Conceal Me

Let’s talk about sanctuary. We seem to have moved away from calling the space where we hold gathered worship a sanctuary. We now prefer worship centers or something like that. That makes sense; let’s define what we do in that space. Let’s find something a little more contemporary and dynamic. Let’s emphasize the event that is worship, the experience of worshiping. It seems a positive move to leave sanctuary behind in favor of something new.

Except that sometimes there is no better word to describe what we need than sanctuary. “For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble,” writes the psalmist (Ps 27:5 NRSV). And when aren’t we in a day of trouble? There is something appealing about providing space to withdraw from the world for a time—a place to breathe, a place to be. Let worship give space for being this week. Sometimes that is silence. Sometimes that is prayer. Sometimes that is song. Wherever you make the space for sanctuary, for protection, for a plea to God to come and help keep our heads above water. That’s our need this week.

But there also needs to be space to advocate for others, to acknowledge that even though it might be going well for us – and let’s not manufacture oppression that we don’t really feel – there are others for whom life is a constant struggle to survive. Our hurt makes us sympathetic to the hurts of others. Our hunger opens us up to the deep hungers of those around us. Intercessory prayer is an empathetic gesture. Worship can be an opportunity to ask how we can provide sanctuary for others in our broken world. It is a chance to practice compassion rather than division; acceptance rather than judgment.

We are called, with Christ, to lament over the city but not with anger and pointing fingers. Instead, we are called to open our arms to gather, like “a hen gathers her brood” (Luke 13:34). Some might argue that such an approach doesn’t work in our divided age, but perhaps that is because no one has been willing to try. What does it mean to care for the city, to care for our community in this way? What is being asked of us? This might be something we could contemplate as we worship in our sanctuary on this day. How might we extend the table, extend the protection? How might we be a sanctuary for our community?

PLAYLIST SONG

“Head Above Water” by Avril Lavigne

Like many of us, the writer of Psalm 27 knows trouble, as does Jesus when he is confronted by the Pharisees attempting to scare him into being quiet or, at the very least, getting out of town (Luke 13:31). Yet both the psalmist and Jesus do an odd thing when faced with threats: they stay the course. They refuse to be swallowed up and swayed by fear. Instead, they root themselves in God, whose steadfast love conceals and protects, whose love keeps their heads above water. As you listen to Avril Lavigne’s “Head Above Water,” consider the storms in your life that you need God to protect you and sustain you through. Do you trust that God will take care of you through those storms?