Try This On

I bought a shirt several years ago – two actually. I tried one on, it fit nicely, and I decided to buy two. The same company made both shirts and the tag indicated that they were the same size. At home, the second shirt didn’t fit at all. Since then, I try everything on before buying it.

That valuable life-lesson affected other areas of my life. I often sit at my desk and plan a worship service and I think that it looks good, but when we actually do it, there are things I wish I had planned differently. You might notice that once and a while something seems a bit different in our worship. It might be an aberration or a mistake or it might be me just trying something on, seeing if it fits.

I have been to many worship services where the readings end with the words, “Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.” I liked it. I even considered trying it, but it wasn’t until Bishop Ron Cutler wrote about it in this month’s Diocesan Times that I decided we should try it. Let me know what you think.

This new phrase replaces, “The word of the Lord.” I liked this old ending too. It speaks to a vital truth of our Church that we believe the Bible reveals the true Word of God. The problem that many people see with this old phrase is that it suggested that God dictated every word to people. We have never taught that God dictated the words of the Bible to anyone. Men who were simply trying to figure out what the Spirit was saying to the Church wrote every word of the Bible. Our responsibilities today include discerning what the Spirit is say to us.