Several weeks ago, congregational chair Karen McKenzie started using the phrase “shelter in faith.” It was during a Spiritual Leadership Team zoom meeting, and we were discussing how the existent – though somewhat feeble – Care Group structure might help us all stay connected. Admittedly, “shelter in faith” didn’t catch my attention right away. But in her persistent wisdom, Karen kept using it, and now I’m increasingly drawn to its depth of theological clarity; this is a statement of hope.
God is a shelter and strength for us,
a help in straits, readily found.
Therefore, we fear not… (Psalm 46:1; Robert Alter’s translation)
Me on Death Canyon Shelf
Where do we run when the straits are dire? Some years ago I was backpacking across Death Canyon Shelf in Grand Teton National Park. The shelf is a half-day’s hike long and 50 yards wide, give or take, with a steep cliff up to the west and a steep cliff down to the east. It was early afternoon and a massive thunderstorm came barreling up the canyon from the south. There was nowhere to go. We spotted a clump of trees a half-mile ahead, ran to it, dumped our packs, and set up the tent just in time to crawl in and read a book while buckets of hail fell from the sky.
Last Sunday marks the beginning of the church’s Resurrection Season, which feels awfully strange when we’re still taking shelter from the hail and praying that lightning doesn’t strike the tree standing watch over our tent. Yet is this not the essence of a resurrection faith: holding to hope even while the storm rages and the time or manner of its ending is unclear. The group that gathered for this morning’s Bible study (also on zoom) reminded me of this during our discussion of 1 Peter 1:3-4:
God has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, a birth into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled [mbc: disinfected?], and unfading…, you who are being sheltered by the power of God through faith… (adapted from NRSV)
“The power of God through faith” is that new life is possible even in the direst of straits. So as the stay-at-home days start to blur together and the uncertainty of their end looms, the question becomes: what is being born anew even now? What does faithfulness to God’s life-giving power look and feel like even now?
SLT’s prayerful conversation about Care Groups yielded an interesting idea that weaves together the brick-and-mortar homes that shelter us and the spiritual shelter that God gives in and through the support of each other during this time: the Care Group Front Porch Photo Challenge. Each Care Group is invited to collect photos of every household in your group assembled on their front porch (or equivalent architectural feature – wherever you emerge from your dwelling place). You will have to take selfies or ask a passing neighbor to take a photo from the street and send it to you.
Appoint someone in the care group to be the group photo collector (or volunteer to be that person!). The collector is responsible for gathering your group’s photos and organizing them into a slideshow or collage or some other creative presentation. Once completed, submit your group’s entry to Karen McKenzie so that it can be shared with the rest of the congregation.
Wherever you stay-at-home, take heart! We are all being sheltered by the power of God through faith.