February 3, 2023
What time is it?
Yesterday was the last day of Christmas; or, at least, it used to be. Mary and Joseph, following the Law, presented their first-born male son, Jesus to the Lord’s service the fortieth day after his birth (Luke 2:22-40). The fortieth day after Christmas is called “Candlemas” or more descriptively the “Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.” This story was the last of Luke’s nativity stories, and celebrating it marked the end of the Christmas season or Christmastide. In many countries in the past, the Christmas holiday extended through all these 40 days, especially Sweden where people often had time off during Christmastide. Thinking this was a bit too generous the Swedes moved the end of the Christmas to the Feast of Knut, January 13, cutting the Christmas season in half.
Yesterday was also Groundhog Day, which actually has its origins in Candlemas as well. Today is the Feast of St. Anskar, the first Christian missionary to Scandinavia in the 9th century. I had mentioned Anskar in my homily at last year’s Julfest.
February is also Black History Month. This is a month in which we remember the contribution to our nation, its economy, its culture, and its Christian faith. It is also an opportunity to consider the plight of our Black friends and the treatment they have gotten—and continue to get—in our country, and what our response ought to be. At the recent Midwinter I attended the Racial Righteousness Breakfast where I learned a great deal about the history and current state of White Christian Nationalism in our country, especially within the Evangelical world.
I was particularly struck by one new finding: the politicization of some Evangelical churches has its roots in racism. Research was presented on how the issue that galvanized what we now call the Religious Right was President Carter’s move to remove private parochial schools’ tax exempt status from those school that opened after integration of schools began but did not sign a non-discriminatory statement that was required by the tax law at that time. All other issues that we associate with this movement, such as abortion failed to unite those churches like this issue. Those issues, however, were later attached to this movement as we know it today. President Reagan subsequently changed that tax law. It has caused me to consider what other implicit racist practices have been encouraged or perpetuated by Christian churches in our country. Black History Month is a good time for such considerations.
Our church has entered into a season of many new opportunities. We are about to execute plans to repair our dome and roof. We are taking the first steps toward hiring a new pastor to join our pastoral team. We are considering the priorities of what ministries we continue, as well as what new ministries to begin. Of course, that may also mean we need to discern if there are ministries we ought not or cannot continue. In addition, we are considering what the post-pandemic world will look like, and how God is at work now in this new, emerging season.
What time is it? As has been true in our lives, we live negotiating multiple calendars and their (sometimes competing) expectations simultaneously, often each calendar declaring the one thing that is most important. So we enter a process of discernment. This requires an assessment of our resources, valuing the importance of the options, and making choices. Now is a time to pray for First Covenant Church as we move into a new season in our church’s life, to make wise and clever decisions with the resources God has given us and the ministry opportunities that lie before us. Even as we do this for our congregation, let us pray for our conference, our denomination, and our nation and its churches who are likewise considering their paths forward.
I also invite you to pray for those people who might join our “Getting to know First Covenant” sessions. Lastly, I extend an invitation to you all to attend an Open House at our neighbors, Peer Seattle Services, (1620 Bellevue Ave) on Monday night, February 6th, between 5 and 9 pm.
I pray for you all as you each discern how to steward the time God has given you in the weeks ahead.
~ Pastor Todd