Faith Matters | Use pandemic to communicate better across the lines that divide us

This is the weekend that many churches celebrate Pentecost, the 50th day after Easter, 10 days after Jesus’ Ascension, and the moment when the followers of Christ were promised power from on high. That power came suddenly in wind and flame, dreams and visions in the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, on the early Christians. We consider this to be the birthday of the Church Universal.

The scripture from Acts 2 says the believers had all come together in one place. This, of course, is what all people of faith want to do with their communities of believers – come together in one place. Yet this pandemic drags on, with all the silent spreaders not even aware they have the disease. This creates real risk when groups of people gather in one place, especially indoors. We have read with sadness the stories of congregations that came back together too soon in April and May, and had fresh outbreaks of the virus. We have grieved the fact that congregational singing is one of the most dangerous activities in which to engage in a pandemic.

Meanwhile most of us are choosing to love our neighbors by keeping apart. Yet we are celebrating that the church is still open and thriving as we care for one another and for those marginalized and suffering in our community and world.

We are celebrating that the church is still open for worship, including celebrating the sacrament of communion via social media for many of us. Our congregation has found it especially meaningful to involve 15 to 20 different people, each pre-recording pieces of worship — prayers, readings, songs — in their own homes or yards.

The church is still open for making God known by growing as disciples of Jesus Christ, building peace in our community, and caring for the needs of others. All of these things we can do from our homes. We are re-acquainting ourselves with the telephone conversation and finding it is sometimes even more meaningful than the five-minute conversation at the door of the church sanctuary. We are Zooming away for small group meetings — prayer groups, Bible studies, support groups, fellowship groups, and learning communities. We are giving extra donations to organizations in our community that serve the poor or struggling, and we are supporting our local businesses when we can without risking exposure and viral spread.

One of the hallmarks of that visitation of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was the remarkable ability of people to share about God’s power and love in the languages of others, in ways that could be understood. I hope that in the tragedy of this pandemic, we might learn to speak the languages of others. By that I am not just talking about understanding both Spanish and English, but understanding people on the other side of the perspectives and politics that divide us. So often all it takes is one line to make us write someone off, as not worthy of sustaining a friendship.

I pray that God will help us to find better ways to communicate with one another across the lines of division, so that we more clearly understand that we all are in this together, all struggling together, all around the world. All of us are hoping for relief from the disease with its death-dealing threats and from the doom of economic disaster with its painstakingly slow recovery under these circumstances.

Holy Spirit of the Living God, fill us with your amazing power, understanding, vision, and love in these difficult days.

Faith Matters is written by members of the Bradenton clerical community. Rev. Elizabeth Deibert is pastor and head of staff at Peace Presbyterian Church in Lakewood Ranch, http://peacepcusa.com/