August 2, 2007

“Shoulder to Shoulder”

I have been having a lot of pain in my right shoulder, and so now I am doing some medication and rehab to deal with a problem in that shoulder. I have had lots of new experiences during this process, including having my first MRI test (which I did not enjoy – too claustrophobic and too noisy, but the nurses and attendants were very helpful in guiding me through it). I have had my shoulder pulled, tested, stretched, x-rayed, and MRI’d (if that is a word) until I was ready to cry “uncle” more than once. So at this point I am looking forward to getting it healed.

I always try to understand what I should learn from such new experiences. One learning came from a smart-aleck therapist who said to me, “Looks like you have been trying to shoulder too much of the load.” I don’t know if he knew about my role as bishop when he made that statement or not, but he is probably right about my typical attempt to do more than I can or should do.

I have also looked at the uses of the word “shoulder” in the Bible to try and see what God might want me to learn from this whole experience. I have found a wonderful text in Zephaniah of all places, where that Old Testament prophet offers a word of hope to the Israelites, including this statement as translated by Eugene Peterson:

“In the end I will turn things around for the people. I'll give them a language undistorted, unpolluted - words to address God in worship and, united, to serve me with their shoulders to the wheel.” (other translations say "working shoulder to shoulder")

Zephaniah is looking forward to a day when God’s people will be united in worship and in work, serving God, and standing “shoulder to shoulder” in their efforts. The prophet goes on to predict that God will draw people from far and near to come and be a part of the “core group” of the “Israel that is truly Israel” – those who “make their home in God.”

When that happens, says the prophet, then we should rejoice because:

“God has reversed his judgments against you
and sent your enemies off chasing their tails.
From now on, God is Israel's king,
in charge at the center.
There's nothing to fear from evil ever again!”

I am not sure what all of this has to do with my shoulder, but I love the image of God’s people working together, shoulder to shoulder, as the true followers who find their home in God and who discover that there is nothing to fear from evil ever again. And I am especially drawn to the image that “God is in charge at the center” of our lives together.

I invite you to consider what it might mean for all of us here in Indiana (and around the world) to stand shoulder to shoulder for God’s purposes, and to discover in the process that God is "at the center" of our lives and our world. May it be so.

from Bishop Michael J. Coyner

Indiana Area of the United Methodist Church
"Making a Difference ... in Indiana
and around the world"

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