Some days, I just look at my computer, hoping God will supernaturally possess the chips and circuits and a newsletter article and four sermons would pop out. It’s a hope and a prayer born out of panic and frustration more than any real need for God to write an article for the newsletter. If God really wanted to write the newsletter article, do you think he would need to use my computer?
Now and then writing just becomes hard. The creative process doesn’t follow any schedule and doesn’t come up on demand. It has to be nurtured and cultivated. There is real work that goes into keeping ideas floating around in your head.
I know, I know, I just said a bad word: work. We Lutherans are suspicious of that word. We rightly believe that our salvation and our standing with God is by Grace through Faith. Luther himself in his explanation to the third article of the Apostle’s Creed in the Small Catechism says “I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him….”
That’s true. And it is also true that just like the creative process, we have to be open and ready to hear and receive the gift of Jesus Christ and his new life. We have to be listening and ready to answer the call of God. We have to be vigilant in looking for God’s voice.
Because you know, God could take over my computer or your computer one day and spit out a crystal clear message for our lives. Or God could call on the phone in the voice of a neighbor wanting to go out for coffee just to talk. Or God could be working the fields with you.
Dr. Kevin Anderson, a marriage counselor from
