Banner Newsletter, April 2020

Each of our pastors has committed to send a reflection once a week. You can expect to
receive a Note of Encouragement by email each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Here
is a sample, if you would like to sign up to receive these, please send your email to
communications@barringtonumc.com.
Maybe Twice Isn’t Enough
I don’t know if I really feel like rejoicing right now. I’ve been running on adrenaline for
a few weeks, rethinking how we can keep being communities of faith in the midst of
a global pandemic, but now I’m coming back down to earth with a thud — like Wile E.
Coyote in those old cartoons. With everything that is going on — the anxiety, the loss, the
sadness — I don’t want to listen to Paul’s call.
Reading this passage from Philippians again today, I had to step away from it for a
moment. I have to take a deep breath and remember that Paul, who gives the command to
“rejoice” to his friends in Philippi, was likely suffering. He was under house arrest. He was
awaiting word from someone in an office far from him, and appealing to every power on
earth and heaven with the hope he would be released. It
seems quite grim, yet, to the people whom he loves, he
says “Rejoice.”
It is more than a suggestion to “be positive,” or “think
happy thoughts.” It is a call to keep celebrating in spite
of everything that is happening. Don’t worry. Instead,
rejoice to turn the tide of pain.
The struggles of the world should not preclude us from
being joyful. In fact, operating from a core of joy — even
if it is tiny — is necessary if we are to have any hope that
the world can change. If we are unable to begin with
joy, we fall prey to fatalism and despondency. This is
why the Philippians are told twice to rejoice; it is that
important to the future of faith and community.
Maybe twice isn’t enough for us today. Maybe, for hope to thrive, we need to hear it
thrice. Maybe it needs to be looped. Maybe it needs to be our alarm, our ringtone, and
text notification sound. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice! Maybe we need to
say it again and again — as many times as it takes — until we can actually do it.
Say it again and again until it becomes your reality.
Rejoice.
Reboot, Renew, Reassess
When I was a teenager, one of my best friends was Scott Lafoy. Scott and his family moved to
Naperville and started attending Community UMC where my father was pastor and where I was
very involved in the United Methodist Youth Fellowship. When Scott started attending youth
group, we discovered that we shared a number of the same interests: sports, fishing, cars and
girls as I recall. One other thing that Scott and I had in common was that we were both the sons
of very “type A,” driven, workaholic fathers who were impatient and demanding.
One day Moses Lafoy—Scott’s dad—suffered a massive heart attack on the floor of the Chicago
Stock Exchange where he was a very successful trader. Moses Lafoy’s death was deeply troubling
for me. In part because my friend had lost his father, but also because I was convinced that his
death should have been a sign, a wakeup call to my own
father. Of course, from my perspective, my father was too
busy and preoccupied with living his calling as a pastor to
see the handwriting on the wall and refused to slow down
even a little bit.
Later, I came to realize that God doesn’t work the way I
thought. Moses Lafoy didn’t die to teach my father some
kind of cosmic lesson; he died because he had heart disease
exacerbated by the stress of job, his drive to achieve and
what was likely an unhealthy lifestyle. And yet, as I have
reflected on that terrible time, I have also come to realize
that there are often lessons embedded in tragedy that we
can learn when they are viewed through the eyes of faith.
I wonder if we should pay attention to new perspectives
this COVID-19 crisis provides for us. Perhaps this time of forced solitude can teach us the
value of having friends we love, a community of faith that cares for us, and a church to journey
with. Perhaps those of us who also struggle against those “type A” tendencies, who are driven
to succeed, to acquire more and better stuff, or even to “save” the church, can take this
opportunity to adopt healthier habits and routines.
I want to encourage you to take time—forced upon us as it may be—to reboot, renew and
reassess what is really important in life. Indeed, I would suggest that doing so is the most faithful
response we can have in a time such as this. My prayer is that as we “shelter-in-place,” we
would find shelter in the God who loves us and wants only the best for us, even as we know that
suffering is part of the human condition.
—Pastor Chris Winkler
—Pastor Matthew Johnson
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