Shelter in God

On this holy night we are all called to shelter in God.

 © Seth Olson 2020
April 11, 2020—Easter Vigil

Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21 [Israel's deliverance at the Red Sea]
Isaiah 55:1-11 [Salvation offered freely to all]
Ezekiel 36:24-28 [A new heart and a new spirit]
Romans 6:3-11
Psalm 114
Matthew 28:1-10

Back on Tuesday, March 24th the City Council of Birmingham passed Mayor Randall Woodfin’s order for citizens of Alabama’s largest city to shelter-in-place. On Saturday, April 3rd Governor Kay Ivey issued a statewide stay-at-home order that went into effect a week ago and has kept non-essential workers in Alabama from leaving their homes, except for necessities. These actions by elected officials have been required here, as well as around the United States and throughout the world to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Even with these measures, this week in the United States, looks like it will be the deadliest yet in this fight against the novel coronavirus.

As someone in the Faith and the Modern Family class put it during our Zoom session last week, “It’s strange that this week, Holy Week is the most deadly week we’ve seen.” Someone else from the Men’s Bible Study pointed out that this month is not only when Holy Week happens, but it is also when the Jewish high holy days of Passover occur and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins. It is not just strange, but tragic that our major World Religions are having to cope with the reality of celebrating their holiest of days when so many are dying and we are all separated. We are sheltering in place, staying at home, and these are acts of compassion and love for our families, friends, and neighbors across the street and around the globe. Still, I cannot help but wonder if tonight of all nights we might shelter somewhere else.

Tonight is the night when the Church and the whole world rejoice, joining with heavenly hosts and choirs of angels, as Susie Youngson beautifully sang just a little while ago. The Exsultet, that ancient hymn, expresses in just a few holy moments of chanting the importance of this night. It was the night when God’s people were freed from bondage in Egypt, it was the night when Christ restored us to grace, broke the bonds of hell, and rose victorious from the grave. How wonderful is this night when wickedness is put to flight, sin is washed away, innocence is restored to the fallen, joy is given to those who mourn, pride is cast out, and peace and concord reign. Tonight is the night when earth and heaven are one. So, while I understand when our health experts tell us we are to shelter individually in our homes—because I want the coronavirus to pass over us as quickly as possible—while I get this logically, tonight I would love for us all to be sheltering together here, praising God who has done the most amazing thing—putting death to death.

And yet, sheltering where you are whether in your home or perhaps at your essential place of business, sheltering where you are does not mean that we are not together. In truth, I believe this night reveals that it is not only about gathering together in our holy places. It is not only about coming to church or another thin space where God’s presence palpably persists, but rather on this night, for us as followers of Jesus it is about eternally sheltering in God. We are called to shelter in God! This imagery of sheltering in God pervades our Scripture, songs, and prayers tonight and throughout our lives in Christ.

In our reading from Exodus the people of Israel sheltered in God as they walked across the Red Sea on dry ground. The lesson from Isaiah told of people dwelling in the security of God as those with no money received food, milk, wine, and toilet paper at no cost—wait, it doesn’t say toilet paper. In the First Song of Isaiah we know that surely it is God who saves us—God is our stronghold and our sure defense. In our prayers we know that God created and yet more wonderfully restored all of Creation—protecting it. Through these words we can understand that God sheltered us not only in ages past (like the powerful hymn, “Oh God Our Help In Ages Past” tells us), but also here and now!

God has been the God who sheltered and guided, blessed and restored throughout our entire history. It does not mean that there have not been tragic, painful losses. It does not mean that brave ones did not have to give their lives to further God’s reign of love here on earth, but God has been with our mothers and fathers, our Christian forebearers who persisted through persecution in the Early Church, the plague of the Middle Ages, the turmoil of the Reformation, the founding of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America, the end of slavery, the reconstruction of a nation, the Great World Wars, the Influenza Pandemic of 1918, the Civil Rights Movement, the September 11th Terrorist Attacks, and countless other earth-altering events. In each and every age God has been the shelter of faithful ones like you and me. And, why is that?

Well, that is because in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus we know that we have a shelter that is going to withstand whatever comes our way. Christ Jesus on this night defeated sin and death. Christ Jesus on this night overcome the gravity of the grave to triumph over all that pulls us away from the life abundant. Christ Jesus on this night united eternally heaven and earth.

In our passage from Romans we hear anew that we are united with Jesus. And if we are united in a death like his death we are surely united in a resurrected life like his. Because of this, we know that not even death has the last word—not just 2,000 years ago and halfway around the world, but right now, right here as we stare COVID-19 right in the face. No evil, no malice, not even the devil himself can overcome us when we are united with Jesus. When the devil tempts us to fold, we can, as someone recently put it, tell the devil to stand 6 feet back with the help of Jesus.

We can trust in God who has been, “our help in ages past,” who will be “our hope for years to come,” who is “Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home.” We can know for sure that God is a “Mighty Fortress” just as Martin Luther sang. We can trust in Jesus as our crag and stronghold as Psalm 31 puts it. When we shelter with God though, it is not always about hiding away in a grand turret of a magnificent castle. Sometimes sheltering in God requires us to shed our armor.

This pandemic while causing me to shield myself with antibacterial wipes, hand sanitizer, and staying at home has at the same time completely crumbled my heart. But, at least according to the prophet Ezekiel this is a good thing. Through Ezekiel, God said, “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” This ironically is how we are sheltered in God. Not by hiding out in fear, but staying home because our hearts are breaking seeing the sacrifices that others, and we ourselves, are making to care for one another.

We are called to shelter in God as we shelter in place, not as a frightened posture of cowering, but as a determined action of self-giving love. This love empowered Jesus to give his life on Good Friday. This love is what God the Father utilized to resurrect Christ Jesus this night. This love emboldened Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to go see the tomb that God made empty and to share this good news with others.

Still, we may feel like we are sitting in the darkened tomb, as our hearts of stone break for those whom we lose. Even here though, maybe especially here, we are united with Christ and soon we will feel the bright glow of the resurrection light breaking upon us. So tonight may shelter in place as an act of love for one another, but always may shelter in God through Christ’s unconditional, eternal, and limitless love. Amen.