Galatians 4:10-11

Galatians 4:10-11New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

You are observing special days, and months, and seasons, and years. I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted.

A quick thought about these two verses.  

There is something comforting to me to know that Paul got discouraged himself from time to time.  I'm sure there isn't a person active in a church today that doesn't occasionally think that work gets wasted.

We live in a church-world very different from the one of our parents and grandparents. We live with less financial resources, less people involved, more competition for time, and an increasingly apathetic - and sometimes hostile - wider culture.

There are tons of books and articles giving ideas of how to be church in this post-modern age. How to survive, let alone thrive.

And we feel pressure sometimes to cling to our traditions or pressure to try new things. Pressure to figure things out and get things right if we want to be relevant or even just stick around!

We feel pressure not to make mistakes.

We disagree amongst ourselves how to be church today. How to be relevant. How to worship. How to lead. How to be a community of faith.

And when the conflict grows, we wonder if we are wasting time on the next new thing or idea. Or the old thing or practice. 

Paul wondered if he was wasting time. The great leader of the church got discouraged too.

And my message for him, and for us, is no. We aren't wasting time.

We aren't always going to get it right. We are going to learn from mistakes. We are going to learn about God in ways that might not always seem correct or theologically sound. We are going to learn about ourselves and each other each time we just put ourselves out there.

Because God is still present in the trying. Even when we don't get it right. 

Because faith, trust...isn't about getting it right. It's about following and being engaged, even when we are going about it all wrong. Even when we are scared or doubt or feel discouraged.

The church isn't dying. We aren't wasting our time. We are in a time of great change and upheaval.

But God's got this. And in faith, we learn, and grow, and continue. Even if we feel discouraged. Even if something we try completely fails.

Because God is in the business of always making things new.

Lord God, help us not to give up when things seems to be changing at a rate more rapid that we can keep up with. Save us from our discouragement and remind us that you are always making things new and this church is yours no matter how many times the world tells us differently.  Amen.