Change: No Joke!

You may have heard the old joke: How many Lutherans does it take to change a lightbulb? WHAT DO YOU MEAN CHANGE!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

We Lutherans have notoriously been accused of being resistant, even hostile to change. And while we may want to joke about it at times, in a real way, these accusations are true.

But they are true for EVERY human being. We tend not to like change. Well, that isn't entirely true either. Think about this for moment. Have you changed the way you do things in your life? Before you answer no, think about the way you cook. You used to have to cook only on a stove top and with an oven. Now you have a microwave, a bread maker, a pasta maker... Farmers, you too have changed. Do you farm the same way your Dad did? Not hardly. Did Dad have the same technology in seed and chemicals you have? Even I have changed in my short life. The computer I am writing this newsletter piece on is a symbol of change. Kids, did you know that there once was a machine called a typewriter? And all it did was type!!! Ah, the stone ages!!!!

In the class I took last month, I had the issue of change put into perspective for me by one of the presenters. The presenters said, "People are not resistant to change. They are resistant to the loss that comes with changes."

Ponder that thought for a moment. When things changes and you are upset by it, are you upset that things changed or upset that you lost your comfort zone? When you hair changes from dark to gray, do you resist the color or the fact that you are losing your youth? When something changes in the workplace, do you fear the change, or fear the loss of "the way we have always done it?"

This is an important issue for us. For we are changing. As a people and as a church. Now we are not going to change by building a new, ultra-modern church building(at least not unless the congregation WANTS TO), but we are a changing church. Yet, the message has not changed. By the grace of God, we have been sent by God "To teach the Word, and Touch the world." We are a changing because the world in which we live is changing. The world gets increasingly more hostile to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Even here in the United States where we this month celebrate the freedom we have as an independant nation, the church no longers seen as a vital civic partner, but now it is a nuisance in the eyes of some political leaders.

This is the world in which we are called to minister. This is the world in which YOU are called to minister. We can't keep doing ministry the same way in a changing world and hope that things will be okay. We need to seriously start looking at what it is that our Lord is calling each of us to do for the sake of His Kingdom.

And that process of change starts with you. How do you see yourself in ministry? Are you a spectator? If you are, remember what Jesus said, "The Son of Man came NOT to be served, but to serve..." I challenge you to change the way you pray. Start and end each of your prayer times with a prayer that urges the Lord to use you in ministry. Perhaps it is to support fellow believers. Perhaps it is simply to pray for me, for the ministry of this congregation to be a light to the world, or for you to be used by God. But also, ask the Lord to open to you opportunties to share the Gospel with a friend. When we here at Zion change and make this our outlook on ministry, then we will see just how awesome the Lord can be!