You will have received this issue of Canada Lutheran shortly after our celebration of Easter Sunday. This article, however, has been written in mid-February, one week prior to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.
Most of our congregations resumed in-person worship this past Sunday with a few to follow in the next few weeks. Government restrictions are being reduced in all four provinces where our synod is present and we are tentatively hoping that our Easter worship will, for the most part, be reminiscent of our pre-pandemic celebrations of the Lord’s resurrection. We shall see.
I find it instructive to remember that the post-resurrection Christ still bore the marks of his crucifixion. Indeed, when he first appears among his disciples, he specifically shows them his wounds, saying, “Touch me and see.” A week later, he appears again, making a similar revelation to Thomas. Jesus in his post-resurrected form, still bore the marks of his suffering. I suspect that will similarly be true for the church when it physically gathers in its post-pandemic form. We will still bear wounds.
I wonder what impact this virus will have had on how we experience Holy Communion. Will it be safe to eat and drink from a single loaf and a common cup? Will it be safe to share the peace of Christ with actions that include physical touch and not merely a nod or bow? When will I next tuck into a good old congregational potluck with all its attendant tastes, fragrances, and spirited table conversations? How long will the songs of the saints be muffled by the squares of fabric we’ve dutifully worn for more than two years to help protect one another’s safety? I just don’t know.
But just as Jesus’ wounds, though still evident post resurrection, did not define the totality of Jesus’ resurrected being, neither will our pandemic wounds define the totality of the church’s post-pandemic experience. That’s important for us to remember! Indeed, new experiences of being church have come to life during the past two years and I pray we have the good sense to lean into them.
We’ve learned that on-line experiences of worship and gathering can make our assemblies much more accessible. We’ve learned that we can stray beyond the sharply delineated lines of congregational bounds to establish new connections and partnerships. We’ve learned how to better collaborate and share gifts with one another. Many of us have experienced a reset in how we understand the relationship between the people who comprise the church and the buildings in which those people gather.
Those learnings were largely unexpected and certainly came unbidden, as do all gifts of grace! I pray that we treasure them as the precious gifts they are, gifts that may bear possibilities for renewed life and resurrection.
“But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.” 2 Corinthians 4:7-10