3.31.2004
forward discipleship
A discipleship that moves forward seems radical these days... a few steps here and there can be tolerated, but consistant forward discipleship seems foolish and impulsive in the minds of so many. Why impulsive? Because in discipleship we give up what "rightly belongs to us." Discipleship passes on the secure and stable. Constantly. As I look back on my discipleship journey, I feel as though i've given up so much, but there is more to relinquish...++show me lord.
3.16.2004
Step back and take the long view...
Sometimes I get antsy re:: our journey. Kerri told me to step back and take a look at our journey from God's perspective... it causes me to give up on restlessness and to rest in his guidance.
glad I ran into this in my reading tonight:
The Prayer
of Oscar Romero
It helps now and then to step back and take the
long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is
even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way
of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection, no pastoral visit
brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about:
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they
hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further
development.
We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond
our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something and to do it very
well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step
along the way, an opportunity for
God’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the
worker.
We are workers, not master builders – ministers,
not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.
glad I ran into this in my reading tonight:
The Prayer
of Oscar Romero
It helps now and then to step back and take the
long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is
even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way
of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection, no pastoral visit
brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about:
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they
hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further
development.
We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond
our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something and to do it very
well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step
along the way, an opportunity for
God’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the
worker.
We are workers, not master builders – ministers,
not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)