Wonderings--April 27

Not very long ago I was talking to a colleague and friend of mine who is working hard to serve the Lord in the pulpit and church. Tom is a good friend and we catch up every-so-often and share how God is at work in our lives and how we see God at work in the church. 

But during our last Zoom call I learned that Tom's church is beginning to enter into a difficult time in their ministry. 

After exhausting every option that they could uncover, and after strategic plans and meeting were setup, and even after taking all their struggles to God in a deliberate time of prayer and discernment, it was time to end a cherished family program. The administrative board and the pastor did not take this decision lightly--in fact they were greatly grieved by the choice. Some, he said, even wept as they voted to close down this program. 

Together they had done everything as a church to support the program. For decades this tiny church offered their community a meaningful family program that now was unable to be staffed and supported by the community. 

I listened intently to Tom's story. At the end of his time of sharing, I pressed in gently to see how my friend was doing? Smiling, he asked me if I remembered a particular professor of our at Pittsburgh Seminary: Dr. Andrew Purves. 

I smiled back. . . Andrew is an important theological voice in my life, I told him. His books and teaching helped me form a lot of the paradigms of ministry that I still use today here at Bethesda. So, naturally I replied that I knew Andrew and his work. Tom then proceeded to remind me that, as Andrew would say, 'we preach Christ at all times.' 

When we don't know what to say: we preach Christ.

When ministry and faith become harder than we imagined: we preach Christ.

When a cherished program, ministry, or relationship breaks down: we preach Christ.

As our conversation ended I thought about one of my doctoral advisers, the Rev. Dr. Graham Standish, who wrote these words to support Andrew's teaching. How do we preach Christ one might ask??

"We do so by constantly and consistency saying to people. "Look, there's Christ in your midst, and there, and there, and there!" We do it by showing people that even if they are in darkness, they can find Christ's light shining through the love of a family member, the kindness of a friend, a phrase in a book, or the inspiration from a song. We can also preach Christ by reminding people that Christ is in Scripture, in the sacraments, and in all of worship. We preach Christ's presence by pointing to the incarnation of Christ in everything: our sufferings, our joys, our relationships, and our hearts."

Not all of us face these moments as my friend Tom did of ending a ministry and program, but we all know something about transition, and about the pain of change that comes with it. We may not be called by God today to move in a different direction, but we know what it feels like to wonder if God heard a single word we said in our hour of need. 

If you are in that place today, then I wonder how are you preaching Christ in thought, word, and deed? How are you looking at the struggles of this day and responding not in defeat but in love and in faith? 

Blessings

Rev. Derek