Reflecting on Serving at LaSalle Sunday with Pastor Brent

Hey there, LaSalle—

I'm so grateful for everyone who participated in this week's Serve Sunday at the church, when we took a beat to focus (mostly) on our internal life together as a church. We highlighted visible and invisible roles that keep the life of our church going and urged people to get involved in whatever ways God is inviting you to get involved. We explored our spiritual gifts (and I was surprised when the assessment revealed "craftsmanship" as my own most evident spiritual gift!). We connected in conversation, and I was especially thrilled to see folks who are brand new to our community getting to know folks who have been here for years.

I'm conscious that our church looked inward at a time when the needs and grief of the world around us feel especially loud: there are still migrant families at Larabee and Division who need basic essentials as the temperatures drop. The devastation in Palestine and Israel is shocking and disturbing, on top of so many other international crises. Week after week we serve people in need at Breaking Bread and LaSalle Neighbors. (On that note: Thank you to the youth and their adult helpers who spent Sunday morning preparing toiletry bags for those who need them!)

And yet I am convicted that living out God's distinct calling for LaSalle Street Church is one of the best ways we can participate for God's purposes in the world, purposes that include profound needs down the street and across the globe. I mean it—at our best, LaSalle Street Church is the kind of community that spurs each other to pray fervently, to serve tirelessly, and to love self-sacrificially. And LaSalle Street Church is at our best when we care for each other well, including all those visible and invisible roles that keep the life of our church going. I am convinced that when you greet someone warmly at the door, it matters. When you pray for someone's need on the intercessory prayer email list, it matters. When you read the words of Scripture aloud in the presence of God's people, it matters.

This autumn has felt like an ongoing season of transition and newness, and I find my imagination returning again and again to Rev. Liz's image of a banquet table. It's an especially vivid picture for this season in our church's life, when so many of us are figuring out how we want to connect, where we fit, and what we have to offer. Take a moment to imagine a big group gathered around a table for a meal—maybe an extended family who has gathered together for Thanksgiving, the dishes coming out of the oven, someone laying out silverware, everyone chowing down, the clank of plates and glasses going into the dishwasher—and ask God to show you who you are in the picture:

Are you tired from a long season of effort and labor, and what you need is to relax and receive the hospitality of others?

Are you the one who's full of energy and ready to contribute, and you're looking around for someone who can point you to a specific need?

Are you faithfully serving in a consistent way, and you're ready to show someone else the ropes?

Are you feeling a little nudge that it might be time for you to take a scary step and serve in a way that feels new and unfamiliar?

Are you noticing a gap in our life together, a specific area of need, and looking around for others who can help you to fill it?

Wherever you find yourself—washing the dishes, volunteering to mash the potatoes, longing for a nap—pray that God continues to reveal to you the precious, irreplaceable gifts that God has given to YOU for God's purposes in your neighborhood, at LaSalle, and for the world. In the weeks ahead, we'll continue to invite you to find ways to get connected and serve, and we hope you'll think and pray deeply about how God is calling you. Above all, remember that it is God who calls, and gives, and invites, and who is at work in the world, and we are fortunate indeed to find our places at God's table.