Reconnect: Creating Community Centered in Christ and Rooted in Love WEEK SEVEN

Date
October 29, 2021
Author
Lynette Lawson
Category
Weekly Reflection

October 21, 2021
As we come to the end of another period of COVID-induced exile, we’re considering what we have learned from God about the kind of community and culture we are called to create and participate in as people of faith. We have an opportunity, as we reconnect with God, one another, and creation, to form communities that offer the world a glimpse of God’s kingdom here and now.

So far, we heard Christ’s call to create communities that include people and perspectives who are usually overlooked or ignored, beginning from an assumption of unity rather than division, and to shape our communities around the cross – giving of ourselves for the life and love of our neighbor, to be great by welcoming children, humbling ourselves, and leading with bold compassion, courageous empathy, and radical love. In order to participate in community like this we must reconsider our priorities, focus on what really matters most – which is participating in God’s mission of love, life, and reconciliation, and we live the way of Jesus who did not come to be served, but to serve all and to give his life away for the life of the world.

These are the lessons we have learned from scripture and from the example of Christ, who gifts us with community, makes us members of one another, and is teacher, example, and guide, as well as Savior and Lord.

In our reconvening and reconnecting at Spirit in the Hills, we are entering into a season of listening – to God, to one another, to those whose voices are not yet part of our congregation. We have begun a strategic planning process that hopes to help us live out our values, discern and articulate God’s call for Spirit in the Hills here and now as we look ahead to the next 3-5 years knowing this is a major pivot in the life of the church and the world.

We are blessed to have partners in this journey of examining our priorities, seeking to better align with God’s mission and seek to serve our neighbor and give ourselves away for the abundant life of the world. Among these partners is the ELCA Innovation Lab, who has selected our congregation as 1 of 50 across the denomination to participate in a program that will expand our imagination, help us tune into God’s word and will and the action of the Holy Spirit at work in the world. Our first session as part of this program takes place November 11-14 and we’ll have much more to share then.

In the meantime, let us continue to look for opportunities to serve and, in a world where we are so often preoccupied with “what’s in it for me?”, “what do I get out of this?”, or seeking our own benefit by association, let us dare to follow Jesus who comes not to be served, not to gain a reward, not to earn his way to the top – but who humbles himself, associates with the outcast, marginalized, and lowly who cannot pay him back with connections or wealth in this life, and instead seek only and always to serve God and neighbor with our very lives.May the God who loves you enough to give his very self to invite you and bring you into eternal life give you the humility and the passion to give your life for your neighbor.
Pastor Drew