First of all, Mother Nature has decided to mess with our Epiphany celebration again, and I am deciding NOW to cancel in person worship for this Sunday.
I DO want to encourage you to come worship at 505 tonight.
I want to assure you that we will also broadcast worship on Sunday, but that means viewers forego receiving actual communion.
And I think that is sad, because of the many lessons of Epiphany, one of the greatest is the remembrance that God calls ALL together in the name of Christ, for every language and people and nation. The very first words we will hear at the 10:30 worship are words of hope from the Prophet Isaiah: “Arise. Shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” Perfect words to dwell upon as this storm heads our way. I want you all to arise and shine safe and secure in your houses. As hard as it will be tomorrow to realize it, the light HAS come. Physically, the days are growing almost imperceptibly longer as we pivot from the winter solstice. It may be hard to see tomorrow, but the light HAS come. And light shines brightest when things are darkest.
In our gospel reading from Matthew, light features prominently as well. The Magi follow the light of the star to find the infant Jesus, and our gospel tells us they worship him and offer him gifts, and then, warned in a dream not to go back to report to Herod, they go home by another way. Yet Jesus did not simply call us to worship him, and that’s why canceling Sunday’s service, although a step I do not take lightly, is actually a simple decision.
Because Jesus never called anyone to worship him during his earthly ministry. Instead, he called people to follow him. To live by the values Jesus embodied: healing, compassion, wisdom, and above all, love.
It’s hard to follow Jesus, especially in the times we live in where those qualities are far too rare. It’s easy for us to gather around an altar and worship. But the best altar Jesus stakes a claim on, the one that will change the world the most, is not made of wood or steel or stone but of human flesh. Jesus calls us to follow him, to make an altar in our hearts and minds and acclaim him as our great high priest standing before it to lead us into true discipleship even if we don’t physically go through the doors of our parish on Sunday.
In Christ,
Mother Leslie+