Are we there yet?
I wonder if the original disciples ever bothered Jesus with that question as they traveled around the countryside. His present-day disciples spend a lot of time bothering with that question—a recent poll reports that about 1/5thof all Americans figure we’ve reached our destination and that the world will end in their lifetimes. But you don’t have to be obsessed with the apocalypse to be impatient. The Bible may encourage us to “wait for the Lord,” but that’s not much fun, no matter how holy it sounds. Maybe it’s because everything is so fast now, but the long haul doesn’t have a lot of appeal. So I don’t think I’m the only one whose prayers are about results. I may not be preaching for an altar call and counting up the souls I’ve saved, but I still want to know now—is any of this working?
But that’s not how the Gospel works. No matter how you understand the Bible, it presents the story of a God taking centuries and many generations to work out his purpose. Through those centuries things do change until one day, in the fullness of time, the waiting ends, the predictions are met and the Messiah appears. Then, with the end of Jesus’ ministry and the coming of the Spirit, a new chapter begins. The writing of that chapter has taken its own slow centuries. We forget about the work of those who came before us, but Christian history is full of examples of people who spent their entire lives working for a cause without seeing success—William Wilberforce, for example, who spent 45 years in the English Parliament fighting to end slavery in the British Empire. On what grounds should we expect that God will bless us of all people with instant results?
Time for a change. In the last week, one word keeps coming up in my prayer: Patience.
As the Sunday School students could tell you, patience is one of the Fruits of the Spirit. That means it is a good thing. Knowing that we are part of a salvation story that stretches back for centuries, patience should be a no-brainer. Living by faith means that we trust God to work things out—everything from the coming of the Kingdom to the answering of prayer—in his time, not ours. It’s one more way of recognizing that the Gospel isn’t all about us, which frees us to worship the One at the center.
Patience, of course, requires practice. It may be a gift from the Spirit, but such a gift only comes through use—otherwise how would you know you had it?
Trinity’s blessings are all about living this life of faith, not about results. Patience belongs here. But we should know that patience isn’t the same thing as doing nothing, so even as we try to trust, we should be seeing the Spirit’s presence making a difference in the way things are.
So I figured I’d give it a try—if we haven’t reached our destination, then where are we? Let’s see….
God’s Good News IS Good News
• Faith is a journey, not a line to be crossed, and we welcome you at any point in
your journey.
• The saving work of Christ is for all people – whether within our walls or without.
Since success for us isn’t found in counting up the number of souls saved, maybe we can focus on other signs of faithfulness. Change would be one sign of growth, but not just any change. What demonstrates that this change is grounded in the Good News is the response. Do we cling stubbornly to what was—we’ve always done it this way—or do we accept new styles and ideas? The Spirit gives us the freedom to try.
.
Welcome
• Trinity is a place for people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations,
abilities, political beliefs, and marital/family status.
• We foster community by spending time, eating, worshiping, and working together.
My welcome to Trinity was a little different from most since I met Trinity members for the first time in a job interview. Many of those interviewers are no longer with us, which brings me to an insight about our welcoming practices: Those now offering welcome were once guests here. Our welcome speaks of grace when we are able to get past the polite warmth of a first meeting and into the companionship of belonging—where guests become friends.
Wisdom
• The gifts, insights, and interests of our individual members constitute our
community’s authority, trusting that “Where two or three are gathered…”, the
Spirit of Christ is present with us.
• The stability of our Anglican tradition informs and inspires us.
Wisdom at Trinity is all about receiving the contributions of all. Just to take our music programs as examples—we can see how many different voices and talents, adults and children, lead worship. It’s not just worship, of course—from new vestrymembers to breakfast cooks—gifts offered in service are a sign of wisdom in the community. When people can try something new or change their opinions because of the Gospel, we know the Spirit is working here.
All Is Done to God’s Glory
• Our thoughtful words and actions are what make God’s goodness more real in
our families and communities.
• We choose gratitude as a way of life, recognizing that all good gifts come from
God.
• We freely offer our effort and our work enthusiastically, unselfconsciously, and
fearlessly for the sake of God and others. We welcome loud mistakes!
God’s glory is all about the risks we take in faith. But risks aren’t all about being a daredevil. They don’t always even look like risks.
St. Francis once said that if you focus on doing what is possible, you will soon find yourself doing the impossible. If we focus on the work that needs to be done instead of the obstacles and excuses, St. Francis’ advice makes sense. Be faithful. Do what has be done, no matter how ill-equipped and unready you think you are, because it needs doing, and the impossible becomes possible.
Has the impossible become possible at Trinity? If so, we’re not there yet, but we’re on the way, and that brings us back to the Good News of the journey. The signs are there, almost unnoticed, but we are on the way.
Patience. We’ll get there in God’s time. Can’t you see that we are on the way?