The Best for Last
Date: January 9, 2022
Preacher: Rev. Nathan Hill
Scripture: John 2:1-11
During this pandemic, we have had to learn new rituals.
When we enter a place of business or even a house of worship, masks go up. Our temperatures get checked. Our hands turn to the ritual of hand sanitizer stations. Our handshakes and hugs are replaced with gentle bows, nods, and eye contact, often from a guesstimated six feet distance.
These new rituals are not religious in nature - and yet they are very spiritual, concerned with preventing the spread of a disease that has harmed and killed hundreds of thousands of neighbors.
What has been a challenging in this pandemic is whether or not these new rituals are done out of a sense of begrudging commitment or out of a true sense of care and compassion for one another.
Are we washing our hands more rigorously in fear or selfishness, worried that we may catch the virus?
Are we wearing our masks because they are the rules and we would prefer not to but we need to get our stuff from Costco anyway and don't want to end up on one of those viral loops on the internet?
Are we sanitizing our hands to protect the lives of the vulnerable, linking this new ritual to our faith in God and call to love our neighbors as ourselves?
Or a maybe little of all three depending on how we got out of bed this morning?
I wonder - are these new rituals teaching us anything about what it means to be a disciple in this time? Will these become habits that shape who we are in years to come, even if COVID-19 and other pandemics subside? Can they be vessels of our witness to God?