Church,
Belonging is for real. If we as human creatures do not feel like we belong, we are lost and make terrible decisions. In this last year Covid has tested our sense of belonging. I used to go to the gym, where people knew my name and my rhythms and patterns and then it was gone. We couldn’t even go into the church building, so did we really still belong to each other as church? I’m proud of the ways you all stayed connected to each other and the ways our ministry teams pivoted into a quarantine reality. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard. I was talking to one mother this week whose husband really struggled losing all the places he belonged and turned toward drinking. Another mother I know, when the patterns of life were pulled out from under her young daughter, she lost control and began acting out and running away. As human beings we are creatures of habit and without them much pain ensued. Now those of us who are vaccinated are looking in the rearview mirror thinking, wow, Covid was really hard. And that is because our sense of belonging to one another, to other humans, shifted radically.
We have just walked through Paul’s letter to the Galatians on Sunday mornings, for the first century Jesus followers and for us as well, the Apostle Paul is trying to say, you belong. God’s grace is big enough, Christ’s faith is wide enough, the church is solid enough (though we are not perfect) to include you, to love you and walk with you in this life. You belong. You belong to God. You belong to Christ. You belong to the Church. You belong to one another. You belong. Take that Covid quarantine isolation. God can and has overcome isolation already. You live in Christ.
With that encouragement from the letter to the Galatians, our Governing Council retreat will focus on what it looks like to belong to one another as Second Congregational / First Presbyterian Church. Let’s spend some time being grateful for one another and the time we get to spend being disciples of Christ on this earth together.
Peace to you,
Rebecca
This is adapted from Rebecca’s Mother’s Day sermon, “Belonging,” Galatians chapters 1 and 2.