Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. – Philippians 4:8-9
Beloved of God,
Astronomically speaking, November is a liminal month. Each year we turn our clocks back, pull warmer coats and hats out of the closet, and prepare for the “long dark” as we watch daylight diminish and see the sun’s arc move lower in the sky. November is also a liminal time within the Church Year. It begins with the Feast of All Saints: remembering the faithful people of all times and places whose lives were captured by the gravity of grace, along with those individuals dear to us who, though no longer living, continue to impact our lives. It ends with the Feast of Christ the King and the promise that in the end, evil will be vanquished and the Lamb who was slain will reign over a renewed heaven and earth. Finally, November is a liminal time within our common life: election time. After all the speeches have been given, all the arguments made, all the ads posted and polls taken, it is, at last, decision time. The texts and themes we’ll hear during November speak of End Times and counsel us not to become so swept up in the perils and predictions of the moment that we allow them to infect us with anxiety. In the words of the great civil rights folk song, we are to “keep our eyes on the prize and hold on.”
St. Paul, writing from prison (quote above), invited the Christians of Philippi to put the circumstances they faced into a larger frame by focusing each day on “whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.” “Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me,” says Paul, “and the God of peace will be with you.”
As we countdown to one of the more contentious and consequential presidential elections in American history, we do well to take Paul’s dose of wisdom and make it our own. Whatever the world may look like in the days and weeks after November 3rd, God will still be there with his promises, and our mission as a congregation will still be before us: TO CULTIVATE FAITH AND TRUST IN OUR LIFE TOGETHER, TO DISCERN GOD’S CHALLENGE INTO UNFAMILIAR PLACES, AND TO VENTURE BEYOND OURSELVES SO ALL PEOPLE WILL EXPERIENCE GOD’S LOVE. [PLC Mission statement] “Remember who you are and what it means to be a community in Christ,” says Paul, and that is indeed what you and I, together, are to be about.
The COMMUNITY PRAYER VIGIL we will host at Peace the evening of November 3rd, All Saints Sunday, is one way we’ll walk that talk. Against all the hyperbolic, offensive, and controversial language of this campaign season, we will offer a counterpoint: space for contemplation and prayer; for lighting candles and keeping hope burning, “come what may.”
With you on the Way,
Pastor Erik
What does this mean?