The sky is falling, the sky is falling......

Thus said Chicken Little when an acorn fell on his head.  Off he ran to warn the King, and on the way Chicken Little shared his anxiety, fast growing into hysteria, with Foxy Loxy, Henny Penny, Goosey Loosey, and a host of others until the King had an hysterical mob on his hands.

It's a grand story and one can't help but laugh at the antics of this misguided chicken.  Until, of course, it is your sky that is falling and you see only disaster on the horizon.  We do it in the church as well.  In fact, we are smack in the middle of a 'sky is falling' season where everyone is spilling ink and wasting time worrying about the future of the church. 

Numbers are falling.  Attendance in down.  Giving is off.  Buildings are closing.  What are we going to do?  Can't you see the end times just down the road?

Luther's Small Catechism is helpful in just such situations.  It tells us that we cannot by our own strength or understanding come to faith but the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies each of us and the whole Christian church on earth.

Did you really think that we had to do it ourselves?  Isn't that attitude what separated us from God in the first place?  Are we still trying to be God instead of being God's servants?

It is Jesus Christ who called the church into being in the first place - so we might tell his story of love and redemption and serve those whom God loves.  So let us go about being faithful to this mission and allow God to take care of the small stuff.