• We need someone to host our guest-preacher this Sunday, Ruslan Moroz, visiting from Vladivostok, Russia. Explanation to follow, but first let me try to put such requests in context.
• Several years ago it became clear that, as elders, we were making decisions about the vision and life of the Church based on bandwidth in our personal schedules. At first it makes sense: we have only so much energy and not everything is possible. But in the worst possible way it’s the tail wagging the dog. It’s unlikely we would ever see the larger vision of what God is both doing and calling us to, especially as leaders in the Church, if we’re preoccupied and worn out by pizza night, picking up the laundry, and dinner with the in-laws. As the prophet Bruce Springsteen said, “you can’t start a fire, worrying about your little world falling apart.”
• To be blunt, either we are serving Christ, and a MUCH LARGER vision than we would ever embrace on our own, or Christ is serving us. To regard ourselves as servants (1 Cor 4:1, “this is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ…”) — and this is the whole point of the metaphor — is to understand ourselves as living to fulfill his commands, which are only burdensome if they’re at odds with our personal desires.
• Well, that’s not quite right. It’s not right because our designation as servants in the New Testament is not a metaphor. A metaphor is a figure that is not literally applicable. But we are servants. Literally. Created by him, purchased by his blood, redeemed by him, alive in Christ by him, destined by him for glory. We belong to him entirely. Until we embrace and embody his order for our lives, the Faith is frustration and weariness, tension and stress.
• Life is hard for servants with authority issues, which nearly all of us have due to our parents having been sinners. So give this some prayer. Is Jesus Christ your actual master, or just some version of a fairy godmother? Does he command you, or just sprinkle fairy dust on the events on your calendar?
• Anyway, we need a host for Ruslan, his wife Olga, and their 18-year-old son Anton. They are delightful, quiet, soft-spoken people. Two nights, starting late this Saturday(like, 11:00p), and then Sunday. In the grand scheme of things, this is service to “the least of these.” I don’t think you’ll regret having them, and Anton can do all the translation with ease, being perfectly fluent in English and Russian. Thanks for considering this.