I have been thinking a lot about turning this week, since that is Sunday’s sermon topic. I believe the typical person who attends a mainline Protestant church could probably use a little more repentance in their lives. That is the power of the ashes on our foreheads from Ash Wednesday, a reminder that we need to turn towards God. The word repent has two meanings in the language of the Bible to turn towards God and to go beyond one’s mind. We are always turning one way or another either away from God or towards God. We are also either always settling for conventional wisdom or willing to see a bit further, to see what God might have in mind for us.

I may be a bit naive, but I suspect most of what ails the church today could be renewed if we are willing to go beyond our current ways of thinking and think outside of the box. We seem to have lost the idea that Jesus was an innovator and that Jesus was willing to use whatever medium or method he had at this disposal to get the message heard. Jesus was Steve Jobs before there was a Steve Jobs! There are things that we hold to that we believe to be important that simply aren’t as important to God. As followers of Jesus, should something be important to us that isn’t important to God? This is an important question to consider. What do you need to turn away from so that you may turn towards true life? If we are only willing to look at what we can see, then God’s vision for us will never be fulfilled. But, if we are willing to look just a bit further, to see with courageous vision, I think we will like the view.

May you consider where you are turning today

May you have the courage to expand your mind, heart, and spirit so that you may see as God sees