Scripture Passage
Sermon Text
Awareness of our aloneness
Yesterday I left my house for the first time in a week and got a takeout coffee from the second cup to prepare for the sermon. There was one customer ahead of me. So I kept my distance. I ordered my coffee and as I was leaving, there was another customer way back at the entrance. keeping his distance. I don’t know. As I walked to the car, for some reason, I started tearing up. I didn’t know why, So I thought about it and I realized, on the one hand, I was touched that much of society is on board with physical distancing to save lives. We are all somehow in this together, but on the other hand, my heart was sad that we are forced to be so isolated from one another. Our whole way of life. Living in proximity with others has been turned upside down This past week, I took my two kids and drove to my parents’ house to pick up some food. They had made. They put the food into the trunk and were talking with us and the kids through the windows. My mom’s first desire was to go and rub Nathan’s face, but she remembered and stopped herself and that made her start tearing up and crying everyday simple joys of a grandmother, hugging her grandchild have been appended. This distancing makes us incredibly aware of our aloneness.
Suffering Alone
In our aloneness and separation from others. We suffer most deeply. Students are bored, unmotivated, and undone by the lack of structure that governs their lives. And many of them now suffer from a lack of meaning and purpose. We prayed from pastor Dave’s leading of prayer of the many people that are suffering people with mental health issues or those in poverty who are in isolation are suffering as support systems like food bank deliveries are overloaded and under-resourced in our seniors in nursing homes have been hit the hardest over half the deaths in Canada from COVID-19 have taken place in nursing homes. They are forced to die all alone in isolation. Some family members have said goodbyes through a window. Others, maybe through FaceTime, facilitated by a nurse and yet others have had only the nurse by their bedside as they departed from this life. The image of seniors dying alone is the closest image in today’s passage. Jesus suffers humiliation, insult, and ridicule, but more than the humiliation, I think it’s the fact that he was all alone. Jesus had said that all would desert him. That’s someone close would betray him and that his closest friend Peter would deny him being alone was the greatest suffering Jesus experienced on the cross. His final words were my God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? Even God had abandoned him and left him alone on the cross.
The healing touch of Jesus
Today is Passion Sunday. It marks the start of Holy Week. This is the most important time in the Christian calendar. As we reflect on the life and suffering of Jesus, passion means suffering and I wonder, why did Jesus suffer as he did? Why did he have to suffer all alone? I don’t have all the answers, but I do see that in his suffering, he could relate to human suffering at its deepest level. sometimes the greatest suffering is to be completely alone, to feel that no one is with you or understands you to feel that even God has abandoned you. Empathy is the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes, compassion stems from the Latin words, suffer from compassion. Jesus comes to us when we are alone with empathy and compassion. Our Lord is not a distance. God removed from our troubles. Our Lord shares our burden and carries our pain. Our place of aloneness, that where we suffer most deeply is where we experience the healing touch of Jesus. Jesus comes into our empty space and heals us there. We may feel alone. We may be distanced from others, but in this place of aloneness and distance, let us seek out and embrace that healing touch of Jesus.
When we experienced that healing touch of Jesus. It not only heals our hearts, but it transforms our calling. Now, one thing that this crisis has done is undo all of our illusions about what our life’s calling might be. I mean, how do we plan our careers or jobs for a future world that we can’t really envision right now? We can’t even plan for the next few months, let alone the next few years, a time like this is an opportunity to discover our true calling.
True calling in Life
The healing touch of Jesus transforms our calling to be the healing touch of Jesus for others, to be connected with others, to share in the suffering of others, to bear the burdens of others. Yes, this connectedness is our true calling in life and it flows from the healing touch of Jesus. I’ve seen this healing touch in many pockets and corners, and it’s often the simple act of reaching out and checking up on people. You know, when I email someone to ask how they’ve been, the usual response is an appreciation for thinking of them and this healing touch of Jesus also extends out to those. We don’t know in one low-income apartment, building people who went to the common laundry room, found a basket full of fruits. And when that basket became empty, it would somehow be replenished. It was a simple message that someone cared. We hear of landlords, not charging rent for the month of April. We’ve seen some businesses offer free food and coffee for healthcare workers, More than the concrete materialists’ assistance. It is the solidarity and connection that stirs hearts and brings healing. We are called to be followers of Jesus, not as what we reflect on this week. Being a follower of Christ is to be the healing touch of Christ for others. It’s at times like this, that the aroma of Christ must be even stronger. The love of Christ must shine even more brightly in times of darkness. We’ve decided that the part of our church mission statement to be a compassionate community that stands with the weak and vulnerable will be a driving focus of our church. During this time Each month, we will focus on a different area of vulnerability. We will actively seek your support for people and organizations aiding these vulnerable groups and people. We will not shrink and look only to our own needs, but this is the time for our hearts to grow and become bigger. So I ask that all of you prepare your own budgets and finances to become the healing hands of Christ in this world. I mean, I was so inspired and encouraged by your support for Evangel hall. So we will continue this focus and do a fundraising drive each month. I know that our own circumstances might become more challenging as time goes on. Our own finances may be tight, But may our hearts grow stronger and larger and this time of distancing and separation, Let us seek out the healing touch of Jesus and be healed and comforted. Let us reach out to those around us with a simple, how have you been, And let us be that healing touch of Jesus for others in a time like this with generous and open hearts.
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