An Outbreak of Grace

Tuesday of last week we at Spring Valley were crafting our response to the Coronavirus Outbreak.   To put it very simply our policy consisted of: Wash your hands, Keep your distance, Snacks are no longer provided.

By Friday we were cancelling church and postponing all meetings and activities.   Not having church on Sunday was a surreal experience for me.  And this was just in our congregation. When you look at the rest of the country what happened here was so mild.  

Cases of the Coronavirus exploded around the country.  The stock market plummeted.  Sports on every level were suspended.  All extra endeavors were cancelled. Bars and restaurants were shut down. Travel bans were put in place.  A national emergency was officially declared.

I know that in your personal life you also experienced dramatic change of seismic magnitude. 

Some have compared this past week to the time right after 9-11. It’s like overnight “our world” became a different and far more dangerous place.

Where do we go for a word of comfort when all seems chaotic?  Where do we turn to hear a voice that speaks peace into moments of panic?

For generations people of faith have turned to the Psalms as a wellspring of hope.  They have experienced in these hymns a spiritual word from God that has “restored their souls”.

And so during these tumultuous days, I invite you to join me in opening our minds and hearts to the sustaining strength that the Psalms bring.

I am going to welcome you into the “Pastor’s Workshop” as I creatively work through the week in crafting each Sunday’s message.  Several times during the week I will be posting on our Website reflections on the upcoming Sunday message.  If you would want to personally receive these as an email I’d be glad to include you in that communication as well.

In the “Workshop” you’ll be invited to prayerfully open the pages of the Scriptures.  We’ll listen for a word of God from the word of God.  We’ll seek to give voice through our fallible words to the voice of truth and hope that would speak to our human spirits by God’s Holy Spirit.  

It will be a creative time.  And, as with all creativity, it won’t always be clean, clear and crisp.  To be honest sometimes to get to the “promise land” on Sunday I have to “wander in the wilderness” during the week.   

The series during this season of the Coronavirus is called “An Outbreak of Grace”.  As we go through this time my hope is that whether or not a message gets preached on Sunday, you get an opportunity during the week to explore spiritual insights and have worshipful moments that provide blessings day by day.  

As  we begin “Outbreak of Grace” we’ll start with an “anchor” psalm of spiritual comfort.  (And how hard it is to find “comfort” is in these days.) The word “comfort” literally means “strong with”.   Psalm 46 opens like this, “God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in time of trouble.”  To experience how the Psalmist leads us into a deeper dimension of the strength here for us in our faith … that’s the outbreak of grace we’ll be looking into this week.

In the midst of these fearful times, staying linked not only electronically but also spiritually is critical.  Remaining connected with one another and with God is essential.   In that gift of support and sustaining strength that God gives in the Holy Spirit, I look forward to journeying through these next weeks together with you.

A Next Step In Psalm 46:

A step of Listening -

Read Psalm 46 in its entirety. 

Read it again, aloud.

Read it again, aloud with emphasis and feeling.

What words, images, feelings stick in your mind? Write these down in a notebook.

For your meditation, a Great Hymn of Faith:

“ A Mighty Fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our Helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.  For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate on earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing.  Dost ask who that may be?  Christ Jesus it is he; Lord Sabbaoth his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle.”

“A Mighty Fortress”, Martin Luther

Pause and Pray for our church, our community, our country and our world.  Ask God to be our “present help” in this time of trouble.  Ask God how you can be a “present help” to another in need in your neighborhood.