I have a lot of big ideas about Abiding Love. I know you do, too. It’s kind of automatic. You look around at this community, the people, the resources, the talents and gifts and energy God has gathered together in this place and it’s like, “There’s nothing we can’t do.” There are so many ways we can invite people to grow deeper spiritually in discipleship and service, together. There are so many ways we can reach out to the surrounding community and the wider world, sharing God’s love as we work for the well-being of people, especially the most needful among us.
God has blessed this community
That’s not grand talk; that’s precisely what is happening. And it’s extraordinary because it’s not characteristic of a lot of churches to think of themselves in these terms, even Lutheran churches, and even some of our neighbors. It is certainly no cause for boasting. Rather, it underscores a sacred responsibility. “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48) Every blessing from God is a trust, invested in us SO THAT it might be shared with the world.
So where do we go next? What’s the next “big idea” for Abiding Love as a new chapter in our shared life is even now beginning? It is the place of discernment we are in right now as an ecclesia, the church, the “called ones” of God. This is a season for prayer and reflection. It’s a time for dreaming and possibility thinking. We pray, like the psalmist, “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands.” It is at once a prayer for God’s goodness and grace to guide our life of work and worship, as well as a prayer for that work to bear fruit in the world. We want to be about what God is about; not for God to bless what we are doing, but for us to do what God is blessing!
In her book, The Future Starts Now, Kelly Fryer shares a very simple maxim as a guide to congregations in mission: “Be who you are, see what you have, and do what matters to God.” Simple, yet profound. Simple, but not easy. Let’s pray and dream together. Let’s look honestly and authentically at who we are as a unique expression of God’s grace here at Abiding Love. Let’s look at the amazing confluence of blessings and gifts that are gathered here. And then let’s look at how we join God in transforming work that is already in progress, simply awaiting our heads and hearts and hands to make the dream come true.
- Pastor Brad Highum
