Wednesday's Devotion from Epiphany
Luke 11. 11When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; 12for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.” (NRSV)
Devotion: I have to say that it is one of the biggest excuses in the books. Ask someone to do something in a congregation that means saying something, often something original and the response that you get is “Well, uh, uh, what would I say? I wouldn’t know what to say.” Of course not. They are speaking the truth because we Lutheran Christians have gotten fat and lazy. We have never had (except for painful confirmation exams) to put into words what faith means to us. We have never had to verbalize it, let alone share it with someone other than, perhaps, our closest and dearest. We pay pastors to tell us what we believe and why we believe it. So, we politely demur.
Unfortunately (or, perhaps, fortunately) that no longer suffices. Now, more than ever before, the church is at a crossroads. If it hasn’t lost its identity, it is misunderstood. It can no longer depend upon paid professionals telling it and those around it what it believes. Too many of those paid professionals have been tried and found wanting. Too many of them have been found to be the very real human beings that they are.
It is up to you. Stand up, speak up, figure out who God is to you and why it is important to tell someone else. The Holy Spirit will give you the words.
We are a shy lot, O Lord and are not really sure who you are to us and how we might want to share that with others. Open our hearts, let your Spirit come in. Open our mouths and let your words come out. Amen
Devotion: I have to say that it is one of the biggest excuses in the books. Ask someone to do something in a congregation that means saying something, often something original and the response that you get is “Well, uh, uh, what would I say? I wouldn’t know what to say.” Of course not. They are speaking the truth because we Lutheran Christians have gotten fat and lazy. We have never had (except for painful confirmation exams) to put into words what faith means to us. We have never had to verbalize it, let alone share it with someone other than, perhaps, our closest and dearest. We pay pastors to tell us what we believe and why we believe it. So, we politely demur.
Unfortunately (or, perhaps, fortunately) that no longer suffices. Now, more than ever before, the church is at a crossroads. If it hasn’t lost its identity, it is misunderstood. It can no longer depend upon paid professionals telling it and those around it what it believes. Too many of those paid professionals have been tried and found wanting. Too many of them have been found to be the very real human beings that they are.
It is up to you. Stand up, speak up, figure out who God is to you and why it is important to tell someone else. The Holy Spirit will give you the words.
We are a shy lot, O Lord and are not really sure who you are to us and how we might want to share that with others. Open our hearts, let your Spirit come in. Open our mouths and let your words come out. Amen
posted by John | 12:34 AM
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