Sermon Reflections

I took the weekend off from blogging because my in-laws were in town, and we had a really nice weekend with them, including dinner at Sopapilla's and everyone at church on Sunday morning (this is quite a big deal for my father-in-law).

On Sunday, I preached about the paralyzed man in John 5 who spent 38 years waiting to get into the pool by the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem so that he might be healed. I talked about how his paralysis - his inability to move forward - was not just about his physical ailment but also about his mental and spiritual state. He was stuck because he placed boundaries and borders around God and God's activity, thinking that he could only be healed if he was able to get into the water. Then Jesus shows up and rocks his world!

I invited the congregation to think about the boxes that we put God in and reflect, during this season of Lent, on how we need to open ourselves up to different ways of thinking and new ways of doing things. I have been pondering all of this for myself as well, and here is where I am today. One of the boxes that I have is what it means to be a pastor; more specifically, what I do day in and day out as a pastor. I've realized that I am very comfortable at the church, where I can write sermons, prepare Bible studies, make phone calls, send e-mails, organize events, and the like. I enjoy all of these and do them well. But being a pastor (and in the end, being a disciple) isn't about staying inside the box that is the church building. It's about moving beyond the box to share God's love with those who aren't part of the church.

To be honest, much of what that looks like is uncomfortable and unknown to me. I have been part of the church my entire life, surrounded by a community of love and forgiveness. The last period of my life where I spent real, quality time with people who weren't Christians was in college. I am sure I interact with people who aren't Christians all the time...at the grocery store, at a restaurant, walking in the neighborhood...but I don't think I have a meaningful relationship with anyone who is not a Christian. Isn't that sad? And really, I'm not even sure how to go about making that happen.

As a pastor, it seems like one of the things I should be doing is cultivating relationships outside the church with at least part of the motivation being to invite my friends into a life-giving relationship with Jesus Christ. That's certainly what I encourage church members to do, but I don't do it myself. Part of it is simply a by-product of professional clergy - we don't have co-workers who aren't part of the church. Part of it is my natural tendency to be more introverted than extroverted. But part of it is a lack of openness to an expanded vision of what it means to be a pastor, and that's where I can change.

So, my hope is that God might give me a little push to get beyond this stuck point in my own life, and my prayer is that God will do the same for you!