The Third Sunday of Easter / Year A
Luke 24:13-35
This morning’s reading from the
Gospel of Luke tells the story of Jesus walking with two followers and
discussing how the events of the past week have been a fulfilment of Holy
Scripture. I remember my youth minister
calling this the single greatest bible study in history. “Were not our hearts burning within us as he
was talking about the Scripture?” While
Jesus’ words lit a fire, it was the act of breaking bread that revealed to them
who he was. This would become a common
experience in the early church. As
disciples broke bread and remembered Jesus (as he had told them to do) they discerned
his presence with them.
Word and Sacrament, both
present in this story, are the two foundational experiences of our communal
worship. Through the Liturgy of the Word
we hear the ancient story centered around the actions and teachings of
Jesus. They speak to our hearts and our souls
and become a burning fire lighting our way toward holy and faithful
living. Through the celebration of the
Great Thanksgiving we receive the real presence of the Living Christ into our
very bodies. It becomes for us a source
of strength, of courage, of healing, of forgiveness, of hope, and mysteriously,
but surely, helps us to sense Jesus is with us as we gather.
But now is the seventh Sunday
we have not gathered and the seventh Sunday we have not celebrated the
Eucharist… and there does yet not appear to be a Sunday on the horizon when we
will gather again and receive communion.
Clergy are talking about this,
among ourselves and with our bishops.
Almost every Episcopal Church is now live-streaming a Sunday worship
service in some form or fashion. Many do
as we are doing… a service of Morning Prayer.
Some stream a celebration of the Great Thanksgiving. Those few present receive communion
(observing safe practices and social distancing) while those at home receive a spiritual
benefit by watching. For me, this is
something like having a Thanksgiving Day meal live-streamed from the church
where a handful of people have gathered to enjoy a turkey dinner with all the
trimmings as those of you at home watch while chocking down a bologna sandwich.
Serving as the Rector of St.
Paul’s I have opted not do this because I believe the open gathering of the
community is an essential and necessary element of the Eucharist. The rubrics of the prayer book state a priest
cannot celebrate communion alone. It is
never to be private and personal. The
presence of one other person is required, even if it is just an acolyte. This says to me a basic requirement of the
Eucharist is that it has to be open and accessible and at this time it can be
neither.
There is another push among
some clergy. Why can’t smaller
congregations who can maintain social distance within the confines of their
sanctuaries conduct public worship, celebrate the Eucharist, and administer
communion in a responsible way? I pray
for Bishop Susan who (in lightening speed) went from being a rector of a
congregation who loves her (as you love and care for me) to being the
Ecclesiastical Authority of people and congregations she has yet to meet, but
must still lead. I can’t even begin to
imagine.
I told our bishop I value the
opportunity for each congregation to discern what is possible locally. In other dioceses, including the northern
Diocese of Virginia, bishops have told clergy they are not permitted to go into
the office nor are they allowed to live-stream or record services from within
the worship space. To my way of thinking
this may be very sensible in some contexts and entirely unnecessary in others
(such as ours). I appreciate our
bishop’s wisdom to value the individual congregation’s ability to discern what
is possible.
But… going in to the church
office every day and using your personal smart phone to live-stream a prayer
service is something entirely different from celebrating the Great
Thanksgiving. Maybe some congregations
can do this free of fear, but I wonder.
If, prior to the liturgy, a priest has to take 10 minutes to explain the
process required to consecrate and administer the elements safely, how can the
focus any longer be on what God in Christ has done for us, but rather the
health risk we face by being here? If
the Eucharistic liturgy raises anxiety in the congregation, should it be
celebrated? And if we offer public
worship, is it wise to invite those who are best served by staying at home but
undoubtedly will be here? And is it
spiritually harmful to those not ready to gather publicly to say we are here,
why aren’t you?
These are the questions I
ponder and why I hold Bishop Susan in my prayers as she has weighty decisions
to ponder.
In the midst of all these
matters I am trying to get my head around something I never contemplated or saw
coming. Every morning and every evening
some 25-30 households are logging on to a live-stream of Morning or Evening
Prayer officiated by either Al or me. Every
day, without fail, I am hearing from someone – either via e-mail, text,
message, phone call, or even an old school letter in the mail – how these
services are helping you in these tough times.
Albert Jennings, a priest I
first knew when I was in the Diocese of Ohio, in a very insightful live-streamed
service, equated our newly discovered virtual worship with the manna God
provided for the children of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness. He noted after leaving Egypt and crossing
through the Red Sea the people of God where starving in the wilderness. God provided for them daily manna (a Hebrew
word literally meaning “what is it?”)
Well, what it was was enough to feed them during forty years in the
wilderness. And, as Albert points out,
once God’s children enter the Promised Land and can grow crops on their own,
the manna disappears. The messages, he
says, is God gives us what we need, when we need it, to sustain us.
And this ancient lesson is our
current experience. God is giving us
what we need during these wilderness days.
And one way this is happening is through our virtual worship. While I miss the weekly celebration of the
Holy Eucharist I recognize and celebrate what God is giving us in this
wilderness time of COVID 19. And, unlike
those two followers at table with Jesus yet to recognize him because the bread
is not yet broken, I sense the Risen Lord is with us in ways I have never
sensed it before. And, what I am hearing
from you tells me you discern his presence too.
I so look forward to the day
when we can all gather with confidence to celebrate our faith and our
fellowship. But, do you know what? I look forward to being with you this evening
virtually. I look forward to Tuesday,
when God will use Al’s spirituality and gifts to feed and sustain us. I look forward to Mobil Wednesday Morning when
I attempt to do Morning Prayer from some location in, St. Paul’s, outside of
St. Paul’s, or who knows where! I look
forward to Healing Fridays. I look
forward to this new way, through God’s manna gift, to being feed. God is giving us everything we need and that
is enough even as we look forward to the Promised Land of being together again.
