For surely I know the
plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm,
to give you a future with hope.
--Jeremiah 29:11
Earlier this week, we had our annual Fall Theological
Conference for Rostered Ministers in the Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod. This year, instead of inviting an outside
speaker to “leaven the conversation” among us, we invited five of our
colleagues to reflect on the future of God’s church from the perspective of
their ministry contexts and experiences.
We heard five excellent and very different presentations that challenged
us to think more deeply about what it means to be the Community of Christ today
and tomorrow. Because the text above was
our theme text for the Conference I have been reflecting on it this week
instead of the usual appointed Gospel lesson for Sunday.
In Jeremiah 29, the prophet writes to the anxious and
uncertain Judean exiles in Babylon because false prophets have been predicting
a short end to their exile. Instead,
Jeremiah tells them to settle into the strange land where they find themselves. But, he also assures them that they are not
without hope and that God has not abandoned them. The future, he tells them, is in God’s hands.
That’s good news in anxious and uncertain times. And we certainly are living in anxious and
uncertain times, aren’t we?
It sure feels that way!
The world around us seems to be in daily upheaval. It’s like trying to dance on marbles. Storms rage and the earth quakes and violence
and terror and hatred shatter city and countryside. Wars and rumors of war cry out at us from the
media every day. People wander as
homeless immigrants and refugees with few to welcome them.
But, here’s the Good News:
the future is not uncertain. As people of faith, we believe and trust that
the future is secure.
As the Psalmist writes:
God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the
mountains shake the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though
the mountains tremble with its tumult. (Psalm 46:1-3)
Or as Paul writes to the Romans:
For I am convinced
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth nor anything else in all
creation, (not even hurricanes or earthquakes or rumors of war) will be able to separate us from the love
of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (8:38-39)
Or as Jesus says, And remember, I will be with you always, to
the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)
That’s the hope we live in as we move into the future that
God is, even now, preparing for us. The
signs of that hope are all around us as people of faith and all those of good
will respond with compassion and care and generosity for the victims of
disasters -- both natural and unnatural -- just as we always have.
Peace,
Bishop Mike
Please pray for peace, and for all those suffering to
recover from the storms of water, wind and fire, the shaking earth and the
trauma of terror, war and violence that shatters lives all around the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment