More For Us To Do

This year, April is filled with High Holy Days like Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter/Resurrection Sunday. The season of Lent (a pilgrimage of repentance) gives way to Eastertide (the celebration of the Risen King). During Lent, we reflect and repent of our sins. In Eastertide, we celebrate that we have been saved from our sins.

Unfortunately, we often leave it there—we acknowledge that we have been saved from sin and death but forget that we have also been saved for something. Jesus was crucified, died, and was resurrected so that we could fully live into who we were already created to be. It doesn’t stop at, “Yay, Jesus conquered death.” There is more for us—there is more for us to do!

One of the things that has begun to weigh more heavily on my heart is the state of God’s creation. Water scarcity is a desperate situation in Texas. We experience the effects of “urban heat islands” when asphalt, concrete, and pavement prevent areas from fully cooling. In our eagerness for progress, convenience, and efficiency, we create vast amounts of waste. Our “disposable” culture has even begun to shape how we view people and creation—treating them as inconvenient and disposable.

We were singing How Great Thou Art in church a few weeks ago. That hymn resonates deeply with many of us. I couldn’t help but think: How long before brooks run dry, the forest glades disappear, and we can no longer hear the birds sing because there is no place for them to nest? Is my love for God reflected in how I care for God’s creation?

What could you do personally? What could you do at home? What can we do here at church that you would be willing to participate in and invest in? How can we engage more with the HUB? EFUMC has already been working with Churches of Restoration/Creation Care, and we are making another effort to form a “Green Team Ministry.” This team will help guide our congregation in practical ways to love God by caring for God’s creation.

We were created and saved for a purpose—loving God, loving God’s people, loving God’s creation, and serving all created beings and things to the glory of God.

Saved For More,

 Pastor Michelle