So, in church Sunday, we “learned” what we’ve probably known all along – that we [and by “we”, I mean “you”] – are the light of the world.  More specifically, to quote Steven Tyler of the rock band Aerosmith, the light at the end of the tunnel may be you.   

Isn’t that strange?  How many times have we lamented the darkness that seems to be engulfing the world?  How often have we prayed that God would do something about it?  That He would make it stop?  But He never seems to answer, does He?

Actually, He does answer.  We just don’t like the answer.

God’s “Plan A” for bringing light into the world is you.  And, in case you’re wondering, there is no “Plan B”. 

 OK; I get it; that is pretty heavy stuff.  The knowledge of this truth ought to make us tremble with fear.  The knowledge of this truth ought to make us long for, yearn for, hunger for, thirst for, desire, crave, need the opportunity to be with our Faith Family in order to draw comfort and strength and encouragement from them, and to give that same comfort and strength and encouragement to each of them as we all try to be light in a dark world.  I hope this is how we all feel.

But, this is the time of Pandemic.  It’s now really hard to get together with our Faith Family.  It’s now really hard to invite people to come to church.  Everything is changing before our eyes, and where things may finally end up is unknown – something else which may well make us tremble with fear.  What’s going to happen to “church” as we used to know it?  I struggle with the uncertainty, don’t you?

I thought the following words which I read today from my friend, Carson Reed, might be helpful for all of us.  Carson is, among other things, the vice-president for church relations at Abilene Christian University, a professor in the Graduate School of Theology at ACU, and the executive director of the Siburt Institute for Church Ministry.  He had a Zoom Meeting with several ministers who, after an hour of conversation about pursuing the mission in light of the reality of the pandemic, asked for some parting words:

First, I offer the virtue of courage.  Courage is the capacity to act in the face of grief, loss, and uncertainty.

Second, I invite you to the practice of prayer. Prayer is the act of pausing, waiting, and listening to God.  

 Although you and I may not have been through a pandemic before, God has.  Let’s let God speak.

Third, I ask you to receive the gift of hope. Hope is the earnest expectation that God will transform and restore our World.  Hope is our currency – the thing that we spend daily in all our exploring and pilgrimaging.

Courage, prayer, and hope.  They may not sound like much.  But in the hands of Jesus’s disciples, they are enough!

Aren’t you glad that Carson, the “expert”, didn’t tell those ministers [and us] what kind of programs they needed to set up, or what kind of new methodologies they needed initiate in order to make sure their churches were fulfilling the mission of being light in a pandemic-darkened world?  Three simple things - things we all have the capacity and ability to do – are the keys to being the people of God, the people of light, in this dark time.  No matter what “church” might evolve into as a result of the pandemic, these things have always been, and will always be, the core of what makes the light of Jesus’s disciples shine. 

We knew it all along, didn’t we?

~Shepherd Ambrose Ramsey