Shelagh Balfour

I was in the midst of writing a rather different sermon for this All Saints Sunday when Friday’s Covid update, with its disturbing numbers and increased restrictions, was announced. We are not doing well. Cases in Manitoba, particularly in Winnipeg, have reached numbers we could not have imagined when this began in March. With the rising numbers, deaths have increased dramatically and intensive care units are approaching capacity. With all this in mind, it feels like it is time to pause, take stock, and discern our way forward.

By now, you will have received Donna’s weekly message, which is actually a link to a message from our Primate, the Most Reverend Linda Nichols. If you have not yet watched it, I strongly encourage you to do so. It is a strong Message of Hope. In it, the Primate talks about how the church is doing seven plus months into the pandemic. She quotes Dr. Aisha Ahmad, a “political science professor who has worked in many disaster zones”. Professor Ahmad wrote that she always hit a wall six months into an assignment, feeling an intense desire to ‘get away’ or ‘make it stop’. These feelings, she said, arrive like clockwork at six months and last about four to six weeks. They affect one’s ability to feel creative or hopeful.

So, this is where we are, and in the midst of this four to six weeks, when many were already feeling tired and overwhelmed, we find ourselves confronted with a face of the pandemic that is far different, far worse, than what we saw in the spring. What then do we do to strengthen our resolve and renew our hope as we once again take steps to minimize contact with others in order to help stop the spread of the virus?

Archbishop Nichols offers an important reminder to us as followers of Jesus. We have a rock, solid ground, on which we stand in the midst of all trying times, and that rock is Jesus Christ. Does our faith in Jesus make us and our loved ones immune to the disease? Does it ensure a positive outcome? No, it does not, nor is it meant to. What it does is show us is how to live in times like this, and it reminds us of what the hope is that sustains us.

Earlier in the pandemic, N. T. Wright, Anglican Bishop and theologian wrote a short book called God and the Pandemic. Along with watching Archbishop Nichol’s message, I encourage you to find and read this book. I’ve read it twice and returned to it again as I was preparing this reflection.

After spending some time offering biblical foundations for our understanding of where God is in a pandemic, N.T. Wright asks the question Where do we go from here? And his answer begins with prayers of lament. We’ve talked about this over the course of the pandemic but it’s worth another look now. It is important that we are honest about our anxieties for ourselves, family, and friends, and our sorrows related to the pandemic, to lament as a community as we live newly constrained lives, as we continue to be separated from the church building and one another. In addition to that, we have a role in lamenting on behalf of the wider culture and the world. Our culture is afraid to lament, N.T. Wright says, “because it seems to be afraid of the fear itself, frightened that even to name grief will be to collapse forever”.

As Christians, we have the psalms as a guide to prayers of lament as well as to the prayers of hope and trust that follow them. And this pairing of lament and hope is important to overcome the fear of collapsing forever under the weight of grief. In addition, our Primate reminds us that we have our corporate prayers and the daily morning and evening prayer that are so much a part of the Anglican tradition. Prayed alone or together with others, these prayers strengthen and sustain us as we move from lament to hope.

And where else do we go from here? N.T. Wright reminds his readers that “as Jesus was to Israel, so the Church should be for the world”. What marked Jesus’ ministry in the world was healing of the sick, bread for the hungry, hope to the hopeless, and the good news of God’s inbreaking kingdom. And this is what he commissions us, his followers, to do. In our flawed and imperfect way, we continue Christ’s mission in the world.

In the challenging times of Covid, what this has meant for us is care for one another, especially those people who are particularly isolated and afraid. We maintain connections through phone calls, cards, and prayers. It has meant support for St. Matthew’s Maryland as they support people who are especially vulnerable in their community. With the rapid increase of people requiring medical care, it also means support of essential workers in whatever way we can offer it. And it means staying at home as much as we can. This may be one of the greatest gifts we can give to our city right now.

One of the things we do on the feast of All Saints, is renew our baptismal promises. We will do this once again in a few minutes. This is a reminder to us of our responsibility as saints in Christ’s church today. We are called to be a sign and a witness of God’s presence in the world, by seeking and serving Christ in all persons, proclaiming by word and example the Good News of Jesus Christ, striving for justice and peace. In the midst of the Covid pandemic, we do this by modeling lament, by serving as Christ served in whatever ways possible, and by proclaiming the hope on which we rest. In the words of Psalm 34:

Proclaim with me the greatness of the Lord;
    let us exalt God’s name together.
I sought the Lord, who answered me
    and delivered me from all my terror.
Look upon the Lord and be radiant,
    and let not your faces be ashamed.
I called in my affliction and the Lord heard me
    and saved me from all my troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear the Lord,
    and delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
    happy are they who take refuge in God. Amen.