Pastor's Oen - February 2009

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

Much has been written and said about the uncertain times in which we are living. Each day seems to bring some new piece of information that suggests that things will yet get worse before they get better. Often such news begets the very thing of which it speaks as people are enveloped in fear and anxiety about the future.

 

The reality is that all of life is uncertain. The problem arises when we begin to think that our security ultimately rests in the Dow Jones average, in the size of a retirement account, or in the status of our health, or the kind of vehicle we drive, etc. These are all temporal things that by nature are fragile and open to drastic and disruptive change.

 

As children of God, we are invited to rest securely in the promise that God has made in the Savior, Jesus the Christ. We must remember that God never said that we would not face times of trial and difficulty of varying degrees in our lives in this world. What God did say was that we would never be overcome by the things of this world as long as we rested securely in God.  We of all people should be people of hope in what appear to be very dark and challenging days. We know that our security and future are firmly rooted in the love of God reveled in Jesus.

 

The season of Sundays after the Epiphany continues to be a season of realizing the ways in which God reveals God's self to us and to the world. The light continues to shine for us and around us. It continues to illumine our journey of faith and we can face each day in trust and hope.

 

The season of Lent will give us the opportunity to reflect in much disciplined ways upon God's bounty and graciousness and to discern the paths to which we are called in these days as bearers of that redeeming word for the sake of the world. Lent is a season to exercise the gifts that have been showered upon us that we might be strengthened as God's people in God's promise for faithful witness and service. During the coming season of Lent use the opportunities for worship and service that present themselves, if not for your own sake then for the sake of others whose lives may be changed because you allowed your faith to lead and guide you.

 

All of life is a tenuous journey through light and dark, joys and sorrows. But by God's grace it is a journey lived in the promise of God's loving hand.