2021 Guided Scripture Reflection – AGM Sunday
At last year’s AGM we looked back at the year 2020. It was the year the Global Pandemic began, a pandemic that surprised us and shook us to the core. Everything was different, including how we did church. We moved to on-line worship and Zoom calls. We had to be creative in how to be a community together. We found outdoor ways of connecting. We were together while apart. We had our first AGM over Zoom, as we will again later this morning. Our AGM theme, perhaps understated, was ‘Bumps on the Road.’ We looked at the story of Paul being blinded on the Damascus Road and his conversation and transformation and that it was no longer business as usual for him or the followers of Jesus. Kevin led us in a spiritual exercise – an Examen for 2020 that helped us walk through that year with open hearts to how God had been a work and with us, even in that strangest and bumpiest of years.
Here we are a year later. The pandemic is not over. The bumps have continued. Church is not what it was pre-2020. And yet, we are at a different place as we reflect on 2021. We have found ways of adjusting and living and thriving within a pandemic. We have returned to live worship in the sanctuary – with those present and those watching the live stream. We have found lasting value in some of the new ways of being church and using technology. We have held onto a courageous imagination and tried new things. We carry hope for the future. As our theme for this year says, we have been ‘Forging New Roads Together.’
This year, as we prepare for the rest of the AGM over Zoom later on, I want to invite us into another form of spiritual exercise, using our Scripture this morning from Matthew 14 of Jesus walking on Water. For the disciples, crossing the water on a boat was a kind of new road or journey. I would call this spiritual exercise a cross between a Scripture Lectio Divino and a Guided Scriptural Reflection. In Lectio Divino, you slowly read and listen to a passage of Scripture, sometimes several times stopping to listen or attach yourself to 1 phrase or word that jumps out and speaks to you. This morning, I will slowly read through our Scripture, but just once. I will pause along the way to ask some questions and invite reflection. What might we notice together? Can we put ourselves into this story – both personally and as a congregation? Can this story help us reflect on the past year and the new roads we have travelled and will forge together moving forward?
So sit back. Find a comfortable position. You may want to close your eyes, or you may want to take notes. You may also decide to linger with a thought even as the Scripture moves forward and that is okay. Take a deep breath. Open your heart and soul to what God might have for you today, for us today.
Matthew 1:22-33:
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23
Jesus urged the disciples to go to the other side, to leave the familiar and enter into unknown territory. What have been the unknowns of this past year? Where did you, where did we as a congregation, need urging to go on ahead into these unknown waters?
And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24
Where do you find sacred space to be alone with God? Imagine for a moment Jesus praying for you; Jesus praying for our congregation.
but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25
What kinds of storms have we faced in this past year? When have you, have we, felt most vulnerable, felt most battered by the waves in our life?
And early in the morning Jesus came walking toward them on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Think back to when you have felt most fearful this past year and throughout the pandemic. Was it fear of contracting Covid? Fear of Isolation and being alone? Fear of division and conversations with those you disagree with? Was it Fear for our congregation? Fear for the future? Listen to Jesus say – ‘Take heart. Do not be afraid.’
28 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30
Many times this year we have stepped out of the boat in faith. We have tried new things, new ways of being church during the pandemic. When have we felt most confident even as we stepped into the unknown? When have you intentionally walked closer towards Jesus?
But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32
At times, we are in over our heads. It feels like we are sinking. We feel full of doubt and insecurity. How do we need to be saved? Jesus is there to reach out his hand and catch us.
When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Jesus stills the wind of our lives and of our congregation. It takes trust. It takes faith. Allow yourself to simply rest with Jesus in the boat, knowing that with Jesus the winds will become calm again, and that we can walk with faith into the future, forging new roads together.
Amen.