Clothed with Power

“Wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.” – Luke 24:49 (WEB)

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is much in the news right now. From grocery clerks to medical staff, bus drivers to nursing home aides, essential workers need protective clothing, goggles, and other gear to ward off the coronavirus and stay safe. The rest of us also need masks and gloves, not just for our protection, but to protect others from ourselves.

In Luke’s final resurrection story, the risen Christ reminds his disciples of their need for another kind of PPE, too. “Wait in Jerusalem,” he tells them, “until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Like the disciples, we need to be clothed with God’s power, especially in this time. Whether we’re on the front lines in a hospital ICU, stocking groceries at a supermarket, or sheltering in place in our apartments or homes, we need to be clothed with the power of God’s love that overcomes despair. Clothed with the power of God’s peace that calms our anxious spirits. Clothed with the power of God’s compassion to stay open to the needs of others. Clothed with the power of God’s wisdom to know what we must do, and clothed with the power of God’s courage to do it. Most of all, we need to be clothed with the power of God’s presence that holds us, comforts us, connects us even in isolation and quarantine.

We need God’s PPE right now. Whether at home in our pajamas or clad in scrubs, masks, and gloves, we need to let God wrap us in power and hope, love and wisdom this day. Every day.

Prayer
God, remind us to pray every morning for you to clothe us all with your power, wisdom, and love. Amen.

ddtalithaarnold2013.jpgAbout the Author
Talitha Arnold is Senior Minister of the United Church of Santa Fe (UCC), Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is the author of Mark Part 1 and Mark Part 2 of the Listen Up! Bible Study series and Worship for Vital Congregations.