Read: Luke 5:36-39
“The news is that God’s wind is blowing.”
This line comes from a prayer by Old Testament professor, Walter Brueggemann. Every day before class he would write a prayer or blessing for his students, and this is part of one titled “Blown by God toward Newness”. It speaks to the creative, wild, and sometimes disruptive movement of God in our lives and the world.
When we speak of God’s wind blowing it can be both promising and unsettling. It is promising because it means that God is still doing something new, God is at work, and we get to be a part of it. It is at the same time unsettling because it may ask of us to move away from what is comfortable, what we know, where we find stability. In the end, faith can be disruptive because it involves stepping out in trust into what we cannot yet see or explain.
The truth, though, is that whether we embrace or reject the movement of God, the wind still blows. So, the question becomes are we open enough to look for the signs of God’s newness and brave enough to move beyond what we have come to know and even hold dear?
I think that history is going to look back at the COVID pandemic and see it as a marker of transformation for so many things in society, Church and churches included. The Church and churches will forever be different; the ways that people worship, connect, serve, and practice community. For some this is cause for despair. For me, though, it is a moment for contemplation, a holy curiosity that looks for God at work among all that feels broken and different. Although some mourn the loss of Church/church as we have known it for a long time, God’s good work is stronger than our brokenness and its adaptability is greater than the structures of comfort and familiarity we spent years building.
The news is that God’s wind is blowing! Do you sense it? Do you feel it?
I look at our own church community. Christ Church United Methodist is different, but in new and exciting ways. We worship both in person and virtually, expanding the fellowship of Christ Church beyond our geographical limitations. We have an online community of people from all over that prays together every weekday morning at 7:30 a.m. This has been happening for a year and a half. Most mornings 15-20 people join live and then 60-75 people will usually watch the video later. That is God’s wind blowing…people praying together every day.
We have recently opened the ministry and outreach center at the Christ Church Parkway Campus. Blessings Food Pantry moved to the new location and the number of people being served has remained steady. Indications are that it will increase even more in the days ahead. There is a shared meal at Parkway every Wednesday evening and a breakfast on Sunday mornings for anyone in need of food and loving community. The Fruitful Field (a six-acre garden on the Parkway Campus) provides fresh fruits and vegetables for the food pantry and other organizations serving food insecure individuals in the community. There are also small garden plots for people in the neighborhood to grow their own produce, as well as a mentoring program (Grow City) for youth in the community. There are so many new opportunities to serve at the Parkway campus.
As we continue to make disciples of Jesus Christ through the regular practices of worship, prayer, study, and service, we have also sensed God calling us to practice discipleship by standing with and for the oppressed and marginalized. The Anti-Racism Task Force has become a leader in the community hosting book studies, speakers, advocacy, and conversations about the impact of racism and how disciples of Jesus Christ can work against it both in the church and the world.
Further, the Reconciling Ministries Group has made inroads in our call to be allies and siblings to the LGBTQ+ community. Not only does the group advocate for the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons in the United Methodist Church, including marriage and ordination, it has been the hands and feet of Jesus in the local community by being a supportive presence at this year’s Pride Parade. You should hear the stories about people present at the parade expressing their gratitude that Christ Church United Methodists was present and showing God’s love in such a positive way.
God’s wind is blowing…and it is different. It is exciting and it is unsettling. Movement and change are rarely easy, but they are inevitable, at least it is if we truly believe the Spirit of God is still at work. Maybe that is why Jesus said new wine can’t be put into old wine skins. It just won’t work (Luke 5:36-39).
BUT…the news is that God’s wind is blowing…and it is good news. So, may we live boldly into these changing times. We don’t have to live by a spirit of fear and despair. We can rather choose grace and wonder, and live scanning the horizons of life for movements of the Holy Spirit.
I want to finish with the full prayer, “Blown by God toward Newness” (by Walter Brueggemann, Prayers for a Privileged People):
The news is that God’s wind is blowing.
It may be a breeze that cools and comforts.
It may be a gust that summons you to notice.
It may be a storm that blows you where you have never been before.
Whatever that wind is in your life, pay attention to it…
And the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Spirit, will abide with you always.
Together we are the hands and feet of Christ,
Brett
