Monday night I attended the Ordination Service for the Central Texas Conference to support a friend being ordained as an Elder in the UMC. It’s known for being a long service - similar to a graduation. In addition to a sermon and the laying on of hands on each of the candidates, there are songs, scripture, and liturgy read. And to be honest, liturgy is not my favorite part of church. For whatever reason, I never quite connect to it.
But during the service there was this liturgy between the Bishop and all clergy - those who have been serving in the church for 30 years and those who were just ordained. The Bishop asked the clergy a series of questions. One question asked was, “Will you do your best to pattern your life in accordance with the teachings of Christ?” The response of the clergy was, “I will, with the help of God.”
I was encouraged by this statement. No one, without God, is able to live fully into who God has called us to be. Not even pastors.
Then I read this in Ephesians 2 this morning:
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in marcy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved.”
Ephesians 2: 1-5
All of us, by nature, are children of wrath. We have desires that pull us further from God. They distract us from God’s purpose. They shift our priorities from being active participants God’s kingdom. They can steal our joy, our hope, and our love.
BUT GOD! God sees us and says, I have so much more to offer you. God says, you might be dead now, but I have a way for you to live that will make you fully alive. And just as we are all by nature, by birth, children of wrath - God calls all of us to be children of God.
See I don’t think that question should be asked only to clergy. I think that question should be asked to each of us. Each of us have been adopted as daughters and sons and are called to follow Jesus’ way of life.
Through God’s mercy and grace, we have the opportunity to live for a greater purpose. But even still, it’s not on our shoulders. God commits to continually mold us - for we are God’s workmanship (Eph. 2:10). So when someone asks you “Will you do your best to pattern your life in accordance with the teachings of Christ?” We can confidently respond, “I will, with the help of God.”
Written By: Rachel Moraw
P.S. Wanna know the even cooler thing? By the grace of God, as we live out the way Jesus called us, as we care for the poor, as we listen to those who are silenced, as we fight for those who are oppressed, we get to share the good news. The good news that they too are called children of God.