It's a new year and time to get back to old routines - like posting some ideas to help me ponder preaching this week. I'm looking forward to a new year tradition - the ordination and installation of new Ruling Elders, Deacons, and Trustee. As their Teaching Elder (notice my careful use of the "new" language for officers in the PC-USA), it has been an honor and privilege to work with them as they prepare for their term of service. As Presbyterians, we do have a remarkable tradition. Our elders and deacons serve alongside clergy with equal authority and responsibility for governing, supporting, praying, dreaming, and seeking God's will and direction for each congregation. Our services of ordination and installation exemplify how seriously we take that tradition - and they are holy moments.
"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock
I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it."
Those are remarkable words spoken by Jesus to Peter - and they are the text for Sunday. As I ponder them, I am drawn to the amazing work of those first disciples who built the Church - and all those churches - in a world that had no idea what they were doing or building. I'm also pondering how similar is the challenge we face today in building the Church.
The Church has been the center of my life basically all my life. It's a part of me. When I hear bigoted remarks spoken in the name of faith or learn of yet another scandal that chips away at the world's perception of the Church, I can easily say, "That's not the Church I know." But what of those who do not know? When those who stand outside the Church and outside faith hear of yet another misguided prediction of the "end of the world," they can't or won't distinguish between us and them. We are all part of that body of belief called "Christian."
So ponder with me:
- How do we proclaim a Gospel of inclusion and justice when too many portray our faith as exclusion and judgment?
- What perceptions of the Church do you encounter in your lives from people who live outside our faith?
- How does the work and witness of the Church move forward into a world that is more and more "not-Christian," and not afraid to say it?
I remember last Sunday with Christi and she quoted Gal 3-26,27,28, we are an inclusive Church and we should remember it and always strive to remain that way, for "we belong to Christ"
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