Dear Siblings in Christ,
[This is a compilation of the information in the past several weeks of Joan’s Jottings which is sent to those who have subscribed to it. Contact Rev. Joan to be added to the email list.]
With the whole country moving into a National Lockdown, the government is allowing churches to remain open with restrictions in place. However, the leaders of our three churches, along with most of the other churches in our Circuit, have decided to remain closed for in-person services at this time. We will reassess the situation again at the end of February. Video services (also available on DVD & CD) will continue as will the printed services. In addition, we will be worshipping virtually each Sunday by Zoom at 10.30 a.m. beginning on 17th January. Contact me for Zoom access. You can find the January circuit plan here.
At the beginning of each calendar year, most Methodist Churches have a Covenant Service.
The focal prayer for this service is known as the Covenant Prayer. Below are the two versions of the prayer that appear in our Methodist Worship Book.
| I am no longer my own but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father Son and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen. | I am no longer my own but yours. Your will, not mine, be done in all things, wherever you may place me, in all that I do and in all that I may endure; when there is work for me and when there is none; when I am troubled and when I am at peace. Your will be done when I am valued and when I am disregarded; when I find fulfilment and when it is lacking; when I have all things, and when I have nothing. I willingly offer all I have and am to serve you, as and where you choose. Glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours. May it be so for ever. Let this covenant now made on earth be fulfilled in heaven. Amen. |
Each year, when we use this prayer, I try to pick a line of the prayer to reflect upon. I have a book, that is now 20 years old, called Surrendering to God: Living the Covenant Prayer by Keith Beasley-Topliffe and I find his thoughts helpful. This year, it was his observations about the lines put me to doing, put me to suffering that spoke most deeply to me. I get the put me to doing bit, but put me to suffering? I do not want that. What does it mean to have a willingness to suffer as God sees fit?
When I hear that line put me to suffering I think about God’s call on our lives to help bring justice for those treated badly. This past year, racial justice has been particularly on my mind. Climate justice as well. But those fighting for justice and advocating for others. often find that it is a dangerous place to be. Jesus went to the cross standing up for the last and the least. And so, I ponder what I am being called to sacrifice.
Beasley-Topliffe in his book got me thinking. He suggests that “the suffering being talked about here is not being-in-pain. Rather it is being-done-to, allowing things to happen, or enduring while things are completely beyond our control.” This fits better with the more modern version of the prayer in the Methodist Worship Book, which says: In all that I do, and all that I may endure.Beasley-Topliffe says that we could paraphrase it as: put me to activity, put me to passivity.
Generally speaking, we are do-ers. We want to help people; we want to change things and fix things. Doing nothing is hard for us. Accepting passivity is difficult. Yet waiting, enduring and passivity is a major part of life. Sometimes there is nothing that we can do. And I do not know about you, but right now, in the middle of this pandemic, that it is how I am feeling. Sure, there are a few things we can do like wearing a mask, keeping distance, not hugging, staying at home. But we are in a time now in this pandemic of waiting and enduring and having to let some things happen. I have found that sometimes prayer and inaction are the only appropriate responses to God’s call to suffering.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ himself prayed, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” Up to this point in the gospel, Jesus had been very active, but now he is acted upon rather than acting. He even stops his disciples from acting. He remains passive for the rest of the passion story. Did you know passion and passivity come from the same root word? And then Jesus makes one final prayer of surrender: Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit. After his death, we are told Jesus is raised from the dead. Not Jesus himself rose, Jesus was passive, it was God’s action. And then once more, he is put to doing.
Most of us will not suffer in such extreme ways, but we will all have to wait and endure and suffer at times in our lives. There are times when we have to accept that whatever happens is what God would have us do, at least for the next little while. We have to wait passively. We can rage or we can surrender our frustrations to God.
Prayer can be a way for us to wait. Our prayers are often active prayers, giving God our to-do list or pouring out our hearts. But there is also prayer can also be nothing except resting in God’s presence. Psalm 131 puts it this way:
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother;
my soul within me is like a weaned child.
In this image of prayer, the Psalmist is not trying to run the world or give advice but just sits in God’s lap like a little child. Like a weaned child who does not need to be nursing but is there because it is a good comforting place to be.
This put me to suffering line of the Covenant Prayer can be an invitation to wait for the Lord, or to wait with the Lord, just enjoying the time together and being comforted. The prophet Isaiah tells us that God says, I have called you by name, you are mine. You are precious in my sight. I love you. May we remember that we are God’s beloved children. We have no idea what 2021 will bring us and how bad or good the next few months will be, but we are loved. As we wait and endure and maybe suffer, may we fully surrender our lives to God who loves us forever.
I am keeping you in my prayers. May God’s peace be with you all,
In Christ
–Pastor Joan
Joan’s Jottings are written to the churches at Museum Street, Landseer Road and Chantry where Joan is the minister, and shared here for all to read.