“Unfinished: Discovering God’s Call In The Not Yet”
This Lent, the congregations I am called to serve are diving into a series titled, “Unfinished: Discovering God's call in the not yet.” It is a series that meets us in the true in-between of Lenten wilderness, between Mountaintop moments of Transfiguration and Easter morning resurrection. The series creators share it this way:
“Honor the space between no longer and not yet,” so writes author and life coach, Nancy Levin. We can probably all think of a host of experiences from our own lives in which we occupy the space between no longer and not yet. The space between no longer pre-pandemic life and not yet what will settle into post-pandemic life. The space between before and after a medical diagnosis, before and after living with a loss, before and after navigating a relationship change, a job change, a move. The space between childhood and adulthood, young adulthood and midlife, midlife and the autumn years. The space between yesterday and tomorrow, your comfort zone and uncharted territory. The space between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.
The church by its very nature, and we as people of faith, live our whole lives in the space between no longer and not yet. Cross-marked and Spirit-sealed, we dwell in the space between the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the final fulfillment of God’s hope-filled promises. In
this space between, we dwell in the unfinished as unfinished people. As John reminds us, “we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.”
But we are not left alone in this space between no longer and not yet. We are not left alone to navigate this unfinished life by ourselves. God is here - presenttense, each and every day - calling to us, accompanying us, renewing and recreating us over and over again.
Throughout Lent, we are reminded that we are always called to more and never done living out God’s call on our lives. God calls us both once and forever as well as over and over again. With each call we are reminded of the promise that nothing can change the call and claim God has placed on our lives - not our greatest successes or our worst failures. God is always calling us, inviting us to join the Holy in the work of bringing about the reign of God. Every week in Lent and beyond, even as our unfinished, imperfect selves, we are reminded that we are being called in so many ways. We are Called to
Renewal, to Values, to Openness, to Attentiveness, to Regret. We are Called by God to Experience God's Presence, called to Love, called to the Cross, and called to Resurrection.
For those of us observing this Lenten season, may we be reminded that we are called to do so, so much in this Godgiven life. While being created as a child of God is God’s work done for us, living in response to that gift means we are not invited to apathy, but invited to live in reactive love. The grace that God has bestowed on us is the best gift we can receive, and in reaction to that gift, we are invited to notice and go to the places God is calling us. While responding to God’s calls is not always easy, Lent is a time in this unfinished life in which we are invited into experiences of reset and renewal, even in the wilderness, trusting that God is with us to help us to imagine again and anew how we live into God’s call everyday of our life. May you experience the rest and renewal you seek. May this time of Lent be one where you see all that God is calling you to. And may the Spirit empower you to live into that baptismal call every morning you awake. May you have a blessed Lenten wilderness journey.
Pastor Sharayah Robinson Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Kathryn-NomeFingal Parish