Reflection for Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

As the leaves begin to turn and fall has officially started, I find myself thinking about all the things that change, and how good change is.

In nature, plants cycle: flowers bud, then bloom, then fall. Leaves, too, bud, shine, change colors, and fall to the ground, making way for new growth.

In our personal lives, there is always change. We grow and change s individuals, in our relationships, in how we relate to the world.

In the Church, which is made of changing people, things are always changing. New hymns are constantly being written, new pastors are ordained even as older ones retire. In our synod, we have a new bishop, who is beginning to find his way in this new office, while we as the synod are finding our way with him.

Change is not something to be afraid of, to be angry about, or to try to ward off. Change is a good and natural part of being alive. Sometimes it is sudden and sometimes it comes about slowly, barely noticed. Sometimes it is welcome and encouraged, and sometimes we struggle to understand what is happening and how we can adapt to it. Everything in creation changes.

And yet, one thing remains the same, and one thing only: “It is God who is at work in us, enabling us both to will and to work for God’s good pleasure.”

God’s love remains. Though the world changes around us, God’s love is present. The way we experience that love may change, and there are plenty of examples in scripture of God having to change God’s own plans to work with human change and sinfulness, but God’s mercy, God’s love, God’s grace: these constants do not wane.

Psalm 136 traces this steadfastness of God throughout the history of the Israelite people. For each of the twenty-six verses, a moment in history is named or referred to, and then the refrain: “for God’s steadfast love endures forever.” Good kings, bad kings, escaping from Egypt, toiling under Pharaoh, in possession of their land, loss of the land… in all things, “God’s steadfast love endures forever.”

What would it look like for this to be the refrain in our lives? New job, old job, new friends, old friends, good health and bad, change that is welcome and change that is frightening: throughout it all, God’s steadfast love endures forever. It is God who we serve, God who is at work in us, enabling us to serve God and love God and work for God’s good pleasure.

God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.