Birth Pangs - General Convention

As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. Then he asked them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birthpangs. “Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:1-14 

We live in a time when the our church and our world are changing rapidly. Some see signs and forecast doom, and others see the signs and know it to be rebirth. Having birthed three babies, without any pain medication whatsoever, "birthpangs" are intense and very real. Your whole bodies shakes, and it can feel as if this is the end. We are living in these kind of times. Yet, we also have the hope that, as we reverberate from the pain and trauma, we might draw together and trust God with every breath. Our loving Creator promises more than a shattering end. There is life anew and resurrection always around the corner.

Loving Creator, we are made in your image

we are your offspring and your people

yet we see the signs and anticipate destruction. 

You have promised more love than we can receive

and more sunrises than we can even imagine.

Give us strength and breath despite the pains

make us patient and faithful in these hard times 

and help us to trust our Savior ever deeper

knowing that new life comes from such times. Amen.