Being passionate about something isn’t always easy. The stuff of everyday life keeps our attention focused on survival: rest, work, family, and all that comes with maintaining our lives. One of my favorite theologians, Friedrich Buechner, writes, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Deep gladness is hunger, passion, and a drive that motivates us — a ‘burning in the bones’ so deep inside of us that it will reveal itself at some point in our lives.
I wholeheartedly believe this burning, this passion, this drive, is God-given. It looks different for each of us, but it comes from the same place for all believers: it’s part of a passionate pursuit of Jesus. This pursuit of Jesus is more significant than the passion we feel for our job or family, and it ought to be the over-arching pursuit of our lives. Any other passion we have must fall under this arch. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:2-3) God has pursued each one of us, and we have experienced the love of Jesus so profoundly that we testify to and proclaim this fact. This is not easy to do in a world that often feels hostile to the Church.
Yet a passionate pursuit of Jesus calls us to be a people of proclamation for what He has done in our lives. One reason the world feels hostile to the Church is the assumption it’s an organization that wants something from people. But what if we could communicate an invitation to people that the Church isn’t looking to get something from them but has something for them? 1 John 1:3 actually speaks directly to this: “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” There are around 7,000 people in Thomaston. I know of about eight churches that meet and most of them consist of less than 50 people. When you do that math, that’s a lot of people who aren’t attending church. Thousands, even. Many don’t realize they need Jesus. We no longer live in a world where church is a forgone conclusion, so we must open our eyes to the opportunities around us. We also must be a church willing to be intentional. . . to welcome, to reach out, invite, and care for the people in the community around us. But the overarching passion behind this should be the invitation that Jesus and the Church has for people, for each one to have fellowship with God and his people.
In Christ, Pastor Stephanie
Note: Pastor Stephanie will be in Chicago for a doctoral class for the first two weeks of September and also will be at the Women’s Retreat at Pilgrim Pines (9/13-15). If you need pastoral care during this time, contact Church Chair John Bedosky, Diaconate Chair Cathy Fredlund, or any Diaconate member.
