January 22, Epiphany 3A (Psalm 27:1, 4-9;
Matthew 4:12-23)
If God is our salvation and stronghold, why are we just as vulnerable as anyone else?
In June 2020, I was invited to give a virtual conference to youth from the United Methodist Church of Peru. At that time, the COVID pandemic was at its worst, and many people were dying worldwide. Like most of us, those who attended the conference were anxious, sad, afraid, and discouraged. Many of them had lost family members and members of their church community to the virus.
“¿Cómo Podemos evangelizar ahora?” one of the attendees asked me. How can we evangelize now? She went on: “We used to invite people to church, assuring them that if they would come to God and accept God as their savior, God would protect them. However, now no one is protected. We can all die at any time from this virus.”
She was right. This is how many of us learned to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others. Many evangelists present the gospel as an amulet of protection. When that amulet does not work, we are lost. Our faith and trust in God are shaken.
