03-25-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 25, 2025
Sunday was interesting! The sermon in which I conversed with my “Inner-Me” was something the Lenten planning team had discussed (in theory), but I was not absolutely sure what it would look like. At the Traditional Service, it felt as if my Inner-Me was 2 seconds ahead of where I thought it should be. Contemporary went a little better. Feel free to offer any critique, but I want to say something I have said before: Thank you! Thanks for letting me try something without fear, for even if something goes south, I feel as if the congregation would just shrug and say, “Maybe don’t try that one again.” I think about the early church when everything was new. There was no model, no expected way of doing things, and no one to say, “We’ve never done that!” It only took about twenty years and everyone had an opinion, and the Apostle Paul was attempting to navigate this new movement that was moving faster than anyone could control. Sadly, once it became the official religion of the Roman Empire, then there was a great deal of control and only one way of doing everything. In the sixth century, I can imagine a small-town priest who used a puppet to do a conversation with his Inner-Me and was jailed and later executed because it didn’t go well. So for all the times things have not gone as well as I would have liked, I appreciate a church that did not choose execution. There is a bit more freedom to try and fail and try again when death is not on the line.

When grace and mercy come alive in those less-than-stellar moments of life, I turn to you, Wonderful God, and offer my gratitude. You are the source and perfect reminder of what it means to live in a spirit of joy and abundance where fear is not dictating what is right. Amen.