A Liminal Space
Last August a friend of mine dropped her oldest daughter off for her freshman year of college. The family weekend concluded with an evening chapel for parents and their children, a time of worship and reflection during a time of transition for the new college freshman and their families. My friend recounted to me the message of the pastor who spoke of both the challenge and value of what he called a “liminal space.”
The next few weeks mark an important period in the life of the Church at Severn Run. A period of transition, a time of waiting and anticipation between the familiar and the new. This is a liminal space. It is a time of “in-between” and “almost at something new but not quite there yet.” As Pastor Drew prepares to pass the baton of his race as lead pastor to incoming lead pastor Pastor Jared Burwell, we all find ourselves in that liminal space – all of us as a congregation and both pastors and their families.
Thankfully, Scripture is filled with narratives and wisdom about liminal spaces. Periods of wilderness and exile, times of transition and preparation for something yet to come. We need not look further than Jesus to gain godly instruction on how we can approach a liminal space. In the account of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness in the Gospel of Matthew 4:1-11, we see the transformational and obedient response of Christ to the forty days that He fasted in the desert. This was a period of transition between His baptism and the beginning of His public ministry. Unlike the Israelites whose parallel forty years in the wilderness in the Book of Numbers was marked by disobedience and distrust of God’s provision and plan, Jesus responded to the temptation of Satan to abandon God’s redemptive plan with perfect obedience. We see a similar response in Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane in the four Gospel accounts, as Jesus’ own agony with what was to come was transformed into perfect submission to the will of the Father.
How can we approach a liminal space in our own lives inspired by the life of our Lord and Savior? While there are likely many ways to allow the spirit led transformation of such a space, I would suggest three things for us all to consider to get us started.
Commune – Approach God’s throne of grace in confidence (Hebrews 4:16). Through worship, prayer, and reading Scripture, we can commune with our Heavenly Father because of the work of the Son with assurance and without fear. We can trust in His provision, wisdom, and presence to lead us in liminal spaces throughout our lives.
Confess – A period of transition often comes with a variety of thoughts and emotions. Learning to process those things in a godly way takes practice and intentionality. It also takes vulnerability. And it is a good thing to do. God knows our hearts, and Jesus relates to our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15-16). We can approach Him prayerfully to share our concerns, confusion, sadness, or even anger in a time of “wilderness.”
Commit – “Lord, I trust you. Your will be done.” This is the posture of the heart that we who follow Christ hope to grow into as we develop the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). Commit to walking in the Spirit. Commit to seeking the company and fellowship of maturing, life transformed, authentic Christian friends to walk with you in a liminal space and beyond. Commit to remain in the Word of God to renew your mind (Romans 12: 2)
Through this period of “in-between” at Severn Run and whatever other liminal spaces you may find yourself in today, I pray that you walk confidently and boldly seeing God’s goodness and grace in your waiting for the old to pass into the new. Our prayers and deep gratitude are with Pastor Drew and his family, and our great excitement abounds for the work of the Kingdom under the new leadership of Pastor Jared.
KB