Inform, Reform, transform

 So I sit in the back porch listening to the pray as you go app.  The text is the one from Matthew where we are instructed to go to the person who has sinned against us and tell them.  And if that does not change things, bring an elder with us.  And if that does not - then essentially they become "like a gentile."

Also in this text - where 2 or 3 are gathered in my name - there I am.

I reflect about how when people sin against me I often swallow the pain and duck the confrontation.  And how often I like to avoid their telling me about my sin against them.

And I remember  times in which I HAVE been confronted and what a blessing - in the long run - it was to me.  I have been changed by the encounter.  I know I am more thoughtful and deliberate than I was 30 years ago.  I know I have a greater sense of boundaries between family and work.  However it is never easy to be informed about what you have done wrong.  But - as in the title of this entry - the information does lead to reformation that eventually leads to transformation.

It is hard to be in any relationship at all - knowing when to speak and when to be silent, when to confront and when to accept behaviors.  So - "when 2 or 3 are gathered IN MY NAME" makes even greater sense.  We cannot do it on our own - the way of Jesus tends to be gentler and more loving.  I hope that I am.

After pickleball this morning, I go to church and we have our first "staff meeting" of the reconfigured staff - Daniel from Nigeria is now a ministerial intern and so is Hannah a twenty something seminary student (I went to seminary with her Dad.) and then there is 71 year old me and our leader John - a 49 year old mover and a shaker.  So in a different way, I pray that we will know that we gather in "his " name and Jesus  is with us as we enter into a relationship together which will probably mean times of informing, reforming and transforming - each other as well as the church.  This is what it means to be a community - the body of Christ

May we be open to God's spirit. 

May the God who forms you.

May you engage this God in mutual attention to what is holy and fulfilling for the other, to what brings joy and delight and depth of understanding.

May your communion with this God move you to growth in your inner spirit and to warmth and compassion for a world that awaits connection with its Creator.

May the God of COMMUNITY bless you all your days.

Amen

 

(Maxine Shonk)