Letting Go - article by Joel Hempel
In 1990 when I accepted a call to be the Clinical Pastoral Educator for Lutheran Senior Services (LSS), Marcia was not too happy (yes, she has given me permission to write this). Only two years earlier, she had been hired by United Way to direct the Single Parent Center she was previously hired to create and develop. “I thought we had agreed God called me to this position,” she reminded me. I had no good response. I only knew that after 19 years of serving in Cincinnati’s inner city, I was burned out. So, out of her kindness and faithfulness, Marcia came with me to St. Louis.
In St. Louis, Marcia returned to her first career as a front-line social worker. Little did she know the Spirit was grooming her for a much bigger job – though admittedly not more important than caring for the older adult residents. In God's time, she was hired to develop and administer marketing for LSS.
One of Pastor’s memorable lines in last Sunday’s sermon was, “Jesus had to leave so the Holy Spirit could lead.” The line has poetic flow! Besides, it is true. The whole Triune God doctrine is impossible to figure out. So, we take Jesus at his word: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper…who dwells with you and will be in you.”
Although Jesus promises that the Spirit of God is with us and that he himself will make his presence known within and among his faithful followers (see John 14:21), it does not mean that what he is doing in our life is immediately apparent. That’s a big reason for getting stuck where we are when you know it’s time to move on.
“Where are you stuck? What do you not want to give up?” These piercing questions from Pastor Scott need our honest consideration. Another way of asking the same thing is, “Who do you trust? Yourself or God?” As Pastor said, giving up something good without some equally good replacement in hand is hard. But what about giving up something bad for something better?
What about giving up some sin or harmful practice in our lives? If any of us are stuck in sinful or destructive behavior, Lent is the time to let go. God wants to give us something much better than the sin that is having its way with us. Will we trust God? The Holy Spirit promises to provide us with the strength and courage we need to let God have his way with us.
Like the vocation God was preparing for Marcia long before we even came to St Louis, God’s promise to us is not only that he will replace what is good with what will be fulfilling, he also promises to replace what we know is wrong with what will not only feel right but also bless us and those we serve.
Would it help to talk with a deacon?
