I have noticed a general malaise in my body and mind these past couple of weeks. For me it has been a sick feeling stomach that I keep feeding too much sugar (thanks Halloween) and too much coffee. Add to that a lack of focus and low level feeling of being off balance. I know a number of people who have had a nagging cold or headache, or been short-tempered or tired. Our bodies are speaking to us.
If you are feeling anxious and overwhelmed about the election this week, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I can correlate my malaise to the amount of media and social media I allow myself to consume. It’s the news about how close the election is. The rhetoric that has escalated from what was already violent, abusive, and disrespectful language.
Our anxiety and stress are signs of fear.
Fear that the election won’t be decided on Tuesday, and it may not. Fear that there will be violence because people are upset about election results. Fear for my own safety and that of my children, for this community and our most vulnerable neighbors - people who are homeless, women, BIPOC and LGBTQ. Just naming these fears makes my stomach clench.
We can hear similar fear in the strained, blaming voices of Lazarus’ sisters as they tearfully tell Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:32).
With Lazarus, the male head of their household, gone, Martha’s and Mary’s lives are thrown into chaos, their futures uncertain. In their culture, women have no agency or power. How will they support themselves? Who will advocate for them? Where was Jesus when we needed him? We are all alone and no one cares about us!!
While outwardly professing trust and faith in Jesus’ healing powers, Mary and Martha unconsciously focus on threats to their well-being, on fear of losing their lives and livelihood, their property and comforts of their home.
Focus on death and chaos is part of our survival mechanism. Whether we are conscious of it or not, we constantly scan for physical and emotional danger.
It’s like when we walk down the sidewalk, scanning as we go. Are there trip hazards? Slick leaves or anything else that we might not want to step on or in? Who is coming toward us? Are there people hunched in doorways or crossing toward us mid-block? Where, in relation to us, are moving vehicles and scooters and bicycles? We take in all this information, even as we may also be carrying on a conversation or deep in thought.
Scanning helps us maintain our bearings and be prepared to respond. When scanning pauses too long on one thing, the quality of our attention changes. The longer we focus on a threat, the more fearsome it becomes.
The longer we gaze on our fear, the more power we give it - “and the more faith we place in the forces intent on destruction.” [1]
Fixating on fear, imagining the worst possible outcomes, (I do this!) we forget. We forget the good and hopeful things happening in our lives. We forget the power of community to lift us and encourage us. “We forget that God is never shrunken but expansive, never vindictive but forgiving, never shaming but gracious.” [2]
What if we choose to shift our gaze? To tear our eyes away from fear, to give the power of our attention and our hearts to the enemy and conqueror of fear, to God?
Today, All Saints’ Sunday, we remember all those faithful who have gone to glory ahead of us.
Saints like Mary Magdalene, Augustine, Brigid, Martin Luther King Jr, Dorothy Day, Desmond Tutu, Barbara C Harris. Saints like the founders of this Trinity community, the men and women who gave money and time to create a place where we praise God, welcome everyone, and serve people in need. Saints like the faithful named in the Necrology, and those buried in the churchyard. Saints unnamed and beloved who welcomed us in and showed us life and light and invited us to be part of this place.
I am thankful for all the saints, ancient and modern, who have gone before us. For their examples of their courage and perseverance, for their hope and joy, for their tenacious vision of God’s realm of justice and peace, and for offering their unique gifts to bring that vision to life. And for reminding us that faithful living, which is sometimes hard and counter-cultural, leads us to a deep satisfaction, a sense of community, and life at peace with God.
I am grateful for this AMAZING community that gathers to praise God, to remember Jesus’ suffering and joy, to offer our lives to God as a living sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, to uphold and en-courage one another when we feel lost and alone.
The threat of enemies who seem intent on robbing us of safety, dignity, hope … will not go away because we ignore it, but we can choose to disarm its power over us. We can choose to focus our gaze on the power and promise of God to transform us and the world by the exercise of love.
We come to church every week, and especially this week, to refocus, to lift our gaze to God who promises life and thriving for all people and creation.
As the service continues on, we will
Affirm our promises to God at our baptism, a two-way covenant in which God promises to always forgive and never abandon us.
PRAY (which may be the most powerful thing we can do together today and this week and for weeks to come) - pray for compassion and justice to prevail in our world, our nation, our church, our city and community.
Confess our sins and ask forgiveness from God and one another.
Give ourselves, our whole lives, to God, trusting that God alone can remake us into something new and strong and holy.
Break bread together, sharing our common humanity, at the altar and at coffee hour.
Name all the saints we can think of - and then go out into the world to live with the same courage and integrity of faith they had.
That’s what we will do here today.
And then, there’s more. More we can do individually. If you have not already done so, VOTE! It’s not too late, and your vote counts. If you need information about how to register to vote or get a ballot, please find me after church.
Join us this week, and invite others who may need a place of quiet and comfort amidst the swirl of media and emotions. The church will be open on Tuesday from 11 to 1:30, Thursday from 6:15-8:15PM, and Living Room on Friday from 3 to 5. These are all places we can find quiet, prayer, and support as we Walk in Love.
The longer we gaze on something, the more power we give it. The more we give ourselves over to it, let its words, attitudes, messages tune our hearts and minds. Today, we fix our gaze on the power of God to overcome our paralyzing self-doubt and transform our fear into courage and joy.
Glory to God whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation in the church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)
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[1] and [2] “Ditch Fear. Seed Hope.” Backstory Preaching blog, https://www.backstorypreaching.com/blog/preachers-are-in-the-seeding-hope-business, accessed 10/29/2024.
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