For the past few weeks I have been playing with ideas about how to encompass what we should be about as a church. Part of that has been driven by my desire to develop a theme around which we can actively reach out to our community as we begin the process of connecting with those of our neighbors who are not worshipping with us on Sunday mornings. Part of this has been the inspiration I felt coming out of Annual Conference as we were challenged to go back to our churches and our communities thinking about the people, issues, needs, and missions that are “somewhere out there,” just waiting to become part of the life of our church in such a way that we can make a difference for God in our world. Part of that has been influenced by my intensive reading of the theology and life of John Wesley as I get ready for school in January. And part of it has been fueled by my reading of the letter of James as I have begun to get ready for the next month of worship by reading ahead in the lectionary. It is no wonder that while some consider James’ letter as dangerously overemphasizing the role of works over faith in our Christian life, Wesley saw this letter as central to Christian faith and life.
Too often, we use our faith as an excuse to withdraw into ourselves and focus on that personal relationship with Jesus Christ that defines our life as Christians; or into the community of faith with which we identify. All of this is done with an emphasis on the personal salvation that we seek in order to ensure that “when the roll is called up yonder we’ll be there.” But Jesus himself put us on a different path when he commissioned his disciples to get out of the upper room, to baptize in his name, and make disciples throughout the world. He called us not just to a ministry of contemplation, but one of action – a ministry of doing, as well as hearing. He asks us to use our faith to reach out to the world and share that faith. James’ letter calls us to faith and worship which are active in the world.
I have been toying with the notion of reaching up, reaching out, and reaching in as a way of symbolizing this totality of the Christian life. Reaching by itself denotes action and effort. The reaching up is our constant desire to connect with God, which is shown in our praise and prayer, and in our need to continually study the Word. The reaching in is our desire to connect with the family of faith, to nurture one another, and grow as the body of Christ. The reaching out is the desire to share to share our faith with others and to teach, heal, and serve as Jesus did during his life of ministry. All of these are manifestations of our worship, our expressions of praise and thanksgiving to God. We can’t really do one without the other. I invite you to think of the ways that we, as Christians in Holt Summit, can reach up, reach out, and reach in.
Yours in Christ, Pastor Dave
