A New Thing: Part 9

Gentle Reader,

Do not remember the former things
    or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
    now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.

– Isaiah 43:18-19 (NRSV)

As you read this I am making my way toward Nashville, Tennessee, for this year’s Wesleyan Theological Society Conference. (Or, as I like to call it, the Grand Gathering of the Nerds). I’m looking forward to seeing seminary friends and mentors. I have no idea how I am going to choose what sessions to attend because almost everything looks interesting. I’m so grateful to have my mom attend with me as her first trip post-chemotherapy and post-mastectomy. Not really sure that this plane is going to actually land because it doesn’t make sense for a few thousand pound hunk of metal to glide through the air miles above the ground. I’m happy to have a down day in Nashville to explore a little.

And I am very nervous.

This is my third time at the WTS conference. I attended via Zoom in 2022. Last year I had the privilege of co-presenting a paper that I co-wrote with Dr. Dean Blevins. (Side note: this paper has since been split into parts and will be published by two different journals over the next few months). This year, I am solo presenting. Someone on the committee thought that my paper was interesting enough for me to come and talk about it for roughly 15 minutes on Friday afternoon.

That’s it. Just 15 minutes, give or take. The rest of the time I just get to learn, drink coffee, and probably buy books because there’s always vendors on site.

Those 15 minutes loom large in my mind.

It’s a new thing. A new opportunity.

I posted this on my Facebook page the other day:

I’ve been thinking of myself as a writer who happens to preach. And while I’ll probably always be more comfortable with the written word, the Holy Spirit told me to stop that. I don’t just happen to preach. I’m called to preach. Every sermon of mine isn’t a grand slam (nobody’s are). That’s okay. A preacher just needs to be faithful to share God’s truth and love.

Why do to share this? To say that God is the source of our identity. Don’t self-limit like I’ve been doing. What God calls you to, God empowers you for.

Don’t you hate when your own words come back to bite you?

Today my new thing is looking at reality from a different perspective. It’s not a fluke that my proposal was chosen from among the many entries for the conference. The committee didn’t pick me in order to make fun of me or to delight in my potential failure. I have something to contribute to this academic conversation (one that I truly hope can be brought into the practical, daily rhythms of the Church and not just exist in the fabled ivory tower space). The theological nerds are friendly. They want to expand the nerd circle and include me in it. I believe that’s a God thing.

What God calls you to, God empowers you for.

So, yeah, my knees will knock a little when it’s my turn to stand behind the podium and talk about how the Church can best respond to the unraveling of public education systems in the United States. When I’m done I’ll think of things I could have said differently. But the actual doing, despite the fear – God is with me in that.

This entry is more self-focused and vulnerable than I had planned, so I thank you for reading thus far. I hope you find encouragement in my imperfections. I will always and forever need Jesus just as much as you do. Next week we’ll wrap up our mediation on this passage. Until then: What is God calling you to? What new thing or new space is God empowering you to do or to enter into?

GRACE AND PEACE ALONG THE WAY,

MARIE

Image Courtesy of Brina Blum