To think that I went to bed the night before disturbed by the fact that my seat assignment on that flight had been arbitrarily changed by their computer system to a middle seat (God forbid we ever sit in one of those), and woke to a country that had elevated its national security alert to Red – or Critical – due to flights on the airline I was to be flying that morning out of the city from which I was scheduled to depart. My seat assignment suddenly “took the back seat,” if you’ll forgive that awful pun – as my priorities were inexchangeably altered for the rest of that day…and, at some level, have been ever since.

I recall congregation members, in the church I was serving during the Katrina disaster of 2005, arguing for weeks – even months – over the potential loss or surrender of relatively insignificant positions of control within the church’s infrastructure. I remember being appalled that such a minor thing could be given so much attention in the greater context of national trauma and such substantial, horrible loss. They didn’t seem particularly appreciative when I pointed it out, either. And yet it continued. For months. They had lost perspective – or perhaps, never gained it. They found it immensely difficult divorcing themselves and their viewpoints from the paradigm of what they considered their own little niche, carved out and needing to be aggressively defended.

We’ve discussed suffering in a few messages in our Sunday morning services this summer, and its power to change us for the better – and to make us both more like the God we claim to be in relationship with, and more prepared to minister to others, having our perspectives changed and our selfishness replaced with just the slightest dose of humility. I would say too, though, that the context of our “suffering” can make all the difference in the world as well in our understanding of what is important. What one views as suffering in one context (i.e., losing a stupid aisle seat) can be transformed into gratitude for having any seat at all; or in my case last week, having one that didn’t end up in the Atlantic Ocean. What can be construed as the denial of power or position in a local setting can suddenly seem quite miniscule when propped up against the plights of those without homes or food, or even a way out of their catastrophe; some finding themselves, as well, without their very family.

What is my point in all this? We are here, in this life, for a very, very short time. Often, the things that matter in life —the things that really matter—are clouded and obscured by things that, in the grander scheme of things, don’t at all. We get up in arms over change and adjustment, when much more critical things are ignored—such as how we treat one another and how mistreatment can have devastating effects on people; or how someone is pained by neglect which we see in full view but do nothing about; or by doing the work of God instead of vying for positions of control. Moving forward with posturing ourselves to minister to our community and not only to ourselves will take a drastic measure – one which requires us to look outwardly, to think outwardly, to focus outwardly – and ultimately, to decide that some of the things we deem important to us simply are not, in the bigger picture.

I rue the day when I become more concerned with how others view me than how God does – and what God thinks of whom I am becoming. Do I care about those things? Or am I mostly concerned with holding onto things I don’t want to give up? Or about things that just aren’t important, except to me? I dare you to ask yourself the same questions. We all must ask them at some point during major periods of transition, such as the one our church is in at the moment, if we are to navigate through them successfully.

Paul said in I Corinthians 13, “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think as a child, and reason as a child. But when I grew up and became a man, I did away with childish things.” Paul challenges us to allow God to grow us up, in order to learn to begin to see things as God does —to be able to intuit what is important and relevant and what isn’t. And he dares—no, he mandates us—to commit to applying ourselves to those things, and to letting go of the rest —viewing it as, yes, childish.

This is the challenge God is constantly putting forward to us in the Christian life, if we are truly determined to follow Him…to grow up.

This Fall we will undertake a quest to redefine ourselves; to look into the future and give it definition, shape, substance and expression – through prayerful reflection as well as a series of conversations with each other at the congregational level. This is Intentional Interim work – this is what you have called me here to do as your Interim Minister – and this is why churches in transition call us to be their pastors. All of us will need to take on this challenge, this quest – by putting away childish things, and growing up in Christ. How? By prioritizing our relationship with God and our prayer life; by being willing to learn to prefer one another; and by committing time to the work of ministry ahead of us, starting with our discussions and vision planning for the future.

We will be talking more about this as Autumn comes upon us and we begin this work together. I trust you will give time and thought to what ways and extents you can invest yourself in this process. We all must if it is to succeed. Let’s commit together to making that happen. This is my commitment to you…and, I hope, yours to Christ and the church. Amen.