Luke 24:13-45, from the Walk to Emmaus story: "Then beginning with Moses, and all the prophets, he [Jesus] interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures." (v. 27, NRSV)
Struck by the poignant, concise and impactful recording from the Podcast of our moderator, Stephanie's message around 'change', I just had to re-read the Luke text she derived it from a couple extra times. Far too many times, I have glossed over the idea that, that well-known scripture was then realized. Meaning, that our resurrected Lord re-encountered several people in the flesh, and pointed out that numerous prophetic facts written years earlier were coming to fruition. Change, that was sought for generations of struggling Judaic, God-following people could potentially be lifted out of the muck and mire of their meager survival!
I happen to be one who believes that when an organization encounters significant change, an intentional resetprocess be entered by all affected. One where the recent past is reviewed, cob-webs can be rooted-out, all can be heard, strengths assessed, the chaff blown into the wind and a desired direction for the foreseeable future can be collectively decided on because [it] is for the greater good. In the case of a faith-based "dot org" like us, a review of: why we gather, who we are, what we stand for relative to our common beliefs and how might we propel ourselves into the culture and times to better our communities and world at large.
The world, as the two walking to Emmaus knew it, had changed drastically and they were dumbfounded, perhaps even paralyzed. The sentence (v. 27) mentioned above summarizes what Jesus' explanation may have entailed relative to God sending a Messiah and fulfilling prediction from the Old Testament. The Christ is woven through all scriptures and as many as eight key passages may have been used by Jesus during his walk and brief verbal dissertation. A phenomenal movement ensued from the upheaval thrust upon these earliest Christians. One might say we have a we have a similar set of challenges to embrace Are we: listening? willing to boldly participate based on faith? open for the meaningful changes? New heights and depths are possible to be stretched to (Pauline Kezer, author/poet), despite Covid-19, Pastor departing, or uncharted waters!
His Peace that passes all understanding, Your Deacons