We Are His Hands and Voice
Dear First Pres SLO Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of the one who loves us, even at the expense of his own life, Jesus Christ.
Hope seems pretty elusive these days, doesn’t it? We should agree that hope is something different from optimism, something more substantial. Optimism is the belief that things will get better. Hope is the belief that things will be fulfilled.
The news these days doesn’t give us much of either, if we’re honest. So much of what we see and hear threatens to tear down the community, and even the nation we thought we lived in. It is not an overstatement to say that the America we have lived in since the end of the Second World War is changing in dramatic ways. It is not an overstatement to say that the Christian faith that defines our lives is being twisted and abused, so that people are wary of us and far less likely to join us than even just a few years ago.
I don’t have a lot of optimism these days, but I’m filled with hope.
This past Sunday we ordained and installed a new batch of deacons and elders at First Pres. Sundays like these always remind me that God is working in and through us, that the Holy Spirit is active in calling and equipping women and men for deep and meaningful purpose around here.
I’m reminded right now of why I love the idea of the local church so much.
In troubled times we might look around and say to God: “Show yourself! Quit hiding! Why aren’t you here to help us?”
And then I remember…
The other name for the church is the Body of Christ. We say it so often that maybe it’s lost some of its radical meaning.
We are the Body of Christ.
We are the presence of the Savior.
We are the physical hands and voice of Jesus.
That’s why I think so much about what it means to be the church. We’re in our annual series on who we’re called to be and what we’re called to as followers of Jesus in this life. The sentence I use will be familiar to you now.
A healthy church is built on a foundation of Jesus Christ, and expressed through Fellowship, Worship, Discipleship and Mission.
In other words, we were made to connect with each other, to praise God, to grow into the likeness of Christ, and to extend Christ's love to the whole world. And the whole point of that is to reflect who Jesus really is to the very people he came to love and heal and redeem. That’s who we are. That’s what we’re called to do.
Even as I type those words I can feel my heart lighten a little. I can feel, even just a little, energized and hopeful about the task ahead. I get to serve this unique, gifted, dynamic group of people as we grow into our identity as the Body of Christ in this neighborhood.
That’s not just optimism. It’s the hope that comes from seeing God’s promises fulfilled over and over again, trusting that new promises will be fulfilled in his timing.
It takes faith. It takes trust. It takes the capacity to love each other and even our enemies in these hard times. But it’s what we’re for—it’s who we were made to be.
This Sunday we’ll talk about Discipleship, how we become more like Jesus.
Until then, blessings to you and yours,
Pastor John