Former General Assembly Moderator leads Lost & Found Church worship for Presbyterian Peace Fellowship

LOUISVILLE — Held on Sunday, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s Lost & Found Church used an introspective approach on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration, with the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow leading online attendees in a Lectio Divina encounter with Romans 12:9-21. “Bless Your Enemies: The Challenge to See Humanity in Inhumane Times” was the theme of the gathering.

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Reyes-Chow, Moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008), is a speaker, coach and the author of six books, most recently “Everything Good About God Is True: Choosing Faith.” Using the Common English Bible, Reyes-Chow read the Romans passage through three times, asking worshipers each time to select a word or phrase to ponder for two minutes.

“I’m so glad you’re here considering the turmoil of the times,” Reyes-Chow said. “Everyone needs to find ways not only to resist, but — in  body, mind and spirit — find joy and meaning together.”

“For me, there is a natural inclination to repay evil acts with evil acts. There is often an urge to escalate,” Reyes-Chow said. “But today we are going to hear in Romans not to escalate conflict, but to bless our enemies. God’s still asking us to bless them, and I think that’s a prophetic word for all of us.”

Angela Steiner, music director and conductor at Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, provided piano and vocal music during worship, including Ingrid Michaelson’s “Keep Breathing” and the Beatles’ “Let It Be.”

When Reyes-Chow asked for words or phrases from the Romans passage that stirred people in worship, attendees lifted up these:

• One noted “be happy with those who are happy.” “I spend a lot of time talking to very serious people who are very anxious right now," this worshiper said. “I find it hard to be happy with people who are happy right now — people who are aware of what’s going on in the world and are fine and even happy.”

• Another selected “defeat evil with good.” “Is that even possible?” this person wondered. “I can’t have vengeance, but is it OK to pray for God’s vengeance? I don’t know.”

• Yet another focused on “leave room for God’s wrath.” This pastor juxtaposed that phrase with leading worship that morning, focusing on the letter white clergy wrote to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that led King to write “Letter From a Birmingham Jail.” “It was extremely uncomfortable to think about what promoted that letter [from the white clergy]” this pastor said, a letter signed by the Moderator of the Synod of the Alabama Presbyterian Church in the United States, a forebear of the PC(USA). “‘Leave room for God’s wrath’ — what is it we are still holding and dealing with as a nation and as a church? There’s this discomfort about what we’re going to face for the sin of racism and all the violence that took place because of it.”

• A seminary student focused on “don’t think that you’re so smart” and “don’t hesitate to be enthusiastic.” “Sometimes we get caught up in our own brains,” this student said, calling King’s statement that “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that” a “paraphrase of Scripture.”

Reyes-Chow asked those in worship to voice their prayer concerns, which included praying for people who are tending to the spirits of other people.

“For the community that’s been built across the technology that can be frustrating but has brought us together in amazing and unimaginable ways, we give you thanks,” he prayed. “Move with us as we struggle with so much, and as we find moments of joy with others, in Creation and in the surprising moments of each day.”

“We’ve got each other, friends,” said the Rev. Dr. Laurie Lyter Bright, PPF’s executive director.