Day 18 - 40 Days of Prayer - Sue Westfall

I move that we stop taking votes at General Assembly. Second? All in favor please say “aye.” So ordered.

This is a little fantasy of mine. It just seems like we do such good work together until we get to pushing those buttons. Inevitably someone’s buttons really get pushed and we are back to a “division of the house.”

But you are going to vote at General Assembly. I have long been intrigued by the early church’s council in Jerusalem. (Acts 15) There was testimony. There was Biblical study. There was lively debate. There was a “motion” by James. And finally the decision: “we have decided unanimously……” How did they know it was unanimous? Did they take a vote? And then there is that wonderful line, “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us….”

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us. First, kudos to the early apostles who chose to concur with the Holy Spirit! But how did they know what seemed good to the Holy Spirit?

That is the crux of the task of a General Assembly commissioner – to discover what seems good to the Holy Spirit – and to concur. At the council in Jerusalem the testimony, the Biblical study, the debate, the vote (?) somehow yielded a clear sense of what seemed good to the Holy Spirit. And the assembly concurred. May it be so for you.

Joining a great host who are already praying, I make my prayer for the commissioners and the whole church:

Almighty and eternal God,
so draw our hearts to you,
so guide our minds,
so fill our imaginations,
so control our wills,
that we may be wholly yours,
utterly dedicated unto you;
and then, by your Spirit, use us, we pray, as you will,
always to your glory
and the welfare of your people,
Through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

(Paraphrased from William Temple 1881-1944, as quoted in the Book of Common Worship)

Rev. Sue Westfall
Presbytery Pastor/Stated Clerk
Presbytery de Cristo