To Be enough...

To get right to the point. God's name is I AM.

As I sit in the office this morning I am struck by all of the things I want, the world seems to want, and where God fits. It seems to me that God's name says it all, I Am. I spend an awful lot of time worrying about how to get what I want, and yet God seems to want nothing. God needs nothing in the sense that God is all and self sufficient. God IS, pure and simple.
But God also chose, mysteriously, to make a covenant, a contract, that included me. This contract makes me want to please God, not to live up to my end of the contract, since my end was met by Jesus, but because I love God.
Problem is there are an awful lot of things I think might please God. One of which is that there are people who need to know God's love, hear the good news of Jesus, and be equipped to be His disciples.
In the past few weeks I've seen more than the usual number of people who need what the Church, and I, as part of that church, can offer. Hurting people, lost people, clueless people, people who, like me would be terrified if they slowed down long enough to wonder where they fit.
On top of all of this is the fear I have of not being enough. Those people need a pastor and a church that will meet their needs. They need worship that will not entertain but welcome them into the real presence of God present in Word and sacrament. They need friendships in the congregation who will draw them close, lift up, challenge, and sharpen them. They need opportunities to make a real difference in their world. Can I... can we be enough.
No we can't...but God is. We need to slow down enough and give God enough of our attention to hear where we fit and what we must do so that we can be enough in our own small part to be the means God uses to be all in all to them.
Take some time today. Slow down. sit down... or kneel if the knees allow, and listen. What do you hear?
In Christ and on the shepherd's path,
Mark