Across the Pastor’s Desk by Eileen Woyen

 

A few years ago, I found the following quote in an advertising magazine in an ad for an institution of higher learning:

“Inert objects — and people — lose their charm pretty quickly. It’s difficult to be inspired by something that never changes. So get moving. Never stand still. Gain momentum. Feel free to start small — once you begin, it will be easy to keep going.”

What does this mean to you? Maybe you have it all figured out. Or maybe anxiety and comfortable boundaries keep you from reaching your full potential.

Are we inert — not moving? Or are we allowing the power of the Holy Spirit through the good news of Jesus Christ to propel us into the future? I don’t know the answer; and each of us would answer the question differently based on our own situation and feelings.

Being inert can be very comfortable. It can calm us when everything else around us is in chaos. And it is OK to be inert every once in a while. Inertia can heal. Inertia can help us find balance in our lives. However, inertia does not excite. It does not awe. It does not give us momentum to move into the future.

Right now, it may seem like we’re in a time of transition. We are in a time of change. The leaves have died, fallen and been raked away. We’ve experienced our first snowfall. The days are getting shorter and shorter.

Some might say we are even in a time of chaos in our community, in our families, in our nation, but God has made wonderful things out of chaos. God created the world from chaos. God gave the Israelites the “land of milk and honey” after being in a situation of chaos. God showed his greatest love in God’s biggest moment of chaos. In the chaos of the cross, God gave us the resurrection and new life. God gives us forgiveness, grace, love and awe.

What is keeping us from reaching our full potential? What can give us momentum to propel us into the future? How can the Holy Spirit help us share the good news of Jesus Christ? These are questions we must answer individually and together.

The Bible gives us a rallying cry very similar from our original quote:

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” Matthew 28:18-20.

Let us not be inert. Let us share Jesus Christ!

Eileen Woyen is a pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church.