Message from Pastor Carol: December 2016
Arise! Shine! Your light has come; the Lord‘s glory has shone upon you.2 Though darkness covers the earth and gloom the nations, the Lord will shine upon you;
God’s glory will appear over you.
3 Nations will come to your light and kings to your dawning radiance.
17b I will make peace your governor and righteousness your taskmaster.
18Violence will no longer resound throughout your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders.
(Isaiah 60:1-3;17b-18)
This oracle promised to the divided, conflicted and even depressed Jews that the Holy Temple located in Jerusalem would be rebuilt to become the epicenter of influence and peace. The temple had been destroyed twice. With each episode the ground upon which God’s presence resided had been abased and desecrated. Their worst fears had been realized.
The Christian community of 2016 finds itself in much the same place. We are a people struggling to find a voice unified by love in a world of violence and hatred. Christians are to be the love, hope and grace people are looking for in a time of fear from violence exploding in our schools and neighborhoods, frustration from political vying by offering hopeless solutions and alienation from our culture that promotes individual safety over communal care. Unfortunately, our proclaiming of the Good News gets lost in the cacophony produced by our warring ideologies. Our darkness seems to loom largely around us…
Arise! Shine! Your light has come; the Lord‘s glory has shone upon you.
2 Though darkness covers the earth and gloom the nations, the Lord will shine upon you;
2 Though darkness covers the earth and gloom the nations, the Lord will shine upon you;
God is fixing this! We are the “apprentices” of peace, truth and community for our world. This season we will stand under the light of the north star and gaze at the Christ child. This is our opportunity to become ignited by and recruited as God’s hope for all the world. Each and every one of us is needed to bring reparation of peace and love. We might not be able to “fix” all the world but we can shine brightly enough for people to be drawn into and warmed by our glow.
It is more important than ever for Holy Covenant United Methodist Church to be a bright light to the nation. We are a community that affirms the inherent value of all God’s people and we seek to find ways to make love and peace actualized. Let us find our light this season so we can shine for all the world.
Blessings, Pastor Carol