Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
My weeks have changed over the last few of months. There are several reasons for it. First, the COVID-19 pandemic. I frequently wake up in the morning and I have to give serious thought to what day of the week it is. While each day seemed to have a specific feel, prior to March, those feelings have gone. Kids have not been in school and I don’t go to worship in our building on Sunday morning and the days that my wife, Vicky, works are different. She now has Thursday and Friday off and works on the weekend. Therefore, I have started to work on Saturdays while the kids are still sleeping and generally come home in the early afternoon.
Saturdays now look like this. I get up around 6:30am, with no alarm. Then I go downstairs and have a cup of coffee with Vicky before she leaves for work. Next, I go get donuts for breakfast. (While a lot has changed, Donut Saturday in our house has not!). Lastly, I head to church, and generally arrive by 8:30.
After I have written several pages of notes and gotten some form of outline down and feel comfortable enough with the sermon, I go and sit in the sanctuary. I have always enjoyed an empty sanctuary. Sometimes, while sitting there, I will run through my sermon in my head to ensure I know what I want to say. Other times, I try and empty my head and not think about anything. Most times, it is a combination between the two.
Sitting is the sanctuary is quiet and peaceful. It also is powerful and humbling. There is a sense of calm that comes over me because what I am going to talk about somehow feels engrained in me, as if it is an extension of who I am. There is also a sense of fear and trepidation that leads to humility, because what I am about to talk about is so much bigger than myself and there is so much I don’t know. Therefore, one thing I do know is I will some part of it will be wrong.
I think this gets at the essence of Martin Luther’s quote, “Sin Boldly.” It is not saying, do things that we know are wrong and do them anyways. Rather, Luther is trying to get across the idea that no matter what you do, you are going to mess up at some point. You are not going to get everything right. You can either let the idea of messing up stop you from trying, or you can embrace it and do the best you can, knowing you will get something wrong.
I hope you all can feel that in your daily life. You are not perfect. None of us are. We can live, being afraid of making mistakes and live a life that simply tries to manage it and make as few mistakes as possible or we can “Sin Boldly.” We can try. We can experiment. We can live. We can own our mistakes when they happen and try again. In the first way, we become hesitant and fearful and try to live in a bubble. The second way is exciting and terrifying and everything in between.
As a church, as individuals, and for me as a preacher, let’s try for the second way. (And have a donut while doing it!)
Peace and Grace, Pastor Tim