By Pastor Jeff Jacobs
Unity Lutheran Parish – St. Paul, Saetersdal and St. Matthew’s, Granger
In his letters to the Corinthian church 2,000 years ago, St. Paul writes about successes and disappoint-ments in their community, occasions for celebration and causes for dismay. He could easily have written much the same to our world today.
We’ve seen progress against COVID with vaccinations and a declining death rate, yet have also seen setbacks with new variants and rising hospitalizations. We’ve had economic improvement with higher wages and less unemployment, but growing problems with inflation and supply issues. We’ve noted better social consciousness in some areas, yet continued injustices in others – successes and disappointments, celebration and dismay…
But whatever the state of the world, Paul affirmed ultimate faith in God’s activity: “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen in temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.” (II Cor. 4:16-18)
Amid the health, social, political, economic and other woes, it can be challenging to see God’s purposes in action. But whether we “see” it or not, God is ultimately undeterred, and as Paul writes later, “So we are always confident… for we walk by faith, not by sight” (II Cor. 5:6a & 7).
While much needs doing to bring healing and hope to our communities, we have also seen God’s blessings in our commitment and our compassion for one another and our world. More than by sight, by faith may we continue to experience the Spirit’s guiding, uplifting power among us for true renewal in 2022 and beyond.
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