I
& Love
& you

(Gratitude to The Avett Brothers)

After Joshua leads the 12 tribes into the covenanted land, he asks them to remember the God who has brought them out of bondage in Egypt and to renew the covenant with this God. But there’s a catch.

The people who are being asked to remember the Exodus event were not actually there. Not most of them.

Back in Joshua 5, there is a note that all of the men of military age passed away in the time between Exodus, Sinai, Wilderness, and Entry. It’s been more than 40 years and that’s enough for 1-2 new generations. Perhaps at this point, there is even a majority who were not there. And still, the people respond to the call by proclaiming,

For it was the ETERNAL our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, the house of bondage, and who wrought those wondrous signs before our very eyes, and guarded us all along the way that we traveled and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed (Joshua 24.17).

Most weren’t there. But they all remember.

This is not the younger generations simply recognizing that it happened to their parents and grandparents. Instead, they speak as if it had happened to “them” personally - to “us.”

What is so profound about this covenantal community is that it does not require a first-hand experience. It does not require that I had the exact same experience of the divine and sacred as you. It simply asks for an empathy - to sense and understand the liberating experience of another, and to allow that to be among the faithful history of the community.

At the least, it is an act of pluralism to include in equal stature the sacred experiences of the other. We can understand the benefit of this when trying to merge 12 tribes together.

But more for any congregation, this is an act of charity and love. To listen and understand the power of God’s deliverance in the life of another friend and member of the church. To consider it of such great worth and honor to then gracefully stitch this event of one into the memory of the whole. To consider God’s saving grace for another as significant as if it had happened to you personally. This is the act of faith that not only witnesses the broad movement of God in the world, but an act of love that reckons every co-liberation and co-creation a gift to the whole as though it were all saving your life.

Perhaps, because it is.

Let us listen for what God is doing within the world and our community and remember.

Peace,

Rev. Chris McCreight

Manuscript of the sermon, “Remember” (due to wifi issues during the service, a video recording is not available).

Speaking of what God is doing in our midst…

O&A Celebration and Re-commitment

Sunday, October 25

This coming Sunday, we’ll gather to recognize our second anniversary of becoming an Open and Affirming congregation within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). This is a service of celebration for the faithful work of the church in the act of prayer and discernment and for the blessing that has come from articulating the love and welcome explicitly. This is also a service of re-commitment, seeking prayer and guidance to continue to open wide the doors and co-create a church that is not only open to, but representative and led by all of God’s beloved.

Sunday, November 1 will be the service recognizing All Saints Day within the life of the Church. We return to this service annually to remember our beloved who have passed away and honor their love and the grief that we carry. For the litany of Saints, all are welcome to submit any name(s) to be read and remembered. Please contact Lisa in the office and the name(s) will be printed and added.