Time for some Humble Pie

"I'll go out as before and shake myself free" is what Samson said when he was seized by the Philistines. God had blessed Samaon greatly and his strength came from God. God had said as long as he would not cut his hair he would retain his stength. Slowly Samson began to think his stregth came from himself. He became self-reliant until one day he revealed the secrect to his strength. Deliah cut his hair and Samson mistakingly thought he could just shake himself free as before. As the church we have become self-reliant. We see our success comes when we are able to do the right things that can make our church grow. By grow I mean in the number of people who attend. I heard a pastor rant in a video how we need to stand up to the govenrment and come back and gather like we were before. We needed to forget social distancing, masks and any kind of safety measures. While that sounds like what we should do to some and maybe the most faithful thing to do, we are also called by Jesus to be peacemakers. This pastor said something that was troubling to me. He said "the power we have comes from the gathering." The power comes from the people who are called to gather. Really? I always thought that our power came from God. I thought our power came from what Jesus did on the cross. I thought our power came from the Holy Spirit who leads our life. This is always what I had been taught growing up and in Seminary. I was always taught we should not be self-reliant, which is what Adam and Eve sought when the ate the fruit from the tree. I was never taught our power as the church comes from us and the gathering. Has the church become to prideful in the way it fucntions and conducts business? Is what we are going through right now a wake up call to begin to rely on God and not lean on our own understanding? I mean everyone I talk to is trying to figure out how to get back to the gathering. Very few are talking about what God is doing outside the gathering. You see, Samson thought he would just be able to shake himself free by his own power. That pride bound him, blinded him and and led to greater burden. It was not until he humbled himself that he regained his strength. Here is his prayer: "O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God, please strenghten me just once more . . . (Judges 16:28). Maybe we should pray for God's power and strength rather than trying to do it on our own. It is time we humble ourselves before God and allow Him to build His church the way He wants the church to be built. It is time we call on God's power to end the virus' spread and heal everyone who currently has the virus. It is time we call on God's power to bring us together dispite our race. Let's all spend some time calling on God's power to change us and bring peace to the world. It is time to humble ourselves before God!