You will be changed - June 1
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 41, 52; PM Psalm 44; Eccles. 2:1-15; Gal. 1:1-17; Matt. 13:44-52
As I entered seminary, one of the first charges to our class was to be willing to be changed. We were encouraged to let go of whatever fears and doubts we might have, and even to let go of our hopes and dreams. By letting go of whatever images we hold of who we are, what it means to be a priest, what we already know, and even our own hopes and dreams, we’re more easily able to receive the transforming work of the Holy Spirit during seminary. The goal, they said, is to be changed. Through all the joys and pains, successes and failures, they said, you will be changed.
Friends, this message is for all Christians. God has big plans for our lives and the goal is to be changed. As Christians, we are changed by our baptism into the Risen Life of Christ. The Holy Spirit has been empowering the Church for 20 centuries, working across time and space, changing Christians as members of the Church.
I see this change reflected in the convictions of Paul’s message to the Galatians. He has already been proclaiming the grace of Christ crucified to them. But they are forgetting what Paul has taught them about the Cross of Christ and the Holy Spirit. Though Paul is astonished that they are abandoning God’s call to them, his zeal for Christ is contagious. He preaches and teaches with great energy and clarity, indeed with his whole life as a person changed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
I often hear people say they are looking forward to things getting back to normal, that they can hardly wait to have their lives back from this pandemic we’re all experiencing. I am eager for a new normal to become established, myself. But before we rush back to the way things were, perhaps we can use this time of pandemic to receive the Spirit of Christ in new and different ways by embracing the creative tension that is present. Paul was a devout Jew who was called by God to proclaim Christ to the Gentiles. Upon receiving this call, rather than going back to his comfort zone or conferring with others in Jerusalem, he went away to Arabia. It is unknown exactly what he was doing there, perhaps it was a place to pray and discern his next steps. Regardless, he took an intentional step back before emerging again with a new embodiment of Christ. Sometimes our next best move is to have an active posture of listening and allowing ourselves to be changed by the Spirit of Christ.
-- Susan Oakes, Seminarian
Susan Oakes is a rising senior at the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. This summer, this summer, she is serving as a seminarian intern at Saint Stephen's, her sponsoring parish for ordination.
Questions for Self Reflection
What doubts and fears, hopes and dreams can you let go of all of today?
What is something you will not take for granted once you are able to do it again?
What is something you hope will not return again?
What creative tension do you feel lately?
How can we as members of the Church be changed?
Daily Challenge
While you are spending time at home today, take some time to sit in silence and simply listen. You might hear traffic, birds, children, pets or other sounds; you might be able to let those sounds float by your consciousness and hear only your breath or heartbeat or possibly the even the Spirit.