"Brave New Love"
“The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning, it’s time to sing Your praise again! Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes.” These lyrics from the popular worship song, “Ten Thousand Reasons” invite us to imagine the day ahead. What does God have planned for you today? How will you respond to the opportunities that He presents to you?
For many people, those questions are simply not asked. It does not occur to them to wonder “what does God have in store for me today?” Whether out of ignorance, or apathy, or both, a large number of people in our world are just not thinking about God.
I run into people like this all the time. One time I was talking to a guy about the fact that I lived in the parsonage attached to Grace Lutheran, and that other pastors of the church had lived there too, and his response was, “Hmmm. Creepy!” Then a little while later in the day, (we were volunteering together knocking on doors and representing the Oliver Community League) when I made some reference to my work as a pastor, he put two and two together, and asked, “Wait, are YOU the pastor there? That’s why you live in the parsonage!?” I laughed and told him I was. He told me he felt awkward about saying it was creepy. I told him not to worry about it, and that all of us have our creepiness sometimes! He laughed too. It was fun! And maybe our conversation changed the way he thinks about pastors a tiny bit. (Although it is also possible that he thinks they are creepier than ever!)
The reason I share this story is because it reminds me that the calling for all Jesus’ disciples is to “go and make disciples of all nations.” But if we’re afraid of what they will think, or even what they might do to us, then we might not go. And that would mean “the nations” might miss an opportunity to meet Jesus. But also (and even more tragic I think) we might miss an opportunity to be Jesus to the people in our neighbourhood.
“The nations” in our part of the world are not coming to church much anymore. They are not asking us about God. They might not even care about that stuff … yet. But they probably do care about other things. And when you take the time to get to know them, they’re not bad people. Mostly what they need (in my humble opinion) is someone to show love and interest in their lives, and to take time to talk.
I often hear Christians lamenting the way things are changing in our society, whether it’s one thing or another. It’s easy to long for “the good old days” when people came to church and we didn’t have to think about things like viral videos, genetic engineering, or how to show love to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgendered and all the other different kinds of people there might be in our community. I guess it’s natural to wish things were easier!
It seems to me that there is another possible response, though … to keep on loving. For my part, I’m trying to cultivate a Brave New Love that sees not just challenges and barriers and setbacks but a whole world of new opportunities. I dive in (at least on good days) and bring the life of Jesus into the conversation. Instead of being worried, I choose to be excited. Instead of worrying what people think of me, I try my best to get to know them.
I believe Jesus will continue to take care of us and give us words to say, no matter what happens in the society around us. After all, it's His world! So I will pray for courage and faith to engage with our neighbours and speak the truth in love when given the opportunity. I pray that His Brave New Love would fill you too, for your sake, and for the sake of those to whom He sends you. Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before us, let us be singing when the evening comes.
In His Service,
Pastor Curtis
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I know live I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20
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