March, 2008
Posted by Administrator (holytrin) on Mar 26 2008 at 2:47 PM
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I don’t know if this happens to everyone or if it’s just a weirdness about me, but there are certain ideas that squirm their way into the back of my mind, and I find myself pondering them and wrestling with them for days, weeks, even months at a time.  Sometimes they’re images, sometimes they’re phrases, sometimes they’re challenges, sometimes they’re just trivial little nothings that root themselves into my brain matter and I can’t seem to get rid of them.  This Lenten season, as we’re approaching Easter, there are two that seem to have taken root.

The first came up in our Sunday-morning conversations this Lent, as we’ve read and pondered writings by the German Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  We re-read the Beatitudes together, especially the part about “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”  We made the comment that it doesn’t seem the church gets persecuted anymore, just pushed to the cultural margin.  Instead of anger, we get apathy.

I’ve become convinced that one of our challenges as the Church in this new century is that most of the people “out there” who don’t follow Jesus, think they know all about him.  I can confidently say that absolutely everyone in our neighborhood and wider community of South Bend has heard the name of Jesus.  And I would bet that every one of them thinks they know all about him.  But since they don’t follow him, and don’t think they particularly care about him, there is some disconnect here.  Why does Jesus matter to us?  What difference does he make in our lives, that we’re not communicating?  And then the exciting question: how can we communicate beyond the apathy?

The second idea that has wriggled into my head came about as I was studying, preparing for a sermon recently.  I was struck by the idea of challenging ourselves to, at some time this week, consciously look for a moment when we could show someone who Jesus is to us, without mentioning him by name.  Without saying Jesus’ name, or that we are his disciples, how can we show, incontrovertibly and clear as day, who we follow?   What sort of impact can you imagine that moment having on someone standing by, or interacting with us? 

The fact is, knowing Jesus has changed us.  We are different because of who we follow and love with all our hearts.  Since today’s world wants to marginalize the Christian story by viewing it with absolute apathy, one of the exciting challenges for us as a congregation committed to “Make Christ Known” is to think about how we can help others excited about what knowing Jesus might mean in their lives, interested in the change that following Jesus means.  I’m convinced the starting point for this is what Jesus has done in our own lives.  The Gospel still matters, it still makes a difference.  I wonder how God is planning to use us to help spread his good news?

Blessings to you in your ministry to Make Christ Known.

-Pastor Tim