LUTHERAN CHURCH
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On Sunday, April 15th, I went home following
the 5:00pm service and turned on ESPN to watch “my”
San Diego Padres play the Los Angeles Dodgers in a
baseball game commemorating Jackie Robinson. Jackie
Robinson was the African-American ball player who broke
the color barrier of our national past time.
As I watched the game and highlights of
Jackie’s day, several things occurred to me. One, I realized I was tired. I really haven’t had much down time since November.
In my state of tiredness, I preached a sermon out
of frustration (frustration is an expression of anger,)
and that as a pastor, the responsibility of preaching
the good news can not be expressed in any form of anger,
even if it is frustration.
I do find comfort in knowing that God’s
frustration with humanity is found in scripture. [I
performed a search of the phrase, “Lord’s anger”
which appears quite often in OT books (NIV) such as
Exodus 11:8 or Numbers 11:33 but the phrase does not
appear in any NT book. I find this very interesting!]
But this comfort is fleeting. The other realization that moved me was stimulated by the commemoration of Jackie Robinson. I have a great respect for this man. I admire his tenacity, his nature, his character and what he did in order to bring our society to a new vision of being civil. I deeply appreciate what he endured on our behalf. I watched how he played the game and he played it well. And as much as I admire and respect who he is and what he did, I realize that not a single ball player plays the game in the manner in which it was played in the 1950’s. The game has changed in many ways and yet … it is still baseball. The same can and should be said about church. Being church should not and is not lived in the same ways as in the 1950’s. Too much has changed in the way life is lived to live as a church of even twenty years ago. This doesn’t mean there is no respect, no reverence, no appreciation or no admiration for the way church was done and has been done because there is a great deal that can not and will not change. But it is to say that we are not bound to our commemorations and memories of being church. Church is not something to be lived in the past because church is not shaped and formed primarily by the past, but continues to be formed and shaped by a Living, Risen God who still leads, empowers and sanctifies the church through His Spirit. This Spirit does not rest. This Spirit uses the past to enhance the present as we move to the future together. This Spirit is always bringing about newness and transformation to the church. As we read scripture and witness church, we see that this is what the Spirit does! This Spirit does this because the Spirit cares for all people past, present and future. As we approach Pentecost, let’s not live like we are afraid of the Holy Spirit, but embrace the movement of the newness that awaits us in the Holy Spirit. In
the living hope of our Risen Lord |
