For Such a Time As This

Esther 4:14

I believe we are at a unique moment in our life as a community of faith. As the country reels from back to back to back tragedies of violence and bloodshed, people are asking hard questions—

Why did it happen?

What can be done?

…and most importantly…

Is there any hope for us?

Within the church, we are in a place to hear and respond to those questions, even if we can no more explain the inexplicable than anyone else. But, in particular, and most importantly, we do have a direct, simple, and firm answer to that final question—

Yes, there is hope, THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE!

We need to fully enter the moment before us. 

The good news is that many among us already have. Our representatives went to Texas a couple of weeks ago, entering the work of cleaning up after a major hurricane. They stood with people still in shock weeks after the actual storm as they picked through the wreckage of what had always been home. Our Latino congregation used the celebration of their new pastora to collect an offering to help folks burned out by the fires in and around Santa Rosa, joining with others throughout our Presbytery in caring for those upended. Step into any of our congregations, and you will find those committed to the compassionate care of their neighbors near and far. 

But we need to keep going and to keep working. Too many still associate the church with a negative judgmentalism and cold shoulder to any but a few who look like the remaining few still inside. In this moment, when so many are feeling the hurt of the isolation and alienation that seem to define our context, we need to be present with the church as the church actually is—

the community of Jesus—who met the world with the radical welcome of self-emptying compassion for 

        anyone and everyone encountered, no matter who they were, what they were, or how they were.

We need to present ourselves as we are—

We are a community, not a collection of loosely arranged churches—we are a communion of over 7500 people—when you meet one congregation or one Presbyterian, you are meeting all of us

We are community rooted in Jesus and that radical welcome of self-emptying compassion

We are a community that really does represent the diversity of the world because of that compassionate welcome

Our message should be to whomever we meet—

You are a beloved child of God—you are welcome!

Burney Presbyterian Church (now wanting to be known as The Meeting Place), the smallest of our 29 congregations (three members, last count) in Sacramento Presbytery, reveals a huge heart in their webpage—

We at the Meeting Place want you to know:

You are wanted here. 

No matter your circumstances. 

No matter your financial position. 

No matter your race. 

No matter your sex. 

No matter your education. 

No matter your marital status. 

No matter your sexual orientation. 

No matter anything. 

You are loved. 

You matter. 

You are wanted here.

That message is the source of our hope, for it erases all that would divide us and keep us at each other’s throats. We are not lost in a flood of fear and despair that tears at our soul and threatens to undo all achieved in the creation of a nation rooted in equality, freedom, and opportunity. We are all children of God—made by God, breathed into life by God, and blessed by God. God is with us. God will not abandon us. God will lead us. That is our hope. 

With God’s help, we can make this work—whatever this happens to be.

With God’s help, we can find a way to stop the slaughter of innocents.

With God’s help, we can find a way to reach across any and all human divides.

And that is why this is such a powerful moment—we are a community of God—we are the people called to reveal that presence of God in our presence within the world. We have the message that truly is hope embodied. 

So—offer it everywhere and anywhere. Show what power love has to transform the world.