Transitions

Photo by Jerry Gorman

During the past seven months I have engaged a season of discernment. After 25 years of pastoral ministry in two different congregations, I feel called to a differently-nuanced ministry practice. The phrase "transitional ministry" is now in vogue to describe what was once called "interim ministry". Leaders at all levels and in all denominations of Christian ministry have come to realize that "transitional ministry" is really what all congregations are facing. Changes in culture and technology are happening at an accelerated pace; and the question for mission and ministry is not, "Will we change?" but, "How will we change?"

A more basic question might be, "Will we get caught up in waves of change happening TO us, or will we, instead, seek to discern ways God is leading us to choose and lead change happening THROUGH us?"

Faithfulness to the gospel calling requires the ability to distinguish between the message and the method. The message remains the same, even as our understanding of it grows, via the intersection of our collective and congregational life's story with the Holy Spirit's inspiration. The method is the vehicle necessary to effectively deliver the message to our culture.

The gospel story is one of paradox. From the outside, especially when viewed through the lenses of intellect and logic, it seems quite contradictory. This is because it has a two-fold purpose.

On the one hand, it offers us all comfort in our afflictions. In all the circumstances where pain and suffering have broken us, the gospel offers its soothing balm of love and hope. I'm talking about the pain and suffering inherently built-into this unpredictable and often-unforgiving change-fest we call life, and the grief and hurt we inflict on ourselves, as well as the injuries we suffer at the hands of others. In ALL these afflictions, unconditional love and unbounded hope wrap us in a blanket of comfort, and a promise of healing and deliverance.

On the other hand, the gospel also afflicts us in our comfort. In all the places and ways where we have become complacent and have attempted to both domesticate the gospel and make it a proprietary text bowing to the reflection we see in the mirror, the gospel kicks back, goading us to a place of more humility and a table of larger community.

The twenty-first century call to faith in this particular culture – the USA in which we live –challenges us to mold the method so that it reaches the ears and hearts of hungry people with the message that transcends all times and methods. The therapeutic question for the paradox of our comfort and anxiety is, "Is our anxiety about the method or the message?" The former is a place where the Spirit offers comfort to soothe the affliction of our desire for convention. The latter is a truth challenging us to offer our own comfort to assuage others' affliction.

Carry on, confident that God is writing our next chapter with every bit as much love, hope, and grace as our past and present chapters contain.

© 2015 Todd Jenkins

Re-Member

We add the prefix,

pronouncing a single word

so easily, sure we understand

all the "re" there is to know.

Telling the story over and over,

whether it's out loud

to the same person

or different folks,

or silently pushing the rewind

and replay buttons in our hearts

and minds, we have a firm grasp

on the repetitive nature

of reliving events from the past,

whether they were in our own past

or somewhere before or beyond that.

But what about the "member"?

What dimension does it add

to the word's meaning?

It's the population of a place,

group, or organization;

the peopling of a particular narrative.

To bring a story back to life –

to remember – is to keep

its characters alive in your life;

to call the roll and hear members

from the past answer,

"Present and accounted for."

Their voices won't likely

vibrate your eardrums,

their physicality probably

won't cast a visible shadow;

but your heart will hear and see

them as loud and large as ever.

When you bring them back this way,

I hope you'll find ways

to endure the regrets and

pain their parting still causes.

I pray you'll listen for a story

of your future into which

they're re-membering you;

a story written in the font

of grace before you were born.

© 2015 Todd Jenkins

Flag

When I grow up, I want

   to be a flag, so people

      will pay more attention to me

         than to issues of real life.

      Don't you think that will make

   me feel special, if not powerful?

I'll touch people's deepest emotions,

   inciting more reaction and less action.  

      I'll wave and wave in every wind,

         without regard for either

      the direction of its flow

   or the damage it unleashes.

I'll be the distraction by which

   magicians and politicians alike

      perpetrate their illusions,

         as all attention centers

      on my colors, design, and

   position on the pole.

See me waving?

   See them bowing? 

      See others hating?

         I'm large and in charge,

      and nobody seems to realize it.

   Genuflect, and carry on.

© 2015 Todd Jenkins

Protect this House

Underarmor shouldn't have

the corner on protection

with commitment and passion.

Sport is not the only place

where goals of an opponent

must be actively denied.

When fear and anxiety creep

into our religious rituals,

when hatred and xenophobia

wend their way into our lived theologies,

we must rise with voices in harmony

and proclaim, "Not in this house!"

Ours is a place where Justice's

only allegiance is to Truth;

where Peace understands

that she is not a commodity

held and controlled only by a few,

but must be owned by all.

Photo by Janis Williams

© 2015 Todd Jenkins

Unconditional

Heartbreak is a primary contributor to our ability to love. When we willingly and freely open ourselves to another and receive, in return, less than love or less than what we understand as love or even purposeful pain, the breaking provides cracks through which grace can flow in and out.

Love is a cumulative undertaking, which sometimes must be experienced deeply, elsewhere, before we allow it to return to places and faces where intentional hurt has been wielded in its name. There is but one perfect love and it is certainly not ours, but its dream is what beckons us to offer more of who we are to those willing to try the same with us, even after we both have genuinely tried and fallen short.

Dogs are the best I've ever seen at loving unconditionally, even after they've been abused. They're smart enough to steer clear of previous perpetrators, and often even seem to be able to sniff-out fear and anxiety in strangers. But when a tender heart approaches gently, they're usually all-in.

When your heart is broken, and you're neck-deep in your feels, let unconditional love put you back together by the rhythm divine mercy offers; but don't be ashamed of your heart's cracks. Those are the paths on which love will one day glide; the map grace will trace to the you created before you were born.

© 2015 Todd Jenkins

All-In

Photo by DeEtta Harris Jenkins

Incarnation isn't as churched-up

a word as you may think.

   The Genesis narrative begins

   with the story of God speaking

   all of creation into existence

   and declaring it – and us – good.

      Then, for good measure,

      so we wouldn't miss

      the grace of it all,

   the gospel birth narratives tell us

   God immerses divine self

   fully into creation in the same

   gestational way we all enter the world:

   by the miracle of birth.

This means God is all-in with us –

that we're loaded with divine nature.

This fullness doesn't just apply to Jesus.

   All of creation reflects the gift

   of this divine incarnation.

   The whole world is full of Godness,

   just waiting for each of us

   to pay attention and participate.

      Carry on, with your

      in-the-flesh self; with

      awareness from all your

      senses and your heart.

© 2015 Todd Jenkins

Inside Out

You, O Lord, are the one

who created us,

inside and out;

the one who has numbered

not just the hairs on our heads,

but also every cell in our bodies.

You are also the creator

of doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists,

and all medical support staff,

with their wisdom, experience, and tools.

Throughout these days to come,

we pray that you, O God,

will keep us all in your strong

but tender hand, and under

the watchful eye of your steadfast love.

And for those who wait and pray,

we ask that you would cover them

with your peace that passes understanding;

through Jesus Christ

the great physician we pray. Amen.

© 2015 Todd Jenkins