Most of you reading this will be familiar with the groaner that goes like this: “How many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb?”

Answer?  “CHANGE??!!!?’  So much negative connotation with that word!

August is the new September. By that, I mean there is a slowly building feeling that new things are beginning, in particular the school year. Can it be possible that we are already hearing about “Back to School” sales? It is not only change, but more importantly growth that marks a new school year. We remember that nervous excitement so well. This notion, replacing “change” with “growth” is key to the vitality of our church (and Church). I do not entirely mean in size, but in a fresh perspective on what God is up to in the world, in us. St. Paul speaks about radical transformation (boy, was he ahead of his time). It is metamorphosis in the Greek. We don’t understand the whole caterpillar-into-a-butterfly miracle, but we know that it happens. It is certainly not some gift or talent we have learned. It is as simple as allowing God’s love to permeate your heart, to grow it.

I love this time of year we are heading into. The temperatures have fallen ever so slightly, NFL training camps will begin, signaling the beginning of football season, and there will soon be growth in our congregation as summer travelers begin to head back to us. Every 500 years there is something breathtakingly new afoot in the life of our Lord’s church. I can’t wait for His growth to amaze us yet again!

I submit to you for devotional consideration 2 Corinthians 3: 7-18 as we recall the incredible, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE God has for us.