Forward Today: Do not let your hearts be troubled

Dear friends in Christ,
 
Sometimes it seems like the world is spinning out of control. Authoritarianism is on the rise around the world. Violence is endemic. Each day’s headlines bring more chaos. To top it off, the church seems to be gripped by a death-spiral of decline and irrelevance. And then Jesus speaks in the Gospel of St. John, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
 
How can this be?! Do not be afraid? In these times?!
 
My friends, when Jesus first said these words, times were worse. His people were under the fetters of an oppressive regime. Murderous tyrants were out to execute him. His followers must have looked to outside observers as a group of fearful, unimportant people, doomed to go nowhere.
 
And yet, the disciples of Jesus somehow took his words to heart. They believed. And in their belief, they changed the world. Tyrants faded as the Spirit burned bright.
 
This coming Sunday, we celebrate the Day of Pentecost, the gift of God’s own Spirit on the church—a gift that we still enjoy today. If you want to know what it looks like when the church allows itself to be led by the Spirit of God and not by fear, read the Acts of the Apostles.
 
This Sunday we celebrate nothing less than the transformation of the whole world by God’s Spirit, something that began long ago but continues today. All we need to do is believe—and trust the power of the Spirit.
 
Today as 2,000 years ago, the church is called to change the world. Today, as 2,000 years ago, the church is called to show forth a world defined by grace and mercy, not by fear, evil, sin, and death. Jesus lives, and the Spirit is among us! Thanks be to God.
 
Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

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