3/17/2022

3/17/2022

Dear Friends in Christ, 

In my sermon for the first Sunday in Lent I talked about how Jesus came to this world as one of us, to live as we do, with all the limitations and vulnerabilities that having a human body means, and how the temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness were to give up his humanness, to believe himself more than human, to protect and disassociate himself from the pain and suffering, the uncertainty and anxiety, that being a human person with a human body living in the midst of a fallen and broken world inevitably means. Jesus did not succumb to these temptations because Jesus was certain of who he was - God’s beloved son, and by resisting Jesus aligned himself once and for all with all the people of the world who at one time or another hunger, or who feel threatened by and helpless against the violence and chaos of the world, and who experience pain and suffering, frustration and powerlessness, loss and grief.  

In the midst of the current trouble and turmoil of our world, it may feel like we too are being tested right now, and the fact that we too are God’s beloved child does not make us immune from the limitations and vulnerabilities of being human any more than it did Jesus. What it can do is give us the strength to confront them with faith and courage. So I offer you something an old friend from high school posted that she received via the London Quakers which speaks to the realities of a life of faith lived in this world. 

AN INVITATION TO A BRAVE SPACE 

Together we will create a brave space 

Because there is no such thing as a “safe space” 

We exist in the real world 

We all carry scars and we have all caused wounds. 

In this space 

We seek to turn down the volume of the outside world. 

We amplify voices that fight to be heard elsewhere, 

We call each other to more truth and love 

We have the right to start somewhere and continue to grow.  

We have the responsibility to examine what we think we know.  

We will not be perfect. 

It will not always be what we wish it to be 

But 

It will be our brave space together, 

And 

We will work on it side by side. (by Micky Scottbey Jones) 

Yours in Christ, 

Rev. Jane+