While the world is filled with fear and uncertainty, we as the church have a critical opportunity to be a source of light, hope, faith and comfort. God is giving us a global “timeout.” 

“Timeout” is a disciplinary tactic that adults use for children to think about what they have done that was unacceptable. The focus is not to punish but to correct inappropriate behavior. Crisis helps to create clarity. During a crisis, you become clear as to what really matters most to you. Awareness is the beginning of change. It is good to see where you are currently in terms of finances, resources and services that you can make available to needy people. Yet we as the church need to point people toward faith and build their hope.

This global health crisis will help to spark revival in our world and turn people to God. This can be one of the finest hours for the church. People need God, and people need people. We must remain connected emotionally and spiritually even as we observe “physical distancing.” We are still the church – we are just the church scattered instead of the church gathered. It never really was about the building but the people. We must remind everyone that “This too shall pass” and God is faithful. 

Easter Sunday … the day we gather to celebrate that the stone which sealed the life and love of God has been rolled away … that our hopes are alive in the resurrection of Jesus. God’s Word speaks of this hope as “an anchor for the soul.” It is often the unspoken strength that allows us to rise each day and face the uncertainties of life. In the midst of our losses and let downs, we can anchor our souls with divine strength. The hope of Easter isn’t the hope of a naïve fool or nagging optimist, it’s hope that meets us in the real world.

For as was read from the Gospel of John (John 20): Our story doesn’t begin in the light of day. It begins at dawn when it’s still dark … a place far less clear … far more personal. It begins with an individual, Mary. Perhaps as fascinating and encouraging as anything God chooses to do. God focuses the greatest events … events of cosmic proportions … like COVID-19 … on ordinary individuals.

· Not what you’d call your traditionally religious person. She was from the city of Magdala along the sea of Galilee, and may have had a wealthy background. But nothing could protect her from the harsh realities of the world.

· She was a woman in a world that found woman a good scapegoat on which to place its shame…somehow more easily separated from God… there was little acceptability to hope on her own.

· And as many come to find…the most oppressive powers aren’t just cultural and political, they are personal and spiritual. Tradition has always had it that Mary was a scarlet sinner. She had become oppressed by spiritual powers that bound her within.

This was before the day that a new presence came to town…a presence that proved more powerful than all the powers around her and within her. Jesus had come to town and saw into her soul… and cast those powers out… seven demonic powers. He had done something for her that no one else could ever do, and she could never forget. No one ever loved Jesus so much as Mary Magdalene. Again, Jesus the Christ stood in front of Mary and gave her a new hope.

During all of this, we must keep our eyes focused on Jesus, knowing that He is with us and for us. I can sense that a great harvest of souls is coming out of this crisis. The Lord will be glorified through all of this. His Church will thrive. His glory will be revealed through our actions and support for one another.

— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Rev. Don Kim is pastor of Monroe United Methodist Church.