Happy New Year’s Eve! Today is Christ the King Sunday and, in the church, that means that it is New Year’s Eve. Christ the King is the last Sunday of our liturgical year. Next Sunday, we will begin a new year with the season of Advent.

“Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost…then we’re back to Advent.” As a child in my church’s children’s choir, this was the song we sung about the seasons of the church year. (You would never know it by my singing today, but I sang in church choir from preschool through 12th grade!) We would be assigned a season based on the color clothes we were wearing that day and get to stand up when we sang that season’s name. Today, I still sing that song in my head each time I go through the church year.

This is the day  the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

As we do every week, we come to worship this Sunday filled with a variety of emotions. This Sunday, those emotions may feel even weightier than usual. It has a been a week!

Throughout this week, the words of Psalm 118:24 have been running through my head, especially on my morning drive to work. This day - and every day - is of the Lord’s making. The powers of this world do not cause the sun to rise or set. That is God’s doing. For me, that has been a helpful grounding point. The rising of the sun is something in which I have been able to rejoice. 

Sometimes, I think our society pushes us too quickly to get to the point of being “okay.” When it comes to grief - whether at the death of a loved one or an impactful life event - there’s this need for us to get over it. Sitting in other people’s discomfort, hurt, pain and fear can be uncomfortable. So, we want to rush to things being “okay” once again. 

You don’t have to be “okay” yet. Whether your candidate won or lost the election, you can feel unsettled with what and how things are unfolding. We can hold space for one another without rushing through the discomfort. 

As people of faith, we can not be okay and wake up each day to give thanks that God, the Creator of the universe, is causing the sun to rise. Rising and setting each day, the sun is our reminder that God is not yet done with us or our world. Living in that certainty, we can rejoice and be glad. We grieve with hope. We grieve and rejoice that God is God. We grieve and sit in the discomfort knowing that God sits with us, too. 

It is okay to not be okay right now. Grief doesn’t need to be rushed. And, each morning when the sun breaks on the horizon bringing about a new day, let’s be sure to rejoice. God’s got this. God’s got us.

Dear Members and Friends of Abiding Presence,
 
On this day after the election, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the wide range of emotions held in our community of faith. We are not of one thought when it comes to the outcome of the election – nor should we be as a faith family. 
 
Today, I know many of us grieve. The world does not feel okay. We are not okay. For people across the political spectrum, much has been lost through this election cycle of divisive and hate-filled rhetoric. As people of faith, we embody what it means to grieve with hope. When all the signs before us point to the end, we trust that God is not done. We hope in what we cannot yet see. The promise that God is with us and still at work in our lives and our world allows us to grieve with hope. 
 
Tomorrow (and maybe even later today), we pray. We pray our way into the love for our neighbors and enemies which God calls us to have. Love is the only way of Jesus and his followers. There are no exceptions. Love for neighbor. Love for enemy. Love for all God’s people – and all really does mean all. We cannot allow hate to become normative. When we struggle to love people, we must pray. We keep praying through every moment, encounter, conversation and social media post for God to work in our hearts, swaying them towards love for people we would instinctively choose not to love. Love is the only way. 
 
Having taken time to grieve and spent time in prayer so our hearts are swayed to Jesus’ love, we will be ready to act. God has never relied on the powers of this world to be the in-breakers of God's kingdom. From Moses and Pharoah to Jesus and Cesar, scripture tells us that earthly powers have never been the primary fighters for justice, bearers of peace or proclaimers of hope. That work – the work of justice, peace and hope – has always been done by ordinary people who God has called out of ordinary places. The same is true today, as it was yesterday, and as it will be tomorrow. 
 
You and I might not have been elected to anything last night, but we are most certainly called. Each one of us, by nature of our baptism, has been called to be God’s coworker in bringing forth the kingdom of God to earth. We are God’s fighters for justice. We are God’s bearers of peace. We are God’s proclaimers of hope. God has called us – all of us – for such a time as this. 
 
At Abiding Presence, we live out of the core value “All are Welcome.” Our unity has never been found in political parties or votes cast, but in the cross of Christ traced on our foreheads in baptism. However you voted, whatever feelings you hold this day, there is a place for you in this community. There is also a calling here for you to be the body of Christ for the sake of the world. 
 
God’s got this – whatever this might be today, and in the days to come. God’s got us. God dwells with us and calls us to act. Abiding Together, we will continue to be the church for the sake of the world. 

Blessings, 
Rev. Meredith Lovell Keseley
Senior Pastor 

Writing to the early church in Rome about the suffering of the present moment, the apostle Paul asks, “What then are we to say about these things?” (Romans 8:31) He goes on to say, “If God is for us, who is against us?” Then he talks about how nothing - absolutely nothing - can separate us from the love of God.

Heading into this election week, I draw strength from Paul’s questioning of what we might say in the face of the evil forces of this world and the promise that no earthly powers can overthrow God. I am writing Romans 8:31-39 on my heart. I encourage you to write it on yours, too. These are scripture words to hold close.

Then, once those words of scripture are written on our hearts, I encourage us to start asking questions, too. As people of faith, what are we to say about the time in which we are living and the state of our world? Our faith drives us to the voting booth and it shapes the choices we make when we get there. What will we say about who we believe God to be through the votes we cast?

To be clear, when Paul speaks of God being “for us,” he is not suggesting that means God is “against” others. God is for all of us, all those who are created in God’s image (that means everyone!). God’s promise is that the forces of sin, death and evil are no match for the God who came down from heaven to die on the cross for us and for the world. No power of this world can - or will - ever top that.

