Helping the Helpers

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.  Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” -James 5:13-16

Who helps the helpers?  As we continue our social distancing and flattening the curve of Covid-19, battle fatigue may be setting in.  For some, this time of isolation is not very different from their normal routine. That is why it is so important for us to reach out to the homebound and isolated persons in our midst, to help them know they are not forgotten.  For others, this has been a dramatic shift in activity, connection, and household management. I don’t know about your family, but attempting to homeschool has not been an easy process for ours. For essential workers, life is very different with added precautions and stress of safety in the workplace.  Particularly for our health care professionals, work has become a battlezone against an unseen foe.

James writes to the new Christian believers that they should remember to pray whenever they are in trouble or sick.  They should sing songs of praise when they are happy. They should confess their sins and struggles to one another and pray for each other for healing, in rejoicing, and for forgiveness.  It speaks to me at this time that God wants to share all the details of our lives. God cares about the small stuff as well as the big problems. God wants us to bring each other to the Lord in prayer in order to share the burdens we carry.

Our current Sermon Series “What the World Needs Now” is based on Matthew 25:31-46, where Jesus teaches his disciples that “whatever you do for the least of these brothers of mine, you do to me”.  How are we caring for the sick? At the moment, we are protecting one another by keeping social distance and participating in online live-stream worship. We are wearing protective masks and washing our hands and surfaces regularly.  We are only going out in public as necessary. These are all important ways to care for the sick and prevent even more people from getting sick. One way we can continue to care for the sick is by praying for our healthcare workers and essential personnel who are required to go to their workplaces rather than working from home.  Another way our church provides for the sick is through our mission partnership with Chaplaincy Health Care.

As we walk through the season of Easter, we will hear from several of our Mission Partners the important ways we are reaching the poor, the hurting, the vulnerable among us.  This week we focus on caring for the sick and hear about the ministries of Chaplaincy Health Care. Our church was one of the founding congregations for the Tri-Cities Chaplaincy and has continued that legacy of support for the many ways they reach the sick and hurting in our community.  Chaplaincy Health Care provides many services including: hospital chaplains, grief groups, Cork’s Place, Hospice support and the Hospice House, home health workers, and much needed counseling services for the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas. If you are interested in volunteering with Chaplaincy Health Care, please contact Pastor Hanna or Mike Talbot, our congregational liaison with Chaplaincy.

Lord, thank you for opportunities to pray.  Help us to bring our cares, our concerns, our requests and our regrets to you.  Help us to lift one another up in prayer. Bless the essential workers of Chaplaincy Health Care and all those working so diligently to provide physical and emotional healing in these difficult times.  May we rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn, knowing that you are the God who brings new life, new hope, and resurrection out of death. Amen.

In Christ,
Pastor Hanna Peterson Shearer