A Blessing to the Earth
In worship we have been reading the stories of our ancestors in Genesis. The Covenant God made with God’s people, beginning with Abraham and Sarah, is that because the LORD blesses us we will be a blessing; all the families of the earth will be blessed by us (Genesis 12:1-3). Through Jesus we have been grafted on to God’s people. So we are meant to be a blessing to all the people of the earth.
Tom Long, a preaching professor in Atlanta, tells a story about the city where he lives that sounds like 1974 in Cedar Rapids when Interstate 380 was built next to Salem’s former downtown property. “A decision was made to build a new freeway into Atlanta…A swath of houses was condemned, and eventually a whole neighborhood was torn down to make way for the highway. For a short time, though, families were still living in those houses, homes that many of them had lived in for generations, but they knew that soon the bulldozers would come and tear them down. The effects were demoralizing on the neighborhood, of course, and most of the residents stopped doing any maintenance at all. Paint peeled, wood rotted, doors fell off hinges, roofs caved in. There were, however, a few residents who, oddly, continued to care for their homes. They painted porches, planted flowers, and repaired window screens, knowing that their houses were slated for destruction. Somehow, even knowing that they were temporary, that the land on which they lived was not their dwelling place forever, did not destroy their desire to make life good and beautiful where they lived” (Accompany Them with Singing—The Christian Funeral, Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009, p. 131-132).
God created us in God’s image. Even so, Long says our earthly tents are slated for the bulldozer to make way for something new. In the meantime, though, God calls us to do all we can to care for Creation. That’s why in the United Methodist Church, our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who will transform the world. We are to help care for and renew God’s Creation.
John Wesley understood God’s grace as power — the power to live a transformed life, the power to transform the world. He never doubted that we are saved only by God’s grace through faith. But Wesley believed God calls us to participate, to be fruitful. God saves us by grace so that we can do something. So we can work for God’s will in the world. That’s why one of Wesley’s rules for living is to do all the good you can. “Whoever does good is from God” (3 John 11b).
That’s why our congregation seeks to live out our name. “Salem” comes from the Hebrew word, shalom, meaning God’s peace. Much more than the absence of conflict, God’s peace is wholeness, completeness, health, well-being, beauty, love, joy, and salvation. Living out our name, Salem, means that we will be a blessing to the people of the earth.
Following Jesus means doing something in the world, engaging in doing good, serving in mission. We must ask ourselves, how are we living as disciples of Jesus, transforming the world? What are we doing? How are we making life good and beautiful where we live? What are we doing to bring Salem (shalom) to our neighborhood, city, nation, and world? How are we blessing all the people of the earth?
We are called to live out the answers to those questions individually and together as Salem. Many opportunities already exist: serving Green Square Meals, serving with Matthew 25, volunteering at a public school, working with Block by Block and other flood recovery efforts in the city, helping Books without Borders, supporting Justice for Our Neighbors, making prayer shawls, and giving to Nothing but Nets. These are just a few examples. What is God calling you to do? What ministry might you start?
We do not believe that this world will simply pass away. This is God’s Creation and in the beginning it was good! God is renewing this Creation and invites us to participate. Everyone who is a part of Salem is expected to participate. What will you do?
Tom Long, a preaching professor in Atlanta, tells a story about the city where he lives that sounds like 1974 in Cedar Rapids when Interstate 380 was built next to Salem’s former downtown property. “A decision was made to build a new freeway into Atlanta…A swath of houses was condemned, and eventually a whole neighborhood was torn down to make way for the highway. For a short time, though, families were still living in those houses, homes that many of them had lived in for generations, but they knew that soon the bulldozers would come and tear them down. The effects were demoralizing on the neighborhood, of course, and most of the residents stopped doing any maintenance at all. Paint peeled, wood rotted, doors fell off hinges, roofs caved in. There were, however, a few residents who, oddly, continued to care for their homes. They painted porches, planted flowers, and repaired window screens, knowing that their houses were slated for destruction. Somehow, even knowing that they were temporary, that the land on which they lived was not their dwelling place forever, did not destroy their desire to make life good and beautiful where they lived” (Accompany Them with Singing—The Christian Funeral, Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009, p. 131-132).
God created us in God’s image. Even so, Long says our earthly tents are slated for the bulldozer to make way for something new. In the meantime, though, God calls us to do all we can to care for Creation. That’s why in the United Methodist Church, our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who will transform the world. We are to help care for and renew God’s Creation.
John Wesley understood God’s grace as power — the power to live a transformed life, the power to transform the world. He never doubted that we are saved only by God’s grace through faith. But Wesley believed God calls us to participate, to be fruitful. God saves us by grace so that we can do something. So we can work for God’s will in the world. That’s why one of Wesley’s rules for living is to do all the good you can. “Whoever does good is from God” (3 John 11b).
That’s why our congregation seeks to live out our name. “Salem” comes from the Hebrew word, shalom, meaning God’s peace. Much more than the absence of conflict, God’s peace is wholeness, completeness, health, well-being, beauty, love, joy, and salvation. Living out our name, Salem, means that we will be a blessing to the people of the earth.
Following Jesus means doing something in the world, engaging in doing good, serving in mission. We must ask ourselves, how are we living as disciples of Jesus, transforming the world? What are we doing? How are we making life good and beautiful where we live? What are we doing to bring Salem (shalom) to our neighborhood, city, nation, and world? How are we blessing all the people of the earth?
We are called to live out the answers to those questions individually and together as Salem. Many opportunities already exist: serving Green Square Meals, serving with Matthew 25, volunteering at a public school, working with Block by Block and other flood recovery efforts in the city, helping Books without Borders, supporting Justice for Our Neighbors, making prayer shawls, and giving to Nothing but Nets. These are just a few examples. What is God calling you to do? What ministry might you start?
We do not believe that this world will simply pass away. This is God’s Creation and in the beginning it was good! God is renewing this Creation and invites us to participate. Everyone who is a part of Salem is expected to participate. What will you do?
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