Pardon Our Dust
Torn out drywall and ceilings. Exposed insulation and studs. The beautiful hardwood floor largely removed. Sub-flooring, glue, and concrete all that was left to walk on. The setting of our worship this past Sunday was anything but normal. As the PEC is undergoing repairs for water damage this will likely be the case for the next couple of weeks. Some of you who watched online said it didn’t look too noticeable. For those of us in the room the effect was dramatic.
The dramatic stripping down of our worship space provides a handy metaphor for the season of Lent. Just as the altar is stripped on Maundy Thursday, Lent lays us bare.
This can happen intentionally. A fast or a specific discipline can remind us of our need for and dependence upon God. In silence or solitude, the Holy Spirit can reveal to us that our busyness and impatience are rooted in a deep fear of our insignificance. Even though such feelings might be difficult they can feel like spiritual “success.”
However, this can happen in less intentional ways as well. When we fail to follow through with a chosen practice. When patterns of life seem too strong for us to change. When we feel that we lack the ability to even take up a discipline (something we can all likely identify with during the long lent of pandemic). Such things can leave us raw and exposed.
The common phrase when renovation or repairs are taking place is “pardon our dust.” It’s an apology. Things shouldn’t be raw and exposed. In Lent, this is precisely the wrong way to think about such things.
For those in Christ, the state of being laid bare is a grace. The realization that we are weaker than we thought, more needy then we realized, and deeply afraid, are often a reflection of His care and His work to make us whole. Such feelings can feel like condemnation, but to be exposed leads us to a deeper appreciation of Christ’s grace. It puts in touch with His faithful work of bringing us to completion. It sets our hope upon His completed work.
There’s no need to be apologetic about our dustiness. It is, as we remind ourselves at the start of every Lent, what we are. And, as the song goes, He makes beautiful things out of the dust.
As you are laid bare, during Lent or simply in the warp and woof of life, may you be graced to know God’s loving intention for you, to repair and restore.
In Christ,
Peter+
Ps. The PEC will still be in a state of repair this Sunday. It will be better than last week, but we also anticipate the need for more flexibility in how we worship at some other point this month. We’ll definitely be in touch with details. Of course, we’re all pretty practiced in flexibility in worship by now!
PPs. Our Lenten Quiet Day and our next service opportunity are coming up soon. See below for more details and considering joining in for these times of collective Lenten practice.