
In other words, they saw what God was revealing in that very moment about that moment. They accepted the teaching before them and discovered that there was much more to God’s dream for creation than they had ever considered.
They learned. Like the city of Ninevah last week, which heard the challenge from God and changed!
We are invited to listen to this moment. To see the challenge to our precious tradition, and listen for what God is telling us now.
Right Now
As much as we all long to be together in the same room, we remain safer keeping our physical distance for a few more months.
New strains of the coronavirus are likely to begin causing even greater suffering in our community in the coming months. Of course, we are looking at a dramatic increase in vaccinations to come at the same time—a race to prevent a massive wave that will be cutting it really close.
Our diocesan office has pushed their reopening out several more months and are presently planning for some outdoor and combination get-togethers this summer. That is a prudent approach to ensure the health and safety of our most vulnerable.
In a few weeks, we will come full circle, to a Lent that seemed to never end, that Lentiest of Lents. This time, potentially ashing ourselves at home, filling out our Lent Madness brackets to see who will win the Golden Halo. Using the tools that are ours to be the beacons of Christ this community needs: praying the offices, reading the Bible, and calling each other on the phone.
And I know it is hard; to see land and not be able to go ashore. Not just yet. We’re trying to keep us all safe, not just the fastest swimmers. But we will. Soon.
But arriving isn’t our only goal, remember. Because we’re beacons helping other people find safety. And they are depending on us to not only look out for ourselves. So let’s get everyone home.