December 17, 2020

​Daily Lectionary Readings for Year B

During the last few weeks of our online worship, we have caught a glimpse of the Wesley Park sanctuary.  Locked away at home, secluded and cut off from our daily life so that we can protect the lives of our community, the sight of the sanctuary was like seeing a slice of heaven.  

Our spiritual home is familiar.  It reminds us of the faces who once were strangers but now have become friends.  Seeing the sanctuary again can have a prayer-like power, to bring us into an ongoing conversation with God.  We can experience peace as we remember the comfort of the pews, feel the music fill to the rafters, catch the shadows and the sunlight through the windows, recall the stories and sermons and moments that made us think, or weep, or whisper "Amen."  

The sanctuary can also be filled with mystery.  When the lights of the Christmas tree, and the candles in the hands of the young and old shine, our place of worship is filled with wonder.  God is still speaking to us, after all these years.  Jesus "is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word."  God is present.  Jesus speaks.  The Spirit sustains us.  The holy sanctuary reminds us of all these things.  It's no wonder David and all the people celebrated when they carried the ark of the covenant.  "David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals."  That seems about right.  Now, we are the people who dream dreams as we catch sight of a sacred space.  God will help us find our way home again.  In the meantime, be kind.  Wash your hands.  Practice social distancing.  Wear a mask over your mouth and nose.  Pray for others.  Call someone and talk about what it feels like to see the sanctuary again.

Peace,
Dean