When you wake a sleeping giant, you can bet something is going to happen! It might be a good something…it might not. Still, you can be sure there will be an impact.
Today as we head towards the celebration of the birth of the Church, I believe we can declare the sleeping giant is up. The sleepy days of letting our churches grow smaller and smaller, our ministries diminish, and our witness become non-existent are finally over. The giant is awake now and the outcome is yet to be seen. Could be great…could be awful. What do those of us who are children of God, growing in grace, trying to be faithful to our great commission to go into the world and share God with others, do in a season like this?
Here is what I know:
We serve a mighty God. That alone should make us sleep better. God is faithful, trustworthy, and is more than capable of handling this day and all of the days that follow. 2,000 years, the Church has been rocked, assaulted, hacked, mislead, used, and abused for the willful desires of the people. Still, today people are still coming to know Jesus and make him Lord of their lives. The Church, the Bridge of Christ might be reformed and reshaped, but it is going to stand because God will make it able.
This season is the season in which we have been called, equipped, and sent to serve. How do I know that? Because it is the season we are in. We cannot waste time looking back wishing for a season we remember, or waiting for a season we imagine might be coming, we have to embrace this season as the one God has uniquely gifted us to shine the light of Jesus for the whole world to see.
We must practice the radical love and unfailing grace we have ourselves received. We must not cave on the foundational tenets of our faith, but we must not be guilty of creating obstacles that prevent others from knowing and loving God. We must stand in the tension between those two places trusting that only God can make that work, and we can trust that God will.
Finally, the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, and is the power of the Church today. The Holy Spirit will lead if we will listen and follow faithfully. We will have to let go of our will and our way, and we may be extremely uncomfortable, but we will be led. Even so,Come Holy Spirit!