Friday is the day our Wesley House mission team heads out to NYC. It's going to be quite the trip as we come face to face with the reality of homelessness and hunger in the city. It's going to challenge us to pray with people we've never met. There's definitely some anxiety brewing these days as we finish up the final details and pack our bags. It's exciting. It's a bit terrifying, I suppose.
I've always loved playing sports. Part of my love is rooted in this same exciting, fearful tension. Getting out on the basketball court was so exciting, but there was always a little bit of fear in the mix too, especially as you looked over to the tallest player on the other team. In volleyball I was pretty much terrified to play in the back row, knowing that I'd have to pass the ball and never being totally sure it would go the way I wanted it to. But it was SO exciting to be in the front row and be able to pound the ball back in the other team's faces. (That doesn't sound too pastoral, does it!) Joy, excitement, and a little bit of fear.
I imagine the early followers of Christ were filled with this same mix of emotions and adrenaline. It must have been quite thrilling and a little scary to journey closely with Jesus, or to be a part of the growing movement of Jesus-followers. Things were certainly tense as the Pharisee's frustrations erupted and tensions grew. But imagine the sheer joy of the paralytic who could walk, the blind man who could see, the sick who were healed!
When we choose to live a life of faith in Christ we too encounter many tensions. In the midst of the most joyous experiences, transforming connections with the Holy Spirit, and sacred moments of worship we are also aware of a world filled with greed, sickness, and death. We cannot escape the tensions, we are called to be faithful in their midst. We are called to take those leaps of faith, to trust in God, to rest on those foundation-experiences of Christ's movement in our lives. We are called out of those comfort zones into the often scary unknown.
I am excited about the experiences we will have in NYC on this mission trip, but I am even more excited to watch as my student's lives are changed because they willingly step out of their comfort zones. I realized today that while I have always found my role as a pastor to be a both challenging and wonderful, this gig as a Wesley directly definitely has been the most challenging "job" I've ever had. At the same time however, the challenges of the job come alongside the greatest movement of the Spirit I've ever experienced. God's really working in these young lives and it's pretty darn amazing.
How are you being challenged to step out of your comfort zones? Where is God calling you to take a leap of faith? How might the unknown actually offer a time of strength and excitement?
Let's take the leap.....
No comments:
Post a Comment