His response to that challenge is to argue that we know God most clearly by paying close attention to the experience of God’s suffering with and for the world in the cross of Jesus Christ. The title of the book borrows from a phrase from Martin Luther. It’s a somewhat controversial idea—that God in Godself suffered in Jesus’ death on the cross. It calls into question our traditional notions that God cannot suffer, experience change, or be anything but all-knowing and all-powerful. But I realized that this is a very important part of my own theology. For Moltmann, this idea of God’s suffering for and with the world in Jesus means that the places we are most likely to find God’s presence in the world are in those places where people are suffering. Spend time with the lonely, the oppressed, the hungry, the homeless, the excluded—and there you will probably find God at work. That’s a heavy idea, I know. But being in those places is the place where joy is found as well, because the God who raised Jesus from the dead is at work wresting life from the jaws of death in its many forms.
I was also reading the lectionary readings from mid-August through Christmas. And the image I had in my mind that brought that reading, meditation, and brainstorming together came from that message you hear when you make a wrong turn if you’ve ever used Garmin or any GPS that says, “RECALCULATING.” It occurred to me that that’s part of what I need in my spiritual life, and perhaps what we need as a church. In the wake of all we’ve been through in the past 12-18 months, it is easy to make wrong turns, get distracted, be overwhelmed with anxiety or anger or apathy. I know I need to do some recalculating.
That will be the theme that will guide my preaching from this Sunday through Christ the King Sunday (the end of the liturgical year). And the way we recalculate as Christians is to realize that our GPS, our north star, our compass is, has been, and always be, Jesus Christ. And the way we can do that in worship is to focus on the Gospel readings that bear witness to who Jesus is, who he came to be, what he came to teach, and what he calls us to do and be. This Sunday, August 15, and next Sunday, August 22, we’ll spend some time unpacking the gospel readings that come from John 6. If you have time, read through that whole chapter with some care. It’s a hard chapter in many ways, but there are great promises to be found there about who Jesus came to be and what Jesus came to offer. On August 29, we’ll begin going through Mark’s Gospel, picking up at chapter 7. Mark has a very distinctive vision of Jesus as the one who came to serve, not be served, and to give his life for all of us. A very distinctive vision of Christian discipleship follows from that vision. We’ll spend time digging into that vision beginning on August 29.
My invitation to you is to join us as we RECALCULATE and consider what it means to allow
Jesus Christ to be the main point of reference in these challenging times.
Would you consider inviting someone to come and worship with you in person on Sunday, or to join you online? We can still find ways to share the good news even with the restraints of Covid. And who knows who in your circle of friends or acquaintances might just be waiting for an invitation to experience the joy and peace that comes from being a follower of Jesus Christ.
Yours in Christ’s love,
Matt
