From the Desk of Pastor Jeff – August 2018

East Petersburg Mennonite Church belongs to a fellowship of Anabaptist Churches known as LMC. As a fellowship, we have three main core values. Our first value is that “We value a way of seeing the world through God’s reign.” I love this value because it is foundational to faith and to follow Jesus. It is also a truth that we see pointed to throughout the scriptures. For example, in Psalm 24:1-2, we read “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.” Seeing the world through God’s reign reminds us that it is God’s world and that following him makes a radical commitment to God’s way above our own. Throughout the teaching of Jesus, Jesus models this type of surrender for us, as he refers to the reign of God as the Kingdom of God. God’s reign, or his Kingdom, is a reality that Jesus teaches his followers is already among them and already in their midst. Jesus also taught his followers the Lord’s prayer, which cries out, “Let your kingdom come,” which serves us as a reminder and a practice of aligning ourselves back to this way of seeing the world through God’s reign.

In his book, “The Deeper Journey,” Author M. Robert Mulholland reflects, “When we pray “Let your kingdom come,” we aren’t asking God to bring history to an end and whisk us to realms of glory, or to wave a magic wand and solve all the problems we face in our life. Rather, we are making a radical commitment to live our life in the world (“on earth”) in such loving abandonment to God that the values and principles, the perspectives and dynamics of God’s realm of life and wholeness become incarnate in and through our being and doing.” As we value seeing the world through God’s reign, we are committing to God and all that he values. We commit to allowing that to transform who we are, what we do, and why we do it.

Theologian Stanley Hauerwas explains that a church living out this value of seeing the reign of God “asserts that God, not nations, rules the world, that the boundaries of God’s kingdom transcend those of Caesar, and that the main political task of the church is the formation of people who see clearly the cost of discipleship and are willing to pay the price. “ We see that the church should assert that it is the reign of God that rules the world, not nations, and that it is a reign that knows no borders. I think that we would all agree that we live in a time that is deeply polarized over politics and issues. A lot of times we as followers of Jesus not only get distracted by these conversations but join in the divisions. None of us are exempt from this struggle. When we become distracted or divisive, we forget that we are called to represent a different way.

That different way in which we are called to is this value of seeing the world through God’s reign. As Anabaptists, we call remembering to see the reign of God in all things, the “third way.” Article 24 (The Reign of God) in our Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective reminds us that, “We place our hope in the reign of God and in its fulfillment in the day when Christ our ascended Lord will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. He will gather his church, already living under the reign of God according to the pattern of God’s future.” Did you notice the line that the church is already living under the reign of God? It isn’t just something we hope for, it is also something we live into. Article 24 goes on to explain, that “We believe that the church is called to live now according to the model of the future reign of God. Thus, we are given a foretaste of the kingdom that God will one day establish in full.” It is my hope that we as a church can live this out, discovering how to live this out with conviction together, and that we never neglect this way of seeing the world through God’s reign. In seeing the world through the reign of God, we are reminded we are not called to sides or politics, but to the work of reconciliation, restoration, and rescue.

In the Vineyard, we said, “We are committed to becoming healing communities engaged in the work of reconciliation wherever sin and evil hold sway. We seek to be diverse communities of hope that realize the power of the cross to reconcile what has been separated by sin.”

So I have two questions in response. Into what situation might God be calling you, or us as a church, to see and trust his reign? Or where is he inviting you, or us as a church, to engage in his work of reconciliation where sin and evil hold ground?

NEW SERIES

On September 30, we will begin a new series called “Hard Conversations.” This series will explore how we can reflect Jesus to one another even as we face the hard issues of our time. We might also say it is a series that will look at how we can posture ourselves to see the world through the reign of God in the midst of polarizing issues. I invite you to stop by the table in the lobby and pick up a postcard to invite some friends. You can also pick up a short devotional, or post what you think is the hardest conversation of today’s time!

ONLINE TITHES AND OFFERINGS

I am also excited to announce that if you miss a Sunday, you can now give your tithes and offerings online through a link on our website or by downloading the Tithe.ly app. You can also set up automatic payments and withdrawals through this intuitive system. Try it out! More information to come soon.

PERSONAL UPDATE

LMC’s Church On The Other Side Network has invited me to be part of a group of ten individuals traveling to Chantilly Virginia from September 9-11, 2018. At Exponential DC, we will study church leadership and church multiplication. We are traveling with some emerging new and young Anabaptist leaders. Let’s pray together for new life in our movement! Also, this fall I return to school with three classes. I will be taking, “Practices of Vocational Formation” and “Orientation to Theological Studies” at Fuller Theological Seminary; and “Ministry to the Poor” at the Vineyard Institute. Studies will begin in the middle of September.

I send to you all both my love and blessings,

Pastor Jeff McLain