A Prayer to ReimagineFutureChurch
Phil Miglioratti
Reimagine.Network
Please join me and other future-focused “reimagineers” in a bold prayer—
Jesus,
We praise, glorify and yield to you as the Chief Shepherd of the global Church.
We believe and are motivated by your promise: “I will build my Church; the power of death will not be able to defeat it.”
With increasing awareness and concern of our rapidly and radically changing society, we express with faith and hope this prayer:
◦ We ask you to cast a vision for the future church you are already building
◦ Into men and women, young and old, who lead by loving and serving
◦ In every community, county, country
◦ Set them (and us) on a mission to disrupt the “static” quo that inhibits and
even ignores the Spirit’s leading toward a revived future
{Static: “showing little change; characterized by a lack of movement,
animation (enlivened; energized; vigor-vitality, or progression”}
◦ And use them (and us) to call the Church to:
◦ Pray with a listening ear
◦ Speak truth with love
◦ Act with humble compassion
◦ Partner with others in Christ
BONUS Content >>>SCROLL for RELATED COMMENTARY by GUEST-POSTERS + FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS
GUEST-POST: When Jesus Looked Up
“When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up.” (Luke 19:5)
When Jesus Looked Up
Luke tells us that Jesus enters Jericho and is “passing through.” Jerusalem lies ahead. For chapters now, Luke has followed Jesus toward the city and all that waits for him there. Still, Jesus doesn’t move through Jericho as though everything around him is only scenery. He’s on his way, and he pays attention to where he is.
Zacchaeus wants to see who Jesus is, but the crowd is blocking his view. So he runs ahead and climbs a sycamore-fig tree, attempting to get a glimpse of Jesus as he passes by. But, when Jesus reaches the spot, he looks up.
“Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”
In Luke, Jesus often uses that word “must” for things that belong to the unfolding purpose of God in his life. Going to Zacchaeus’s house belongs to that purpose. Jesus is moving toward Jerusalem, and must spend time with Zacchaeus, too.
It reminds me of when the journalist Tom Junod went to interview (Mr.) Fred Rogers. Junod arrived prepared to observe him, ask questions, gather material, and understand the man he’d been assigned to profile. What surprised him was Rogers’s unusual capacity for attention. Rogers asked questions and waited for the answers. He never seemed to listen simply to prepare the next thing he wanted to say. His attention could feel almost unnerving because most of us aren’t accustomed to being listened to that way.
Junod went to study Fred Rogers and gradually discovered that Fred Rogers was paying attention to him.
Zacchaeus experienced something similar. He climbed the tree to see Jesus only to discover he is the one truly being seen.
We spend our lives among people whose inner worlds remain partly beyond our reach. Even those we love deeply carry parts of themselves we know little about. Years of friendship, family life, shared meals, and long conversations bring us close to one another…but another human life always contains rooms we’ve never entered.
Sometimes we discover someone has carried far more than we understood. We may find ourselves going back through conversations, remembering something they said, wondering whether there was another question we could have asked or something we should have noticed.
Love cannot give us the sight of God. But it can make room for attention.
And we need that kind of room too. There are days when we are the ones watching from a distance, carrying something we can’t easily explain. It’s a gift to have people in our lives who know our names, remember our stories, and are willing to stay with us longer than most of our hurried conversations require.
By the end of Luke’s story, Zacchaeus is “seeing” differently too. The man who climbed the tree to see Jesus begins talking about the poor and about people he’d harmed. Something opens up in him after Jesus looks up.
Jesus is passing through Jericho, but he is never merely passing by.
We might attempt to move through this day in the same way: with our places to go and our things to do…AND with enough attention for the person in front of us.
A Practice for Today
Give one conversation more room than you ordinarily would. Put away whatever competes for your attention and ask someone a genuine question. Wait patiently for their answer. Be curious.
You don’t need to draw anything out of the other person. Let your attention communicate something simpler: I have time for you. I am interested in what your life is like.
Prayer
Jesus, you saw Zacchaeus in the tree and called him by name. You know what is visible in us and what remains beyond the sight even of those who love us well.
Teach us to receive your attention and to offer that kind of presence to one another. Slow us down enough to actually listen. Help us make room.
And when we are the ones carrying more than we know how to share, give us people with whom we can become known.
As we move through this day, keep our eyes open to the people whose paths we cross.
Amen.