On the eve of the election, we will pray. Our prayers will not sway the election. God is not sitting in heaven counting prayers like ballots. Instead, our prayers will sway us. They will strengthen us for whatever is to come. They will drive away hate from our hearts. They will move us towards peace. They will give us the words to say about these times, the courage to act and the assurance of God’s for all people. Write scripture on your heart, pray and vote. God’s got this. God’s got us. God is for us, and that means for all of us.

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long, steals on the ear the distant triumph song, and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong. Alleluia, Alleluia! (For All the Saints)

All Saints Sunday, which we celebrate today, is my favorite Sunday of the year. I wait all year to belt out all seven stanzas of “For All the Saints,” my all-time favorite hymn. It tells the story of the saints who surround us in the great cloud of witnesses.

There’s something about verse four of the hymn that makes me tear up every time I sing it. The lyrics acknowledge that here on earth, the strife is fierce and the warfare long. We know that reality all too well, which is why the promise of brave hearts after all that has broken them here on earth and strong arms after all the ways our bodies have failed us brings me so much hope.

Together, let us sing with gusto. Let us sing about glimpses of heaven and proclaim the promise that hope is on the way. Let us be the living saints who draw strength from those who have died and gone before us, trusting in the reunion that is coming. On All Saints Sunday, and every Sunday, let us be people of hope and expectation.

As your pastor, one of the most sacred things I do is read the names of the newly baptized who have joined us as living saints this past year and the names of those who have died, taking their place in the great cloud of witnesses in heaven. It is a holy moment when together we celebrate what it means to be the body of Christ.

It is a good time to be the church, Abiding Together as the people of God in this place. Thank you for the holy privilege of being your pastor - today and all days.

Happy Reformation Sunday! Today we celebrate our Lutheran heritage, giving thanks for the reforming of the church that began with a monk named Martin Luther and continues today.

Reformation Sunday can often feel like “God bless the Lutherans” Sunday. What we are celebrating today, however, has little to do with a dead monk, a historical movement or even a denomination. What was at the heart of the reformation movement and the reason we celebrate is that we have a God who is with us, who grounds us in moments of chaos and who is the hope to which we cling when we cannot see a future past our present struggles.

Once the presence of this loving, ever-present God had washed over him, Luther could not keep silent. His set out to reform the church in order to make this God known and accessible to the people. The heart of Luther’s reformation movement was that God was with the people, loving them, forgiving them and saving them from death not by their own actions or merit, but by God’s free gift of grace manifest in Christ. Luther wanted all to know this good news.

It is this good news that is the crux of our celebration of the Reformation. It is a knowledge of God’s love, forgiveness and constant presence with us that is so transformative that we cannot keep silent about it. It isn’t about growing a denomination, but instead about offering hope to those who have been swept up in the chaos and cannot find a way out.

So, happy Reformation Sunday! Spread the good news. The God who created heaven and earth is a God of love. Jesus’ death and resurrection offers grace and forgiveness to all. God is reaching out to us - always and forever!

You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something.”
Psalm 139:13 (Message Bible translation)

These words from scripture describe the reality in which we live. We are fully known - inside and out - by the God who created us. God held our unformed substance in God’s hand and sculpted us from nothing into something. As God’s creation, we are loved forever and always. We cannot flee from God’s presence. God will always chase after us - arms extended - ready to carry us.

This is both our reality today and God’s promise for our future. Nothing will change God’s love for us. We are fully known and fully loved by God - always and forever.

Today we wrap up our sermon series “God Knows Us Inside Out.” For the past seven weeks, we have been exploring the emotions of joy, sadness, anger, disgust, fear and anxiety. God has woven these emotions into our being. Emotions are good and of God, so we can embrace them.

May you write Psalm 139:13 on your heart this week. Carry it with you. Know, trust and believe that God knows you and loves you.

Last Sunday we began a seven-week sermon series titled “God Knows Us Inside and Out.” Together, we will explore what it means that God knows us inside and out as we look at the emotions that dwell inside of us and exude out of us – joy, sadness, anger, disgust, fear and anxiety. The movie Inside Out brought these emotions to life as characters operating a control board in our brains. Now, we will look at them through the lens of what means for these emotions to be created by God, known by God and part of the way we were woven together to be made in God’s image. Our emotions – all of them – are created by God for good.

Sitting in worship a few Sundays ago, I received a text message from one of our college students. Tuned into worship on the livestream from her dorm room, she text me and Pastor Kelsey a picture of her computer screen. She was in worship that morning and messaged to let us know. My heart overflowed with joy!

It is moments like this that I realize what we are doing at Abiding Presence is working, which is to say we are making disciples of Jesus. We are passing on the faith to the next generation. We are sending people out into the world equipped to be the body of Christ, the hands and feet of Jesus. We are being the church. Being the church matters!

Then there was the picture of the Bible from a different college student’s parent. It was texted to me and Pastor Keseley with the message that it was among the last minute items packed by our college student to take with them to college.

Hopefully by now you’ve heard me talking the past few weeks about hypothermia shelter. Abiding Presence has signed up to host the Fairfax County hypothermia shelter the week of December 29, right after Christmas. Each week of hypothermia shelters, two churches sign up to provide shelter space for up to 50 individuals for a total of 100 hypothermia shelter spaces in the county.

As I preached last week, I’ve been clear and convicted in the decision that this what we need to do (even if might not be what we want to do). This past week, that clarity was reinforced in two big ways.

First, I drove into the church parking lot early one morning to find two unhoused individuals sleeping on picnic tables in the parking lot. They weren’t disturbing anything, just sleeping quietly with all their possessions around them. The goal of hypothermia shelter is simple - keep people from freezing to death. The need for this is far greater than most of us realize.