(with acknowledgement to the missionary, prophetic zeal of The Rev. Stephen Bouman)

Every year in the fall, rostered leaders of the Florida-Bahamas Synod are (ahem) “cordially commanded” to attend Conference on Ministry. I actually look forward to going. I would attend, even if not “expected” to. The ministerial collegiality is so enriching; seeing peers and friends whom I don’t get to see, other than at Synod Assembly. Relaxed, in a retreat setting. Free, quiet time. Great sharing. Especially, good speakers, including the aforementioned Stephen Bouman. He was on the ground at 9/11 as then-Bishop of the Metro NY Synod. Oh, the stories he has. In every single one that I have heard, the Spirit is felt. Amid unspeakable destruction and human suffering, his was a beacon of hope. He was just present.

Stephen wrote a book titled “The Mission Table.” Something profoundly spiritual often occurs when people gather around tables. When we are present at a table, we make ourselves vulnerable to the prophetic imagination, to the stirrings in our hearts. We hunger for more. At the Lord’s table, we often are too caught up in ourselves, our movements (“I hope I don’t trip or lose my balance when I get off my knees”, or “I hope I don’t drop the wafer”). At the Lord’s house at Joy, we alternate between altar rail communion and intinction. Aside from music, nothing creates more opinion than the method of serving the Lord’s Supper! The next time you are kneeling or standing at the Communion rail, take a moment or two to look at your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Whether you are aware or not, you are gathered as one around a mission table. Be open to the profoundly spiritual nature of what binds us together.

I am so comfortable here serving as your Pastor. It feels right, divinely ordained even. It is meant to be. That being said, I can’t help feeling that you and I are square pegs in the round holes of our surrounding post-modern culture. I can’t help feeling that the Lord is calling us to create mission tables. Having an empty chair waiting to be filled (in the small group vernacular). The eating establishments you frequent – might these not become mission tables? I would love the opportunity, the invitation, to be present at such gatherings in our community. Breaking bread, even pouring from  a pitcher of beer (hey, Luther did it!) and learning more about how God comes to us and invites us where he is already waiting. The same God who loves you, I, and those we have yet to meet – unconditionally.

Pastor Art