Sermon:
Omsorgens ånd-Spirit of Solicitude:
be wise and live in the light of the Lord.
This time is a time that calls for wise words. This is a time that calls for wisdom and not foolishness.
This is a time that calls us to speak truth and to live as children of the light.
This is a time for common sense, civility, compassion, consideration and solicitude.
This text which is from Paul’s Letter to the congregation in Ephesus, could be a letter to us as congregations in March 2020. It speaks right into our time, and the concerns we are dealing with these days.
· Concerns that make us close our beloved churches for regular worship and attendance.
· concerns that make us host Virtual Services like this with precautionary distance between pianist, cantor, pastor, usher, videographer.
· Concerns that give me this view today: looking into an iPhone instead of the eyes of my beloved congregation.
· Concerns that make us be sensible, considerate, to keep social distance, to avoid any gatherings and to be reminded again and again: wash your hands!
Some of you might have heard the very timely speech given her majesty the Danish Queen Margrethe last Tuesday. Once again, I am proud of our wise Queen. For the first time ever, Her Majesty was addressing her people and country not at New Years, but amid the Covid 19 crisis. The Queen spoke as directly as Paul did to his congregation: don’t be foolish, yes don’t be reckless and inconsiderate! Be mindful of others and follow regulations. We stand together, by keeping distance she said. We care by following regulations. We stand together by caring and sharing. We are indeed living in a time of worries and vulnerability. As her Majesty said: We are worried. It is human to be worried, but let us stand together in order to give hope a chance to shine again…..
The Danish Church and Cultural Center in Yorba Linda is so quiet these days. Usually we have a lively and talkative congregation in the pews on Sunday morning and we meet and greet, hug and handshake before we share a meal. The confirmands would be here and so the language classes, the scouts, the committees, and the many visitors that stop by the church every week. We have canceled events and in person services. We are standing firmly together in compassion and consideration by keeping distance and following regulations – but yet we are still church. We call each other, we worry about each other, we pray for each other. And today: we worship together.
In our Cultural Center we have beautiful art displayed. Large colorful paintings by Danish painter Hanne Stovring adorn the walls and light up the room.
Vibrant colors and visible strokes tell us stories about relations, communications, memories, compassion, love and life. We are indeed blessed to host these paintings, and I encourage you to enjoy them once you can. But this Sunday I have brought one of the paintings in here – all week it has been speaking to me and echoing not only the Gospel: I am the light of the world, - but even more Paul’s words and her Majesty’s speech.
This beautiful blue painting is called Omsorgens aand – the spirit of solicitude. I did have to look the word up: Solicitude = the quality of caring about other peoples comfort, safety and how they feel.
As any of Hanne’s paintings, this too is open for the viewers interpretation. Look at it. Take for a moment the colors in. Trace the figures. Find the story. And the message.
At the center is a big figure sitting and holding a protective arm around the blue planet and around a family. In the corner you have a couple holding hands or sharing a tender moment. Maybe a shoulder to lean on, a friend to talk to, a spouse to confide in. Man is not meant to be alone. We are meant to be in relations, live in relations. Care and share. Love and laugh and live. That is how we live as Children of the Light.
Looking at the blue painting I also thought about the beloved old reading from the Psalms: The Lord is my shepherd…. God like a good shepherd, keeping his herd safe and being a presence even in the darkest of valleys.
Look at the painting again. Enjoy it for one more moment.
The Spirit of Solicitude – we are in a time and in a crisis right now, around the world, that calls for the spirit of solicitude and compassion. We pray to our God, who holds our world, our blue blue planet, and our beloved families in his arms and pulls us in to his grace. As St. Paul wrote to his congregation in a different time and age than ours, we still read his words in our time and age also stricken by fear, anxiety, uncertainty….
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the Lord’s will is. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Words encouraging us to be wise and safe, and to share our faith in hymns and song and music. Words that encourage us to have faith and keep faith, to be hopeful and loving as we embraced an uncertain future.
The time calls for the spirit of solicitude and a deep faith that we are indeed not alone. God is with us – Emmanuel – God is with us and embraces us with his grace.
AMEN.