11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 New International Version
The other day I was reading my emails here at church and I was blessed with this heartfelt email. I wasn’t having a very good day for whatever reason, and this totally changed the direction of my day in a good way. It reminds me that we need to be encouraging to one another during the best of times and during the difficult times. We are all tired and would like this pandemic to be over with; however, that is not the case. We just need to keep on swimming, as the saying goes. We also need to let people know that what they do matters and that they mean something to us. We need to encourage one another, after all we are all in this together. I hope this letter uplifts you as much as it did me and thank you Nuha for giving your permission to use this as my daily blessing.
” Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” Hebrews 13:7
“With upright heart, he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.” – Psalm 78:72
As I was attending the CUMC service this morning, August 2, 2020, I thought about Bishop Hagiya’s briefing, July 27, 2020 :
“This is the ‘Kairos Moment’ for us to experiment, innovate and create the new paradigm that will take the church into the future. What new shape it will take, no one yet knows, but this is our time to create the church of the future. We need to take all that we cherish at the local church level (relationships, disciple-making, preaching and worship, community building, fellowship, etc.) and to vision a new way this will take place outside of the four walls of our buildings. If every one of us works at this new vision and experiment with new ways to bring it about, something wonderful will break forth.”
Now that we are facing yet another surge of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Southland, we are grateful to all those leaders who have taken serious steps to keep us – citizens, students, congregations and workers in all walks of life – safe. Prime among those are our pastors who have allowed us to continue our spiritual participation in worship in a sheltered and meaningful manner in spite of the waves of criticism and resistance they might have faced by certain groups. Once more, I would like to thank them for their judicious leadership throughout these tough times. L .Roger Owens in his article “Not Lifting our Voices – The Blessing of Abstaining from Communal Song” said the following:
“Christ’s kenosis- Christ’s releasing self-assertion and relinquishing entitlements – rests at the heart of Christian believing, praying and living. And, we might add singing. Let not singing be a cross. Take it up. Find it a blessing. We might, for instance, allow our willingness to accept not singing signify our lament. Our corporate silence can become an eloquent cry to God, a lament not only over the destruction and fear caused by a virus but also over the ways willful ignorance, incompetence, and malfeasance have compounded the tragedy.
“Paul used the story of kenosis, his abandoning divine privilege and accepting the humility of a servant, as the climax of his encouragement to the Christians of Philippi to ‘look not to your own interests, but the interests of others.’ Christ’s own kenosis, brought about salvation, a word which comes from a Latin word that means to make safe or healthy. Our own self-denial around singing [or other changes we have made in worship practices] can be a way of looking out for the health of the members of our communities. It can be a way to make safe our gathering for worship.
“It’s the same reason we will cover our faces with masks, pass the peace without touching and position unsightly hand sanitizing stations around our sanctuaries. Because Christians look not to our own interests but to the interest of others. Because there are no Christian entitlements.
“As Wesley said, ‘If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.’ Our worshipful silence might become both a lament and somehow, by God’s grace, a song of praise.”
Thus, as we listen to the Sunday sermons, read the daily meditations, and experience the reaching out in new and creative ways to involve our congregation and beyond, our leaders at CUMC have never failed to remind us how to keep ourselves and others safe by being the prime example for us to follow. For that we are truly thankful.
Nuha Salib Salibi
August 1, 2020
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.” – Isaiah 40:31
Gracious & Loving God, create in us spirts and heartsthat uplift and uphold people even when we are tired. Help us to use our words and actions to honorand bless others. Give us eyes to seethe good things that our happening, for all too often we concentrate on thenegative. Help us to feel your presencewith us and to shine your light in this world. Amen.