Ordinary Time

Paul had impressive credentials as a leader. However, the real power of Paul’s life wasn’t how well recognized his preaching was, or how many important people he knew, or how many credentials he had. It was the way he so profoundly and intimately entered through his own suffering and renewal into the cruciform pattern of Christ, returning in love to be a servant witness of what he had experienced.
This is a radically different take on leadership than the one promoted by Greco Roman society, where strength, power, wealth, and social influence was honoured and weakness was suspect and a source of shame.
Paul, however, was not ashamed of his weakness, his suffering, or his imprisonment at the hands of the empire. Rather, these experiences for Paul became a portal through which his suffering co-mingled with the suffering of Jesus and the resurrection power of Jesus.
There are a lot of voices out there that are trying to define us. Telling us who we should be, and who we shouldn’t be. Telling us therefore, what we can do, and what we cannot. Voices that tell us it is not safe to be human, to show weakness, to make mistakes, to suffer. That somehow, we are “less than” for these things. Whomever those voices belong to, they don’t belong to God. You, with all your weaknesses, are the perfect container for God’s glory.
Deep peace and blessing,
Anne
Rev. Anne Baxter Smith
Pastor, Church at Southpoint
No comments