Final Conference Thoughts

In the midst of the Future with Hope theme a retired pastor shared with me a metaphor he felt described the United Methodist Church. He said, "we are like an empty pitcher trying to overflow." He actually did not go into detail to elaborate what this image was suppose to communicate, but I took it as saying we are a church with little (maybe nothing if we are empty) to offer and yet we do keep trying to give.
I think he was describing the decline of the United Methodist Church in America. We are not bringing more people into our churches and into a relationship with God than we are losing through death or leaving our churches. (Although outside our country United Methodism is growing quickly.) So, I guess the future with hope is that we can begin to fill our pitcher in order to have an overflow. And we talked as a conference this past weekend about ways to fill our pitcher.
As I thought about this image I was also reminded about times in my faith that I have felt like an empty pitcher trying to overflow. There are times I feel like I have nothing to give, but I am expected to offer something. In those times I need to be able to get away and be refilled.
I would guess this is a problem for all of us at times. We have the pitcher, which is our faith, and we do not often lose our faith, but we lose the Spirit who fills the pitcher. We all need to have times and places that the Holy Spirit can refill and rejuvenate us.
As individuals, as a congregation, and as a denomination we always need to offer our pitchers for a free refill of God's Spirit. When God fills us we can be filled to overflowing.