Day 189: If Bones Could Speak

 DAY 189

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic    

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-seven    Saturday 19 September 2020

If Bones Could Speak

Standing in the pulpit I was overcome by a sense of awe and reverence. This sanctuary was the same as when it was built in 1756 by George Whitfield (1714-1770), English Calvinist Methodist evangelist in the American colonies during the First Great Awakening of 1730-1750, who preached more than 18,000 times and to crowds often of 10,000 or more. The Old South Presbyterian Meeting House in Newburyport, Massachusetts where I was preaching seated 500 with perfect acoustics. As my hands rested on the same wooden pulpit Whitefield regularly touched, I was aware that directly beneath me in a crypt were his bones. Touching his pulpit, his bones beneath me, I prayed a fervent prayer for the same zeal and passion for the Gospel that consumed Whitfield.   

In 2 Kings 13:21 we read the story of a man whose dead body was thrown into the tomb of the prophet Elisha: “When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.”  Would that such physical contact with the remains of the godly dead would bring such an infusion of life, but alas what worked in 2 Kings didn’t work for me. What did work however is that “….he still speaks, even though he is dead.” (Hebrews 11:4). Knowing who he was and knowing a bit about how God used him ‘spoke’ to my life that day as I stood in that pulpit creating a hunger for more of the same zeal in my life and ministry that he had in his.   

In this time of a global pandemic a person with COVID-19 – indeed, a person with any need for hospitalization – once admitted cannot receive any visitors – no touching, no ‘transferring’ of affection or attributes. Yet those we know who die still speak, their legacy of the contents and dynamics of relationships still speaking to those who remain. While we cannot receive things from those who have died, we can learn from them, seek to be like them in their best characteristics, and know that who they were we in our own way can become as well. “Follow me as I follow Christ,” said the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1, a bold invitation reflecting his understanding of how one life influences another.

Reflective question: Whose life witnesses to faith in a way that you would like to emulate?

Reflective Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:12 – “…set an example for the believers…”

Reflective hymn:

“More About Jesus” – Eliza Hewitt (1851-1920)

More about Jesus would I know, more of His grace to others show;

More of His saving fullness see, more of His love who died for me.

More, more about Jesus; more, more about Jesus;

More of His saving fullness see, more of His love who died for me.