Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 31; Deuteronomy 9:13-21; Matthew 10:16-23; Galatians 5:1-6; Psalm 85
Each January, most mainline churches spend a great deal of time and energy completing their annual reports to their member denomination(s). Most churches only have to prepare one report since they belong to just one denomination. As an ecumenical church, however, the chuch I serve has the “joy” of filling out three reports - one for each of the denominations we belong to (The Presbyterian Church (USA), The United Church of Christ, and The United Methodist Church). While I understand the purpose of the reports (generate data so that the denominations can make statistical reports that summarize the content of their membership), I always get frustrated because the reports rarely – if ever – ask for the information that most important in the life of the local church. So what information is most important to the life of the local church (and certainly its individual members as well)? That is spelled out for us in today’s passage from Galatians. Eugene Peterson paraphrases the end of the passage to read: “For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior; faith expressed in love” (Galatians 5:6 – The Message). It may be easier to count the folks who sit in our sanctuary each week, or the number of zeroes in our annual budget. Thank goodness, however, for Paul’s admonition to never lose sight of what REALLY counts: the faith expressed in love. Til next time…
Each January, most mainline churches spend a great deal of time and energy completing their annual reports to their member denomination(s). Most churches only have to prepare one report since they belong to just one denomination. As an ecumenical church, however, the chuch I serve has the “joy” of filling out three reports - one for each of the denominations we belong to (The Presbyterian Church (USA), The United Church of Christ, and The United Methodist Church). While I understand the purpose of the reports (generate data so that the denominations can make statistical reports that summarize the content of their membership), I always get frustrated because the reports rarely – if ever – ask for the information that most important in the life of the local church. So what information is most important to the life of the local church (and certainly its individual members as well)? That is spelled out for us in today’s passage from Galatians. Eugene Peterson paraphrases the end of the passage to read: “For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior; faith expressed in love” (Galatians 5:6 – The Message). It may be easier to count the folks who sit in our sanctuary each week, or the number of zeroes in our annual budget. Thank goodness, however, for Paul’s admonition to never lose sight of what REALLY counts: the faith expressed in love. Til next time…
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