And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also, he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true” (Revelation 21:5).
On February 2 Gwyn Meisenbach, our Lay Leader, announced that I was being appointed to Greenville First UMC as of July 1. We talked with each other that day in Holy Conversation and I said,
“I look at you and I smile. I just do because we have a good life together…Our life as United Methodists goes this way…Pastoral families and congregations are matched together for a season of ministry, a season of life, and certainly for us here a season of love. And we are touched by all that you have given us.”
With the announcement of my appointment to Greenville we enter a new stage of our common life to prepare for Beverly’s and my departure and the arrival of a new pastor/pastoral household. This upcoming change is new for us but not unfamiliar.
In Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World, Tim Ferriss asked Tim Urban, “What is the book (or books) you’ve given most as a gift, and why? Or what are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?”
Urban responded: The Fountainhead was a major influence when I wrote a long blog post about why I think Elon Musk is so successful. To me, he’s like Roark—he’s tremendous at reasoning from first principles. In the post, I call this being a “chef” (someone who experiments with ingredients and comes up with a new recipe). Musk is unusually cheflike. Most of us spend most of our lives being like Keating, or what I call a “cook” (someone who follows someone else’s recipe) (Ferriss, Timothy. Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World (pp. 41-42). HMH Books. Kindle Edition. Bold is mine)
I like the contrast of “chef” and “cook.” Perhaps this coming transition is an invitation to put on our chef hats and experiment with known ingredients and come up with new recipes for ministry in Wayland.
Another way to describe this transitional experience is found in a chapter on Innovation in Charles Duhigg’s book, Smarter Faster Better:
“Our analysis of 17.9 million papers spanning all scientific fields suggests that science follows a nearly universal pattern,” (Brian) Uzzi and (Ben) Jones wrote. “The highest-impact science is primarily grounded in exceptionally conventional combinations of prior work yet simultaneously features an intrusion of unusual combinations” (Charles Duhigg, Smarter Faster Better, 213-214; Bold is mine).
Could “an intrusion of unusual combinations” be a creative way of describing God’s way of “making all things new” in Jesus Christ?
- Making all things new means that what we already have is given a new purpose, direction, or energy.
- We already have what God will use for justice, compassion, and peace.
- We already have what God will use for us to be a beacon of Christ in our community.
So, we can look at each other and our gifts for ministry as being made new by God’s grace. There can be deeper, different conversations and decisions about the future of Wayland UMC. And that is refreshing! Just as God made things new for us in 2014 until now, God acts again to renew and revive our congregation.
And God has been doing this all along. I said on February 2, “I looked back and since 1960 in terms of the record of churches and pastors, I am the 12th pastor to serve Wayland United Methodist Church.” That “intrusion of unusual combinations” is happening as we will welcome a next pastor here and as Beverly and I go to Greenville First UMC which will be my 8th appointment since returning to Michigan in 1989.
We are loved and blessed and brought together and sent out through God’s “intrusions of unusual combinations.” May we trust that the things and people God brings together in Jesus Christ will be made new for God’s purposes in this time and place.