As the old year passes and the New Year moves in, I am considering something about the connection between physics and ministry. It was Sir Isaac Newton who discovered with an apple the principle that “what goes up must gome down…” I must acknowledge that I never made it very far past the rudimentary parts of physics. I do not think I could explain Newton’s three laws of Motion much less how they and his universal Law of Gravitation helped explain Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion. However, I do see connections with physics and ministry as we examine the “forces” at work in our life together.
Our Christian community is predicated on two forces — centrifugal and centripetal — those which draw us in and those which send us out. As I said at our Annual Parish Meeting, Sunday worship is an important opportunity for everyone to come together and offer our praises to God. Many are drawn together to hear the scriptures and preaching and to be nourished by the holy sacraments. And, just as we are brought together, also, we are sent out to “love and serve the Lord…” both on Sunday and everyday.
Almost everything we do in the life of the church carries some of the rhythm of the two forces — the ones that pull us in and the ones that send us back out. Yet, at the center of it all is one whose “force” calls us in and sends us. From what I understand of physics, without one object in the center in motion there would not be two forces both at work. In the physics of ministry, thanks be to God for Jesus at the center beckoning first with, “Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…” (Mt. 11:28) and then sending forth with “Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations…” (Mt 28:19)
As we welcome in the New Year, I pray that we experience the constant movement of the “forces” of God’s love and work in and through us.
Sincerely in Christ,
Tom H
Mt 9:38
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