Zion 2020

“It is a fearful thing to make a rent and a hole in Christ’s mystical body because there is a spot in it.” --Samuel Rutherford, Puritan

By the time you have set eyes upon these words, the world will most likely have tipped into the New Year—that time on the calendar when the majority of us resolve to do better in some area of our lives. Personally, there’s something not right with the thought of making a promise to myself that I probably can’t keep, but there is strength in numbers…so I am offering up this New Year’s resolution challenge to you, my Zion Lutheran Church family: Let’s resolve to add “inreach” to our growing list of those things we do best as a place of worship, spiritual growth, fellowship, and Christian love.

I think of the Magi visiting the Newborn King, about their three gifts and how we, too, have three gifts to offer our Savior (on bended knee), not only at Christmas, but throughout the rest of the year: time, talents, and treasure. We consider much of what we give at church to be a form of outreach—we support this mission, that project, this ministry, that program. In fact, I would venture to say that there is no more visible proof of the Holy Spirit at work than Christian altruism, turning one’s gifts outward for the good of God’s family. And just as outreach means turning outward, helping those on the outside (of the church doors), inreach is the opposite. Successful inreach helps families stay intact and helps outreach to flourish.

If I were to try to define inreach, I would say that it is the maintenance of all (not some) members in their Christian growth and their capacity to contribute to the well-being of the family as a whole. No one person is responsible for the successes (or perceived failures) within. But there are those unique individuals that can drive the family’s direction, for better or for worse.

There are times in every family when the relationships become strained. There are times when not everyone agrees with a decision. There are times when not everyone gets along.  There are times, sadly, when the only option seems to be separation. And congregations are families…

I read somewhere recently that healthy congregations are those that are 1) enriched (not imprisoned) by the past, and open to possibility, 2) committed to growth, realizing that growth brings change, and 3) able to face and deal constructively with conflict. In a perfect congregation every gift and every ministry of every member has been identified, developed, and fully employed. The problem is, there ARE no perfect congregations.

Our congregation has seen the face of and in the church change over the past century. But our core remains the same—neither the pastor, nor the Board of Elders, nor the Church Council, nor the Winter Texans is the reason why our doors are open every Sunday. We are a loving church family that God has constructed and every member has a part in His plan. We rejoice as a family, we grieve as a family, we stand strong as a family, and we pray as a family...but we’re not perfect. And we don’t always have to agree.

So, consider my New Year’s resolution challenge. Our inreach ministry needs you!  I’m asking you to resolve to help your family—your congregation—to see the many opportunities God has placed before us, so we may continue to move forward enriched by our past. In God’s Kingdom, the possibilities really are endless!

May the peace of the Lord be with each and every one of you in the coming year!

With much love,

Pastor E.B.

P.S. Trivial Pursuit? answers from Pastor-gram #30 (12/30/19): 

A1 Exegesis is drawing out a text's meaning in accordance with the Biblical author's intended context and meaning; eisegesis is when a reader imposes his/her own interpretation of the text. (Thus exegesis tends to be objective; and eisegesis, highly subjective.)

A2 A hapax legomenon ("a word said only once" in Greek; often abbreviated just to hapax) is a word which appears only once in a language, a single written work, or the entire body of work of a given author. The words "inspiration" and "ladder" appear only in 2 Timothy 3:16 and Genesis 28:12, respectively.

A3 God bestowed the gift of free will upon both angels and humans; this inevitably raises questions about how and when Satan turned against God (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6), or whether angels still can, at some future time, rebel. There is no scriptural indication in either the Old or New Testament that the ability to rebel against God’s authority was “turned off” at any time; the angels who faithfully serve God are referred to in Scripture as “holy angels.” (Incidentally, the phrase "fallen angel" never appears in the Bible.)