Dear St. Luke’s,

It has been two weeks since I wrote to you, and it is time for me again to talk about wearing masks in the Church. I have spoken to many people about their needs, wants and fears, and there is one overwhelming consistency within our Church; we are all tired of talking about it. Everyone is craving stability, security and we are done with ambiguity and frustration, especially after the year that we have had, and everyone has a different idea on what this looks like. I hate to say it, but we are not there, but are making progress.

We are taking a small step by having the preachers remove their masks when we preach starting on July 25th. If you think this is an abhorrent idea, you have a week to talk to us about this. We are going to be making incremental changes in this matter moving forward. If we make a change, we will let you know with enough time for you to communicate your feelings to us, or to make a decision about what you are and are not comfortable doing. We do not want you to show up surprised and uncomfortable with what you see.

Do you think we are not doing enough? You are not alone. Our goal is move forward with the most vulnerable of us in mind, and this will take time. I urge you to be patient, realize that others that you see every Sunday are not in your position, and to continue to wear a mask while indoors. We will get there eventually.

Back to my original point; we are all tired of talking about this, so let’s talk about something else:

When I was an EMT my paramedic partner and I had really meaningful conversations about Christianity and scripture. While cruising around, I remember him telling me that he did not think creativity had its place in reading scripture or being a disciple of Christ. His point was that being creative is a way for us to insert our own agendas into God’s plan for the world and for our Churches. It takes a lot of creativity to justify slavery and segregation through a Christian context, but that was the norm for centuries. Obedience is the way we purge these sins from our society, not creativity. I understand his point, but it didn’t sit right for me and it took me a long time to articulate a counterpoint. I wish I could be on-call with him again to continue the conversation.

My counterpoint would be that our task should be to move out of the way so we can be God’s hands in the world, and that could not be possible without creativity. Generations spilt gallons of ink throwing Sarah from Genesis under the bus when she laughed at the prospect of having a child in her old age, and if we lacked creativity, we would merely continue that line of thinking. However, if we strive to read scripture like we are hearing it for the first time, then maybe we can hear something the Spirit has been telling def voices for centuries. In the case of Sarah, her story is parallel to Abraham’s. Neither is a moral paragon, but instead they are God’s chosen father and mother for Israel, and that is why God continues the covenant through them. They don’t deserve it, but they receive it regardless. That interpretation is not written plainly in the text, and there is a chance that I could be completely wrong, but it is clear that we are made to read between these lines and ponder where God is leading us.

Without creativity, then we lose our sense of wonder at God’s creation and glory, and without that sense of wonder, we fail to ponder where we must go. We may be craving stability in this chaotic time, but I hope we can realize that we are always called to use our creativity to read between the lines so we can allow the spirit to lead us.

Blessings,
Nick