From: St.Georges DC
<revjenkins@stgeorgesdc.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 2, 2020 1:37 PM
Subject: Pastoral Letter
St. George's Closed through April
16th
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St.
George's Episcopal Church
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Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace
be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
I,
like I many of you, have not been able to sleep these last
nights. I am deeply troubled by the disregard of black lives and
the most recent killing of George Floyd that has sparked protest
around our country.
I
write in hopes of providing words to you as your priest and
pastor. I want to provide words of comfort but I am not sure that
my words would be comforting. I want to offer words that take
away the sting of hurt but I am not sure the hurt will go away anytime
soon. I want to offer words that will heal right now but healing
will take time. I want to offer words of assurance that things
will get better tomorrow, but I can't because I don't know. I
want to provide the words that will solve hatred, injustice, bigotry,
racism, and all the ills of our world, but words alone won't
provide the solutions.
There
are so many words that I can't offer and so many things that I
don't know. But I do know that the suffering is real, the pain is
deep and the tears are many. It is in this suffering and pain and
tears that I stand with you and I will walk with you as followers
of Jesus in the way of love.
In
this coming Sunday's lessons we read from the
Hebrew Scripture, Genesis 1 about creation, "Then God said,
let us make humankind in our image... So God created humandkind
in his image, the image of God he created them; male and female
he created them...And it was so. God saw everything he had made
and indeed it was very good."
As my
professor Dr. Willie Jennings taught, God didn't
create us out of necessity nor did he create us as contingent.
God created us out of love. God created us out of love to love.
We are reminded in our liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer
that we are commanded to love, "Hear what our Lord Jesus
Christ says: You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first
and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: You shall
love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus provides us the
formula for ushering in the Kingdom of God. But this is not easy.
It is not easy for any of us on any given day. And it is
especially not easy when we see death at the hands of one of
those who has sworn to protect and serve.
Our
presiding Bishop who preaches the way of love recognizes that
this is not easy but as people of hope it is the formula that he
preaches - love. I commend to you his sermon this past
Sunday on Pentecost (minute
41-60) Bishop Curry hits everything that is going on this past
week head on and then says, "And yet, we are not victims
of fate, we are not doomed and condemned. We follow in the
footsteps of Jesus. And that Jesus taught us that love will make
a way out of no way. He taught us that sometimes you have to take
up the cross and follow in his footsteps. If you dare to follow
his way of love you will find God's way of life. Love is the way
that can save us all."
From
Paul's letter to the Ephesians I offer you strength, "I pray
that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you
may be strenthened in your inner being with power through his
Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,
as you are being rooted and grounded in love."
Know
that I stand with you. Know that I will walk with you. Know that
I hold all of us and our nation in prayer. Know that I will help
all of us find a way to follow Jesus in his way of love so that
we can help to usher the Kingdom of God into every heart. We are
a people of hope.
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Yours
in Christ,
The
Rev. Marilyn Jenkins
Priest-In-Charge
St.
Georges DC
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Peace I
leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give you what
the world gives you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do
not let them be afraid. John
14:27
Wishing
you the peace of God during this time of anxiety. -- The Rev.
Jenkins
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St.George's Episcopal Church160 U Street NWWashington, DC 20001 stgeorgesdc.org
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