Pastor's Blog
Sizzlin' Website Posted 1.29.2010It’s taken hours of tedious labor. Months of it. It has sucked up hours in discussion. But as you visit our website, you see the sizzle and glitz. It looks effortless. You see the glory, not the pain. But it has finally launched and is visible to the world. Have you visited our new website yet? It is amazing to me that you can type in one of about five different web addresses and you will still arrive at the same place, our website. It is amazing to me that I can sit at my computer and instantly make changes to the website. I’ve only messed it up once this week. My goal? Never again!
What you see as your browse the new site took hours of planning and execution. As you enjoy the new church website, remember that what you cannot see are decisions made over months in careful planning and you have navigated a jumble of Internet connections. You see the final “glory,” not the struggle that brought it about. It is the suffering that magnifies the glory. And the result? Information. Inspiration. Image. We want an accurate image that reflects who we are and the wonder of Who we serve.
To clearly and positively present Jesus took hours of labor and baffling interaction with modern technology. It looks so easy. But it was not. Much like the story of our lives. Suffering before glory.
This week I read a story about Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the first African Secretary General of the United Nations. His grandfather, Boutros Ghali, the only Christian prime minister of Egypt, was shot by an assassin in 1910. Cairo crowds hailed his Moslem killer, but the family did not intend anyone to forget their grandfather. They adopted his given name, Boutros (Peter), and anointed his new grandchild with the same given name. The family then built a church in Cairo to honor the martyred patriarch. “On his tomb were the words ‘God is witness that I served my country to the best of my ability,’“ says Boutros-Ghali. “For a boy to grow up with such things creates an impact. I felt I would betray the tradition of our family if I didn’t play a political role.” Suffering before glory. And really, suffering led to glory.
That is the story of Jesus as well. Pain preceded glory. We relish the glory, but we avoid the pain. But they go together. They are connected. In the stories we tell we often polish them to a grand shine, but forget to explain the anguish, which led to the grand telling. Today is the day for suffering. Glory will come tomorrow.
So press on. Remember that as the pain increases, so the glory. And then, perhaps it is time to dig a little deeper in our relationships with other in order to discover God’s handiwork in the middle of struggle. Invest more time in people. Listen to their story. And then, don’t forget to check out www.pccpv.org. Enjoy the sizzle!
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