Perspectives From a Baton Pass, Part 1

It’s 11:45 Christmas Eve. The sanctuary glows with candlelight bouncing off the arched windows and reflecting in the eyes of the faithful gathered. John and I are serving communion one last time in the last worship service at the end of our 30 years in this faith community.

We know the hopes and dreams and fears and failures of most of the people who walk up to receive the bread and wine. It both moves us to tears of gratitude and strengthens us immeasurably. We are broken, and Jesus puts us back together. He is good.

We are at the end of a leg of the race, ready to pass the baton. For us, a time of change, or any change for anyone – change in job, location, relationship, whatever…gives us a chance to notice the work of God in our lives over time and question how we have been formed.

We treasure so many marking moments of grace and reconciliation and healing that we’ve shared with people we love over the years at this church.

There have been hard times too. Tears and questions and conflict and misunderstandings, and very difficult leadership decisions.

I’ve worried a lot. I’ve doubted myself, not because of a Word from the Lord, but because I let the words of others pierce me.

Like our friend Steve who ran the Grand Canyon, we look back over the hilly terrain we’ve run and the perspective brings a visceral sense of being strengthened in the Lord. There have been some really rough stretches, but God’s plans have prevailed.

If I were to say anything to my 30 year old self who came to CPC with two tinies in tow, it would be “REALLY rest in God. It’s gonna be ok if you do your best to play to an audience of One. Learn from critics who are wise, but listen for His voice above all.”

The words that keep coming to me in this season are “secure” and “unshaken”.

I envision a huge oak tree with branches reaching out and up towards the sky. In the wind those top branches get whipped around, back and forth. It can be scary if that’s where you stay. And that is often where I’ve perched. But even in the wind, the trunk remains secure and unshaken. That’s where we belong.

Think of your life right now, and the things that threaten to shake you. Consider these verses.

I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery.  

Colossians 2:2-3

We have made many, many mistakes, but we have done our best to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, knowing He is the Redeemer and can cause all things to work together for good. The more we have gotten to know Him, the more confident and at rest we’ve been.

He will stand and shepherd his flock
    in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
    will reach to the ends of the earth.

Micah 5:4

There are a lot of question marks about what comes next, but God has carried us this far. He will not abandon us. We are secure in Him.

But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Psalm 33:11

We are fickle, but He is not. We waver, but He does not. We are merely privileged partners in the good work He prepared in advance for us to do.