President Walton's August 2018 Message
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Dear Friends,
August is a pivotal month in Florida and Georgia. Growing up in the Northeast, schools never began until after Labor Day. Here, in the South, many schools are gearing up in late July for an early August start. After a brief summer break, many are ready to get back into a more routine way of life. Parents may be ready for the kids to be back on a more defined schedule, and many familiar activities, as busy as they can keep us, start up once again. It’s a season of new beginnings.
Over the years I’ve learned that there is a certain degree of comfort in routine. Some find comfort in the familiar patterns and anticipated schedules. However, routines also come with an inherent danger, especially in some areas of life. We begin to take things for granted and often find it difficult when patterns change. We lose the ability and desire to adapt.
How true this is for the church in our day. We are creatures of habit. That’s why some of us have a clear understanding when we say page 5 or 15, or occasionally 32… For those of you unfamiliar with these terms, they refer to the old liturgies in The Lutheran Hymnal that so many grew up with. In the church I grew up in it was the routine. First and third Sundays were page 15, second and fourth were page 5, and the fifth Sunday, when there was one, was Matins on page 32. I suspect some of you are remembering similar patterns right now.
Routines serve a purpose and can help create a familiar and comfortable atmosphere. However, how could we make our “churchly” routines more inclusive so that someone new could feel a sense of belonging? Many pastors in our district tell me that they have a high percent of people in their congregations that did not grow up Lutheran. This is good, because it means that we are reaching out with and connecting people to Jesus. The danger is that we as Lutherans often communicate in a “family” language that may alienate those who aren’t life-long Lutherans. Did you ever notice how we in the LCMS often talk in letters? We have the LWML, the LLL, LHM, LWR, LIRS, LSB, LW, and LBW to name a few, and we used to have AAL and LB. This is internal language not always understood or appreciated by those unfamiliar with it. These may be part of our routine, but it may display a lack of sensitivity to those who are otherwise uninitiated. If we are committed to connecting people to Jesus, and I hope and pray we are, then we need to break free of routines that could hinder a clear communication of the love and grace of Jesus to build relationships with those who still need Jesus. It’s all about relationships! That was Jesus’ first priority and we can make it ours, too!
Later this month we will hold our first ever
Lay Leadership Summit
, focused on training and raising up lay leaders in congregations to partner with their pastor and other church work professionals to more effectively and efficiently partner in ministry together, not just to the congregation, but beyond the congregation into their community. We have some great speakers, and among them is Rocky DeStefano, who owns and operates a local Chick-fil-A in Clermont, FL. We found him through a pod-cast. He is a Christian gentleman who will be talking to us, among other things, about hospitality. It reminds me of my old seminary professor who always said, “You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.” How we treat people is extremely important. As we prepare for this event it is becoming ever clear to me that in our day churches are really in the hospitality business. It’s all about relationships, and reaching people with the love of Jesus.
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When I brought my girlfriend, now my wife, to my home for the first time, it was hard for her to understand how this family system ran (at times I think it still is…). I’m pretty convinced the only reason she put up with all the craziness of that household was because of the relationship we had been developing. She didn’t come to visit because she had heard great things about my family, she came to visit because of the relationship that we had. What amazes me is that we still had it after the visit! In a similar way, most people don’t initially come to your church because of the style of worship, the kind of music, the liturgy or doctrinal truth. They come because of the relationship that is developed between the invited one and the one who invited them. They come because they like you, and if they like you and you like this congregation, there must be some value in it. That doesn’t mean that everyone you build a relationship with will come to your church. It does mean that if our focus is on building relationships rather than trying to find church members our life will be far richer and joyful.
Someone once said that the only thing that we take with us to heaven is the relationships we cultivate here on earth. I’ve never seen a U-Haul following a hearse. You can’t take your possessions with you, but the investment in relationships will go a long way. That’s how we connect people to Jesus!
In John 15 Jesus said,
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”
You and I were chosen by Jesus, as His friends, to be a friend to someone who needs to know the love of Jesus. He commands us to love as He loves. Often we make commands out of many things that don’t really matter, while we ignore this command to love. It’s time to break out of the routine and focus on connecting people to Jesus. By the way, Jesus never commanded the whole world to come to church, but He did charge His followers with going to the whole world! As we break free of the routines, the familiar, comfortable patterns we have locked into as the church, it can be a bit scary, but it can also be rewarding and exciting if our goal is not simply to fill pews, but to connect people to Jesus!
August can thrust us back into the same old routines, or it can be a time for new beginnings. The opportunities are all around us. What might God be calling your congregation to do in your community to proclaim Jesus? What might He be calling you to do? Paul reminds us,
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
God is at work among His people in the FLGA District beginning anew as we celebrate 70 years of past blessings! Our plan for the future is to start two new ministries in each region each year for the next five years. How can you be a part if this? Regional activities are going on near you. For more information contact Oscar Benavides at
obenavides@fivetwo.com
. The harvest is plentiful, and the workers are few! As we look for opportunities to develop relationships, we can trust God to put to rest old routines and empower us anew to connect people to Jesus!
Hope to see you at the Lay Leadership Summit, August 23-25 in Kissimmee, FL as we continue to grow in Jesus!
Peace,
Greg
Rev. Dr. Gregory S. Walton, President
The Florida-Georgia District, LCMS
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