Renewing All Things Right Where You Are
For Meditation (Corey Widmer)
As we kick off our fall together this Sunday, we’ll return to our long-standing mission statement: Called Together for the Renewal of All Things.
That can sound like a big, overwhelming assignment—renew all things!—especially when many of us are already wondering how we will manage everything this fall. But the renewal of all things is not another task to add to our already busy lives. It is first of all God’s work—the great work he has begun in Jesus Christ and promises one day to bring to completion. This is our ultimate hope, what God is bringing about and will one day fulfill through the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.
So what's our part in this renewing work? Our calling is simply to notice where God is already at work and learn to join him there. And we don’t have to go somewhere else to find it. God’s renewing work begins right where we are: in the neighborhoods, relationships, workplaces, schools, and families we already inhabit. It happens through ordinary acts of faithfulness, hospitality, courage, reconciliation, generosity, and love. And perhaps most importantly, God’s renewing work begins in us, as the Holy Spirit patiently transforms us into people through whom his renewing love can flow into the world.
As you prepare for worship this week, and as you think about all that lies before you this fall, consider:
When you hear the phrase “the renewal of all things,” what comes to mind? Does it sound exciting, overwhelming, abstract, or something else?
Where has God already placed you? Think about the particular relationships, responsibilities, neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, or communities that make up your ordinary life. Where might God already be at work there?
What might it look like to join God’s work of renewal without simply becoming busier? Is there something to notice, receive, repair, cultivate, or love more faithfully?
Where do you long for God’s renewing work within you? What part of your own heart, habits, relationships, or way of seeing the world needs the transforming work of the Holy Spirit?
As you look toward this fall, what would change if you saw the life already in front of you as the primary place where God is calling you to participate in his renewal of all things?
Matthew 19:28-30
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[a] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.