A Message from the Rector: Our Responsibility

A MESSAGE FROM THE RECTOR: OUR RESPONSIBILITY

I recently saw a replay of the 1988 Women’s 4x100 meter relay from the Seoul Olympics. It was an incredible race, with an amazing come-from behind victory for the US team. Once again, I marveled at the way racers can hand off batons while moving at top speed, when one person isn’t even looking! As I sat down to write this article, considering what I hope to communicate as we look towards the fall, I couldn’t get the image of a relay race out of my mind.

We are part of a church community, a group of people bound together by faith in saving power of love. God loves each one of us no matter what we have done and what we will do. In Christ, we see that total, sacrificial love in the flesh. As followers of Christ, we become sacred learners, disciples that are formed over and over again by the Way of Love.

In many ways, our discipleship is like being in the middle of a relay race. We did not begin this race and we will almost certainly not see the end, but we are part of the journey, nonetheless. There are people who have come before us, who have worked hard with great faith to prepare a community for us to inherit, and we are the ones who will build this community for the next generation. Regardless of where we fall on the spectrum of age or phase, we know what it’s like to be handed a baton, and I hope we are generous enough to hand it off to another.

This year has not been easy (a grand understatement!). We have experienced truly global challenges that, perhaps for the first time in recent memory, have truly changed the way we live. For many of us, we are able to dictate the way we live with an incredible amount of agency. We choose where we live, what we eat, how we entertain ourselves, and who we spend time with. We are near-masters of our universe. That is, until a pandemic forces us to quarantine ourselves, our children and grandchildren cannot go to school, we have to worry about the availability of conveniences such as toilet paper, our social disorder is put on full display, and all compounding to create a level of uncertainty that is practically paralyzing.

Each one of us, whether we are highly aware or not, is carrying a heavy weight. As a person in the world, a person who is connected to other people, we cannot ignore that our grief is heavy. We each grieve in our own ways. We grieve the loss of freedom this virus has put upon us. We grieve the loss of security that our economic uncertainty brings. We grieve with those who feel rejected, judged, persecuted, and unloved because of the color of their skin. And in our grief, we can feel lost and exhausted, which is why we need reminders.

"Each one of us, whether we are highly aware or not, is carrying a heavy weight. As a person in the world, a person who is connected to other people, we cannot ignore that our grief is heavy... We need to be reminded that we are not alone when we travel the Way of Love together."

We need to be reminded of God’s love and faithfulness. We need to be reminded to seek after God’s peace that will guard our hearts and minds. We need to be reminded that we are not alone when we travel the Way of Love together.

This fall, we will embark on a journey together, one in which we will explore the profound reality of discipleship – and you’re invited! Discipleship is the great calling of our lives. When we commit ourselves to true discipleship of Jesus, our faith becomes more than a good idea, we can be truly transformed. That transformation is a gift to each of us, and in this church community, we are committed to helping one another grow.

Beginning Sunday, September 13th, we will spend seven weeks deeply considering where we are in our own faith journey. You’ve heard us speak and preach about grace, gratitude, and generosity, now we will explore the next step: discipleship. Dozens of lay leaders have joined our clergy to create multiple ways to support deeper growth this fall.

On September 13th, we will begin a sermon series in all services focused on discipleship and how we can invest ourselves more deeply in the Way of Love. The next clergy podcast series will launch the following day, on Monday, September 14, providing daily prayer and meditations on discipleship. You will also receive physical journals, mailed to you at home, to guide you in daily prayer and reflection on how you can expand and increase your discipleship identity. Finally, there will be multiple opportunities to give your time in service of others and your treasure in the growth of this community, both tangible actions that will transform you deeply over time.

In addition to all the special ways we hope to support you during this season of discipleship, I want to also encourage you, once again, to gather safely in small groups. Until we can be physically back together, small groups can keep us connected and rooted in our faith, while helping keep one another and our neighbors safe. Saint Michael has developed some encouraging resources to help you form or join a small group: saintmichael.org/smallgroups. Read more about how you can safely gather to watch Sunday services, study the bible, pray together, and more. This can be an amazingly transformative moment for us to grow deeper together, wherever we are.

Discipleship is the way forward in a world that may seem scary and out of control. Jesus came to invite each of us to a life that is bigger than what we see in front of us, a life that can be lived in hope that not even death can separate us from God and the faithful love we share. We are each running the race that God has called us to run, and just like a relay, sometimes we receive the baton and sometimes we pass it. The good news is that this grand race isn’t run alone. Together, and with God’s help, we can keep running. We are not alone – you are not alone!

Chris +