When we are preparing to delve into uncharted territory (or waters), we enter with a certain degree of trepidation. To leave what is comfortable and secure takes considerable courage. I have never been much of a risk-taker. There is a great saying, “every day, you should do something that scares you.” It’s the thrill ride, quitting one job to take on another, petting a snake, going white-water rafting or zip-lining. The tricky part involves trust. How much do we trust, really, that the ride isn’t going to break down, that the new job will promise greater upward mobility, that the snake won’t bite, that you won’t drown, that the line will hold.

God’s Word gets kind of tricky. It says one thing to one person or nation, it says totally the opposite to another person or nation. We think we have carte blanche to make the Bible fit our own personal desires. Because, after all, we’re saved by grace through faith. We are baptized, so we shall be saved. God forgives all our sins. It gets kind of tricky when I, as a Pastor, utter those words at the beginning of worship when we use the order of confession and forgiveness. What gives me that assurance, that right, that authority? Is it so because my approval panel at seminary gave me the green light to graduate, receive a call, and get ordained? The tricky answer is, YES! I say tricky, because as a very flawed human creature, I have no worthiness where granting pardon and remission of sins is concerned. In MY eyes. But in the eyes of God, all of us flawed sinners-made-saints are worthy.

It gets kind of tricky, speaking the truth in love. Should we utter every harsh word that comes to mind? Of course not. For myself, and others too I suppose, the uncharted territory (or waters), the undiscovered country is knowing how and when to be graceful and loving when you are in those situations of potential conflict. Listening to understand, not to respond. Being open to the possibility that your interpretation of God’s Word may not mesh entirely with someone else’s. The one certainly we have is that God through Christ understands, forgives, and loves us unconditionally.

Pastor Art