"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
If you've ever been to a wedding, you've probably heard this passage from Corinthians. Because of that, we usually think of it as applying to the relationship between two people. But Paul was writing to an entire Church community. He is holding up a vision for community for all of us.
I don't think it's an accident that the first thing Paul says about love is that "Love is patient." It is like a wonderful deep breath -- inhale and exhale -- at the beginning of this litany. It's a reminder, even to a first-century church that wasn't texting, tweeting and driving kids to three different baseball practices, of an eternal truth they needed to hear:
We have time.
The past 30 years have probably seen a greater increase in the pace of life than any other similar time in human history. And at least in our culture, that has made we Americans a most impatient people. We want everything right now, be it economic recovery or our order of fries. And so Paul's words speak wonderfully to us.
Love is patient.
We have time.
Yesterday, we restarted our "On The Table" dean's forums that we have had in the past. We're going to be having them monthly on the second Sunday after the 10 am service, (except in September, when Dale Kuhn will be leading us in a conversation about alcohol and family systems) and they are a chance to bring any and every issue or question up and lay it "on the table" for us to wrestle with together.
During yesterday's OTT, we talked about liturgy, outreach, communication and other important things. And I found myself saying these three words over and over again.
We have time.
"We have time" is a statement of faith. It is a statement that God is in control and as long as we are diligent and faithful, all will be well. We can be patient with one another and with ourselves. And we can be incredibly grateful that God is infinitely patient with us!
Someone suggested a liturgical change in how we receive communion ... which prompted several other comments pro and con. Every one of them was worth considering. But what I said was that right now, what we're doing with our liturgy is sticking with what we have and concentrating on carefully defining and organizing our liturgical ministries. We want every person who serves at the altar to know exactly what they are doing and why ... which will free them up to lead worship with love and joy and without anxiety. I have delegated this work to Amy and she is working with our head verger, Shug Goodlow, and others to do this work. (Click here for more information on this)
This is not to say we will never make liturgical changes. But it is to say don't expect any major ones right now. Liturgy is an offering all of us make to God together. And we need to get to a point where we can have conversations across our community about how our liturgy reflects what we believe about God and the life of Christ in this place. About how the "shared, core values" we are discerning right now are expressed in our worship.
We're not there yet. We're not ready or set up to have that conversation. And that's OK. We will get there.
We have time.
We have time is not a dodge. It's not an excuse to do nothing or to drag our feet. Remember -- diligence and faithfulness! But it is saying that we are not going to be driven by anxieties or artificial deadlines. Barring extreme circumstances, we are going to take as much time as it takes to do things well.
We are going to pray through everything. We are going to look for wisdom in scripture. We are going to listen to each other deeply.
There will always be moments of truth. Moments where we have to make a decision right here, right now. And when those moments happen, we will be as faithful as we can. But we will not impose those deadlines on questions that don't require them.
Christ Church congregation has been around almost two centuries. God has seen us through this far and God will lead us home.
In the coming days, I'm going to be posting more to this blog and sharing about some of the conversations that are happening about things like how we will decide what things will be displayed in the nave and the chapel, what is happening with outreach, and other areas of our life. A common theme you will see is that we are taking the time we need to be diligent and faithful.
Why?
Because love is patient.
Because we have time.
What do you think?
If you've ever been to a wedding, you've probably heard this passage from Corinthians. Because of that, we usually think of it as applying to the relationship between two people. But Paul was writing to an entire Church community. He is holding up a vision for community for all of us.
I don't think it's an accident that the first thing Paul says about love is that "Love is patient." It is like a wonderful deep breath -- inhale and exhale -- at the beginning of this litany. It's a reminder, even to a first-century church that wasn't texting, tweeting and driving kids to three different baseball practices, of an eternal truth they needed to hear:
We have time.
The past 30 years have probably seen a greater increase in the pace of life than any other similar time in human history. And at least in our culture, that has made we Americans a most impatient people. We want everything right now, be it economic recovery or our order of fries. And so Paul's words speak wonderfully to us.
Love is patient.
We have time.
Yesterday, we restarted our "On The Table" dean's forums that we have had in the past. We're going to be having them monthly on the second Sunday after the 10 am service, (except in September, when Dale Kuhn will be leading us in a conversation about alcohol and family systems) and they are a chance to bring any and every issue or question up and lay it "on the table" for us to wrestle with together.
During yesterday's OTT, we talked about liturgy, outreach, communication and other important things. And I found myself saying these three words over and over again.
We have time.
"We have time" is a statement of faith. It is a statement that God is in control and as long as we are diligent and faithful, all will be well. We can be patient with one another and with ourselves. And we can be incredibly grateful that God is infinitely patient with us!
Someone suggested a liturgical change in how we receive communion ... which prompted several other comments pro and con. Every one of them was worth considering. But what I said was that right now, what we're doing with our liturgy is sticking with what we have and concentrating on carefully defining and organizing our liturgical ministries. We want every person who serves at the altar to know exactly what they are doing and why ... which will free them up to lead worship with love and joy and without anxiety. I have delegated this work to Amy and she is working with our head verger, Shug Goodlow, and others to do this work. (Click here for more information on this)
This is not to say we will never make liturgical changes. But it is to say don't expect any major ones right now. Liturgy is an offering all of us make to God together. And we need to get to a point where we can have conversations across our community about how our liturgy reflects what we believe about God and the life of Christ in this place. About how the "shared, core values" we are discerning right now are expressed in our worship.
We're not there yet. We're not ready or set up to have that conversation. And that's OK. We will get there.
We have time.
We have time is not a dodge. It's not an excuse to do nothing or to drag our feet. Remember -- diligence and faithfulness! But it is saying that we are not going to be driven by anxieties or artificial deadlines. Barring extreme circumstances, we are going to take as much time as it takes to do things well.
We are going to pray through everything. We are going to look for wisdom in scripture. We are going to listen to each other deeply.
There will always be moments of truth. Moments where we have to make a decision right here, right now. And when those moments happen, we will be as faithful as we can. But we will not impose those deadlines on questions that don't require them.
Christ Church congregation has been around almost two centuries. God has seen us through this far and God will lead us home.
In the coming days, I'm going to be posting more to this blog and sharing about some of the conversations that are happening about things like how we will decide what things will be displayed in the nave and the chapel, what is happening with outreach, and other areas of our life. A common theme you will see is that we are taking the time we need to be diligent and faithful.
Why?
Because love is patient.
Because we have time.
What do you think?
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