My polling place at Union Elementary in West Chester was buzzing on election day. There wasn’t a line out the door or around the building, but the turnout was strong. During my brief fifteen minutes on campus, I saw a steady stream of people flowing into the building and many voters paused to greet neighbors and connect with friends. I even bumped into someone from Lord of Life. There was an energy and enthusiasm around election day and making a difference.
Later that night, as polls closed in Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio, it was fun to watch the results be announced. A vote cast earlier in the day made an immediate impact! As I write, there are still some elections that are unresolved because the tallied votes are too close to call. Every vote matters.
We don’t always get instant results in the same way. If you were in worship, last Sunday, you may have seen the little skit about the autumn leaves raked up in our yards and then dumped on the community garden. Later this fall, those will be tilled into the soil and will provide essential nutrients for garden vegetables in the future. The future!
A big part of what happens at Lord of Life is future-focused. We gather for worship and hear the promises of Jesus that not only impact our current situation, but also create a trajectory for where we are headed in the months and years ahead. Sometimes, we don’t see any immediate results. Reconciliation takes time. Forgiveness is a process. Generosity takes a lifetime to cultivate. Loving your neighbor as yourself can be long and tedious work, especially if you don’t much care for your neighbor and have difficulty seeing the value and beauty in yourself.
Ministry outcomes can be slow, too. You might faithfully have your dollars pulled from your bank account or place them in the offering plate, but might not see any immediate return, since they help pay for the copier, snow removal, coffee supplies, insurance, youth retreats, as well as staffing and worship supplies. You might volunteer and serve at the Hands Against Hunger meal packing event, this weekend, but there is a good chance that you’ll never be in touch with the household where your bag of food lands and nourishes hungry tummies. You might sit on the floor and read a book to a child in the fellowship hall during a learning moment, but won’t see that seed of faith sprout in that young heart and mind for years. You might prepare food for a funeral luncheon without ever having an awareness of the solace it will provide for the tough days of grief ahead.
Beyond our view and understanding, God promises that growth is happening! The apostle Paul writes, “I pray that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love” (Ephesians 3:17). Our roots plunging deep and holding firm as God helps us grow in faith. Our trunk strengthening and pushing upward as God urges us forward in hope. Rooted and grounded in God, our lives branch out as the love of Christ grows through us and extends to the world. We are growing in God!
Thank you for being part of what God is doing in and through us! Plan now to be part of Consecration Sunday, this weekend, November 11. We’ll say “Thank You” to God for all that we have, elect some new leadership, and vote on our mission spending plan for 2019. Nominee and mission spending plan information is available in the gathering space and via the links in this post.
Growing with you,
Pastor Lowell