A Note from Pastor Bill

Dear St. Luke’s Saints:

I writing this from Sanibel Island, where our family has been vacationing for four generations. But this year it has been raining every day, and in fact today it never even let up for a minute of sunshine. As a result, instead of beach walking, I have been book walking for my devotional time. I am on my third one now, Leonard Sweet’s anthology about the challenge of being the church in these times of unprecedented cultural change. It is titled, The Church of the Perfect Storm.

One of the contributors, Stephan Joubert, Professor of Theology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, wrote a chapter called, “In Sync with Jesus and the First Perfect Stormers.” I had been reading with our Ephesians topic for Sunday in mind, and this section of Joubert’s chapter struck me as particularly appropriate. He is writing about how Jesus defined a new map of reality: the Kingdom of God.

Jesus did not accept the religious elite’s map of reality because it did not demand a change of heart (repentance). Their map reinforced nationalistic and patriarchal ideologies at the expense of non-Israelites, women, outcasts, the impure, children, and so on. Their map of reality left many out in the deep to drown and created religious safe harbors for the privileged few. Jesus proclaimed a new map of reality--the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God, the unwelcome were welcomed, the first became last and the last became first; the greatest became the least and the least became the greatest.

He also writes:

Jesus’ life and death created a new storm strategy for his followers--a highly dangerous but adventurous new way to walk on story seas. When Jesus entered our stormy world, he sacrificed his divine honor. He became a slave in order to save the slaves. He associated with the lowest of the low. He emptied himself. And as a slave, he carried the sins of the world on his shoulders. Those who follow Jesus into the storm--his fellow storm chasers--must be willing to do the same.

This week in Ephesians, we read this: “Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2) The theme for Sunday is “Who in the World?” Who in the world are we meant to be, anyway? The answer is clear: we are meant to be imitators of Jesus. The challenge is finding the courage and commitment to be so.

Read again Chapters 4 and 5 of Ephesians and join us this Sunday for worship. And find a few good books yourself for those rainy days inside this summer.

With faith, hope, and love,
Bill