Unprecedented. I have heard this word used a great deal over the past few weeks. "Unprecedented" is usually followed by something unsettling - infection rates, unemployment numbers, social-distancing and isolation mandates, economic impact. It's a word that is used when there are no other words, no other contemporary point of reference to describe the environment in which we now find ourselves.
Unprecedented. Certainly in my twenty-five years as an Anglican priest I have not seen social mandates which have virtually shut down the assembling of the faithful for worship and the partaking of the Blessed Sacrament, which have made neighbors suspicious and fearful at the prospect of getting close to one another. In my lifetime's experiences these are indeed unprecedented times.
Unprecedented. The present opportunity to re-center our life and attention on the person and work of Jesus Christ our Lord. As Easter Sunday approaches we are summoned once again to fix our hope on what is truly unprecedented: Jesus' Passion, Death and Resurrection. For Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and we are partakers of His Death to this world and His Resurrection to newness of life. We are not as those without hope, who in the midst of trial and tribulation can only say: eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. As St Paul notes in today's MP reading:
I Corinthians 15:12-19
Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
At the end of chapter 15 we read:
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Unprecedented. We have been given a unique opportunity to restore the priority of Morning and Evening Prayer in our daily lives. This world will pass away, but the Word of God abides forever. Our confidence in God who hears our prayers remains fixed, inviolable, immoveable. Today's reading in Exodus 3 reminds us that God hears the cries of His people:
Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them ...
So we pray:
From all evil and mischief; from sin; from the crafts and assaults of the devil; from thy wrath, and from everlasting damnation,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From all blindness of heart; from pride, vainglory, and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From all inordinate and sinful affections; and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From lightning and tempest; from earthquake, fire, and flood; from plague, pestilence, and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From all sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebellion; from all false doctrine, heresy, and schism; from hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word and Commandment,
Good Lord, deliver us.
By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation; by thy holy Nativity and Circumcision; by thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation,
Good Lord, deliver us.
By thine Agony and Bloody Sweat; by thy Cross and Passion; by thy precious Death and Burial; by thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and by the Coming of the Holy Ghost,
Good Lord, deliver us.
In all time of our tribulation; in all time of our prosperity; in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment,
Good Lord, deliver us.
Unprecedented. In these uncertain times we have an unprecedented occasion to show forth the compassion and love of Jesus Christ for one another. Pray for one another; seek an opportunity to do good to those in need. There have been some wonderful examples of compassion during this epidemic. A young woman in Brooklyn, who lived in a neighborhood with a significant number of older residents, bought cardboard posters and put her name, phone number and email address on them and then posted them throughout the neighborhood. Written on the posters was the message: If you need someone to purchase and deliver groceries I can help. Contact me by phone or email. The older residents were able to transfer money to her to buy groceries which she picked up and delivered to their front doors. There are now seventy volunteers helping her in this Brooklyn neighborhood.
Unprecedented. Yes, even in a time such as this we have reason to give unprecedented thanks to God!
JSH+