Undoubtedly we have work to do. As we work together in new communities of grace, it is easy to become mired in tedious details. Teachers have to make lesson plans. Committee chairs have to produce agendas and place reminder calls to forgetful committee members. Altar care volunteers have to wash dishes.
Ushers have to pick up discarded bulletins.
Almost all members of faith communities come to a time when they wonder what happened to that rosy vision of God's grace. Like the persistent widow, we must return again and again, asking for justice and grace, wondering when our request will be answered and when our harvest will be complete. Yet even in the ambiguous, challenging context of our planning and our dreaming, the themes of this season remind us that our labor is held in the arms of God. In the end, growth does occur and patterns do change, despite our frailties and our weaknesses. Perhaps the heart of the message in these weeks of busy growth is that God stands in the midst of our work.