Thursday, December 14, 2023

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.

Philippians 3: 7-8

As a retired pastor and grandfather, I still daily consider what it is that I am called to do.

Paul daily considered what he was called to do as a faithful Jewish male who had changed his life because he had been called by Christ. Now what was important to him was knowing Christ Jesus as his Lord.

The other Jewish required rituals such as circumcision that had been required of him he now regarded as rubbish. Christ accepted Paul’s commitment to follow him without trying to prove what a good, religious person he was.

Over the past 43 years of ordination, I have attempted to develop Lutheran services to aid both children needing homes and refugees needing life in a new country. I felt that my personal and educational background called me to do this work. In the end, the structures I had set up to do this work were torn down and ended. As Grandpa Bill Erat, now I try my best to serve my grandkids and their parents as I am able, but I so often am frustrated that I cannot be everything that I might think a grandpa should be.

So I learn from St Paul that what is of surpassing value is knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. He accepts me and accepts you because we no longer attempt to prove to God how good we are in doing good works for others. I have learned why Paul regards his good Jewish past and what he was called to do as rubbish.

Yes, I feel that I was called in my ministry to serve families and refugees but I know that now in the end I can suffer the loss of all these things and in that process gain Christ. I know that I do not have to prove to him how great a follower of him I am. Rather, he accepts me as a struggling disciple who seeks forgiveness based on his own self-giving in his life, death, and resurrection.

Lord Jesus, help me to know and trust in your boundless love for me, a struggling servant who needs your limitless love for sinners like me. Amen.

Rev. William Erat is a retired pastor and member at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Glenside.