Tidings letter from Dr. Miller

This issue of Tidings is unlike any other in the history of the 135-year history of the First Presbyterian Church of Tulsa. On that, I suspect, we can all agree. Never has First Church been closed, shuttered, locked down for eight Sundays in a row (and counting)! Never have we not been together during holy week, missing Palm Sunday and Easter. Never have we been instructed not to go outside, mingle with friends, or associate with colleagues at work. Isolate yourselves, we’re told.

The word “isolate” comes from the Latin word, insulatus – which means to “make into an island.” And we all know that “no man is an island.” We’re not hard-wired for that. We need each other. Our hearts beat for each other. We find encouragement and strength in being together. The presence of Christ comes to us in community.

I hope I never lose the hole-in-my-heart feeling I have on Sunday when I walk into an empty sanctuary. The vacant chapel. The silent atrium. And, I pray for a revival in each of our hearts that says, “Amen!” to that most vital of encouragements: Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together – Hebrews 10:25.

The Apostle Paul knew this. He anguished over it. He spoke freely about his “chains,” – his literal imprisonment that kept him tied down (for at least five full years of his life). He speaks often of his needs, both physical and spiritual.

This morning we shared a “Zoom” staff meeting as we’ve done every Tuesday morning since our staff began working at home. I received this message from one of the staffers:

“Is there a way to start having staff chapel again? As we are caring for our ministry areas and devising new ways to minister, I personally am growing weary - mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I know I can’t be alone in this among the staff. I would find it helpful to have a time where our staff spirits are collectively  bolstered and encouraged; a time where we are not discussing logistics, but just being fed.”

For me, part of the silver-lining amid this deadly and destructive COVID-19 virus is found in that paragraph. The sense, the recognition, that we desperately need each other, that we rely upon the Body of Christ, gathered somehow, someway. We need to be together, “just to be fed” – nourished and strengthened by the presence of Christ among us.

Or, how about this e-mail (paraphrased) from a friend deeply engaged in the FPC community:

“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about why the Church being closed is so upsetting to me. Here’s what I landed on ... as a kid, I felt safe and normal and loved at Church. But when my family wasn’t "at Church," wasn’t participating in the community, all of that seemed to go away. I discovered that I need the gathering; I need to connect with people. I need the relationships. I need a place where we can talk about real stuff, our shared concerns and challenges, learn from each other and take courage from one another.”

This is why Jesus gathers the disciples together into community. That’s where He promises to meet us. Together, in Christ, we’re fed, nourished, strengthened. But watch that same group of Christians, that community of the Beloved, once they're fed you will see them eager to be out and about, straining to serve in Jesus’ name.

That’s the other part of this silver-lining visible in this whole ordeal. Men and women, younger and older, looking for ways (amid all the necessary confinements) to extend the love of Jesus to a hurting and broken world. To me, this is the main story. This is what we need to keep our eyes on. This is headline good news. Watch, look and listen to what God is bringing about in these days.

My list is long (and I don’t know the half of it!)of all the hard-working, under-the-radar, folks serving and caring for others because their hearts beat with Christ’s love. None of them are looking for recognition.

But ask Jan Miller sometime why she was prompted to band together a ministry of callers and a “buddy system” of “prayer and care” –bridging the gap between folks in special need and the Church community who loves them.

Ask the anonymous giver of the Easter lilies purchased for the (empty!) sanctuary on Easter Sunday why that was important for her? Or, ask the “Sherry Halliburtons” (working with her daughter, Amy) why they felt urged to arrange those lilies so beautifully.

Ask Allison Biggs, one of our newest members, what prompts her to charge the hill of community need, bringing an army with her, each of whom wants more than anything else, to simply give themselves away for Jesus’ sake.

Ask Sam DeVore and Eddie James why they showed up to give out 150 box lunches to the folks at Hewgley Terrace Apartments.

Ask those who have given generously out of their own need to financially support their Church.

Ask the Session why they chose to give $75,000 to those in special need. Ask why First Church would direct monies to pastoral discretionary accounts of pastors serving northside Churches.

The list goes on and on.

The Apostle Paul sat in prison, lamenting the inability he had to be out and about. He must have thought “I could be so much more useful to the Kingdom, proclaiming the good news of Jesus, if I were free.”

But consider this: if it weren’t for those prisons in which Paul languished, he might never have written the letters we call his “prison epistles.” And, we would never have read them. Who wants to give up Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians or Philemon? Gifts that keep on giving, indeed!

God is continually at work to redeem. Always and in every circumstance. So let’s keep our hearts open to His promptings. Let’s keep our eyes open to His work. Let’s listen for His voice to get into the fray. To collaborate with His work.

In this trying season of COVID-19, let’s remember His word to us: “Be strong and courageous –for I the Lord, your God, am with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9). A dangerous, deadly season for all of us? Yes. But the Light of Christ is seen most clearly in the dark. Watch for it. Reflect it. Take joy in Him!