I bought a new winter jacket this year.  After repairing my old jacket several times in the past two years, the seamstress at Sew What, the local alterations shop, not so subtly suggested that it was perhaps time that I purchase something new. My new jacket is one that was made in Sweden, and let’s just say that they do things a bit differently in Sweden.

I appreciated some of the differences immediately.  First of all, the hood is extra deep and is lined on its outer edge by faux fur.  I’ve never had a jacket with faux fur, but let me tell you, I will never go back.  How can it be that I’ve spent so many winters without faux fur on my hood!  Secondly, the entire Swedish jacket can be waxed to resist water.  There’s this special wax that one rubs all over and then irons into the outer shell of the jacket.  I doubt whether I’ll be wearing my winter jacket in the rain anytime soon, but regardless, as I went about the waxing, I felt a strange connection to Scandinavian fishermen of the past. 

There is one thing about the jacket, however, that is taking some getting used to.  It’s the zipper.  The tab on the zipper is on the left hand side.  In the United States, the zipper tab for men’s clothing is usually on the right, right? At least that’s the way it is with every other jacket that I have, and that is what I have become accustomed to.  But not with this Swedish jacket, and my hands are having to learn the new trick of using a left hand tab.  

Now I must say that all of the essentials of this new jacket are comparable to or better than my old jacket that I loved so much.  They are both warm. They both have pockets in just the right places.  They both have ways to cinch down for warmth or loosen up for ventilation. But that left tab…it’s been a challenge.  Enough of a challenge, in fact, that I’ve been tempted to just go back to my old worn out jacket.  

Learning new things is often like that, isn’t it?

Even before Covid, most church leaders were coming to the realization that the way we were trying to “be Church” and “do Church” wasn’t working very well any more. Over the course of the last forty years, membership in mainline Christian denominations has been steadily decreasing.  Most studies indicate that this has had remarkably little to do with theology, and much more to do with the fact that the old church jacket was plum worn out and it was time for a new jacket. 

Of course, most of us love our old jackets, and even if they are worn out, we are hesitant to replace them.  They’re comfortable.  And sometimes, new jackets come with strange features such as left tabs that require us to learn something new or try something different. The temptation is always to stick with the old and comfortable even though it isn’t working very well any more.  

Jesus, however, is always beckoning us to take risks and try something new in order to experience and extend the Kingdom of God. Complacency is never an option for followers of Jesus, and even though the road is often difficult, Christians have always chosen the Way of Christ, the harder way, in order to find and be found by God.

The Church will continue to be the hands and heart of Jesus in the world.  That is our calling, our mission.  To do this well, however, may require us to exchange some old with some new. We may have to try new ways of manifesting the Good News, ways that make sense to a new generation of people loved by God.  It may be uncomfortable at times, like learning to use a left hand tab on a zipper.  We may just find, however, that this new jacket is just the ticket and will serve us well for many winters to come.

~Father Art