I want to reflect on the experience of what it’s like to be called by God.
I’m going to let you peek inside my brain to the thought processes that have been going on as I have discerned God’s call for this congregation as we face the prospect of building a new sanctuary.
I’ve had a lot of material to write for capital campaign publications. Some of you have asked in these days, “Is it necessary that we rebuild our sanctuary?” As in, do we need to do it? So, as I have been putting all the materials together, I confess that I was starting to think it was my job to justify why we need to do this. Because if we aren’t building a sanctuary because we absolutely need to, then this feels frivolous in a time when I am sure God is calling us to be more than frivolous with our resources.
But the truth is, we don’t need to do this. You can worship God in a parking lot. You can worship God in a dilapidated old shed. You can worship God in a small, dark, sanctuary with pillars. We know this. We’ve been doing it for decades and our souls have been nourished. So then, why? Why are we doing this?
And then, with the help of others the lightbulb in my brain clicked on! The reason we are pursuing this is that we feel the call of God in it. The experience of being called is driven by something more than need or want…it is driven by God.
A lot of days, I feel like Noah. There’s not a cloud in the sky, there’s no clear evidence that a monstrosity of an ark needs to be built. He cannot detect a need and surely he doesn’t start building because he wants to. He does it because God has asked him to do something according to the scope, not of Noah’s knowledge or perception, but God’s.
Same goes for this project. Are we busting at the seams with young families such that our current space cannot hold us? Is our worship space entirely untenable? (I would argue that this summer’s heat was untenable, but you all continued to show up and so I guess it wasn’t altogether untenable.) It the roof collapsing in? Are we violating fire safety codes? No.
But for almost 30 years this call has nagged us. It has not gone away as the church has changed and members have come and gone. And what’s more, I am clear that I am not generating this and I do not detect that the congregation has generated this desire to build a new sanctuary either. I am detecting that the congregation is being faithful to where God has led us. And in the same way that Noah did not build the ark only for himself, we will build this thing for a world that we are pretty sure is going to be as in need of Jesus in 100 years as it is today.
So, we’re moving forward with this call. But that is not really the heart of what this letter is about. I want you to know that God’s call is not the same as need and it is not the same as want. Sometimes those things are in the mix, but God’s call is something different and it doesn’t always make sense based on what we can see.
Where are you detecting God’s call today? Where are you being called to say yes? Where are you being called to say no? What is God calling you to build? What is calling you to prune? Listen…God is calling!
Peace,
Pastor Bekki