“He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. (Psalm 62:2)
The other week I heard the news of yet another one of my friends who walked away from the faith. I sighed and prayed for him. He was not the first person in my circle to part ways with the community he had once associated with. As I browsed through my contacts, I was reminded of how much the landscape has changed over time. The old coalitions and networks of relationships that once shaped my world are no longer fully intact. Almost overnight, it seems as if the world around us looks radically different than it did 10, 5, or even 2 years ago. New fault lines have emerged, and along with these new fault lines we see the emergence of new coalitions and the obliteration of old ones. If life is a deck of cards, this season feels like the deck is being radically reshuffled. The world is shaking!
THE GREAT SHAKING
For many of us, 2020-2021 felt like the “year” of the great shaking. Prior to this era, we thought we knew our circles. We thought we knew what “camp” we belonged to. We thought we had stability. But 2020-21 shook things up. COVID shook us up over masks, mandates, and vaccines. Communities that were once seemingly on the same page about everything else were suddenly split over these issues. “I didn’t know you felt that way!” was a common reaction. Likewise, political unrest shook up the relational landscape. The sharp divide between the social ethics of left versus right drove a wedge between people who once shared unity. High profile racially charged events gave opportunity for the creation of new fault lines around police reform, equality, and justice. 2020-21 was the “year” of the great shaking!
Prior to 2020, most of us could expect challenging times to be tough on relationships; but I don’t think many of us were anticipating the magnitude of impact these times would have on our relationship to one another in the church- especially not a relationally deep church like HRF. On top of the troubles every church experienced in 2020-to present, our church was also rocked by the reality of the fall of one of our own leaders.
What we have learned in the past few years is that no community, not even a community built around gospel doctrine and gospel culture, is immune to the shockwaves of trouble. That really shouldn’t surprise us, but it’s easy for us to lose our bearings along the way and expect our church to be the exception. There is a temptation in all of our hearts to look for the fullness of heaven now, only to be shocked when we face the reality that we haven’t yet arrived. At least one lesson we should learn is that it is not safe to take refuge in any fortress other than Christ. Our church community is not a mighty fortress. Our convictions are not a mighty fortress. The only mighty fortress is our God.
So here we are, facing the reality of a changing world around us and a church impacted by sin and suffering. Many of us find ourselves asking the question, “Where do we go from here?”
THE PATH FORWARD
So where do we go from here? I think the first step is to acknowledge where we are. As a church, we are not where we were years ago. Many things have been shaken up, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. When things are shaken up, it can have a purifying effect on us. When things get shaken up, it exposes the “stuff” lying on the bottom that we never realized was there all along. For those of us who belong to Christ, we can take comfort in knowing that the “shaking” of things around us is always meant to drive our hope deeper into the things that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:27). So as we grieve the things around us that can be shaken, and have been shaken, let us hold fast to the things that ultimately cannot be shaken. Let us…
“...be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Heb. 12:28-29).
The goal of this season is worship. What hinders our worship is not the list of changing factors around us, but a lack of awareness of the greatness of God, and His goodness to give us a kingdom that cannot be shaken. In the final analysis, everything that shakes around us most ultimately an invitation from God to enjoy Him as the unshakeable, unchanging God. Everything that rattles around us is an opportunity to worship God, in the spirit of gratitude, for giving us what we could never build on our own.
I don’t know what kind of shaking you are experiencing in this season. It may be health, relationships, troubles, doubts, sin, or challenges. On the other side of whatever is shaking, is the hand of God inviting you to deeper reliance and joy in the unchangeable nature of His love for us in Christ.
Let’s respond to His love with gratitude, worship, and a renewed sense of His worthiness. In Christ, the people of God are never hopeless. We have a King who died for us, raised for us, and is seated at the right hand of the Father for us. He called us to His kingdom, and He filled us with His Spirit for a time such as this. There is work to do. There is rebuilding to do. You, as a member of this church, are a part of the rebuilding that God is doing for His glory in this world. That rebuilding begins with us taking responsibility for the local church that God has called us to be a part of in this season. So yes, things around us have been shaken and we ourselves have been shaken, and yet the Lord has given us His Word that He will never leave us nor forsake us. So by the grace of God, let us turn our eyes to Christ, take comfort and courage in His promises, and by the power of His Spirit, let’s participate in the work He’s doing for His glory. Onward!
“He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.” (Psalm 62:2)
With love,
Pastor Tony