Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation earlier this month, making him the first pope in nearly six hundred years to step down from the papacy due to concerns about his health. According to tradition and precedent, popes stay in office until death. Now, both Benedict XVI and the Roman Catholic Church he serves face a challenging transition. Change in life is inevitable, but it isn’t always comfortable. LinC talks about the transitions we face, whether it’s when things are going well, when things are going poorly, or when God decides that a change of plans is in order. Key Scriptures: Jonah 3:1-10; Luke 12:13-21; John 11:1-44. In Oz the Great and Powerful, a prequel to the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz, Oscar “Oz” Diggs is a self-centered, cynical, small-time traveling circus magician in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Kansas who dreams of being a “truly great man.” When a tornado takes him to the magical land of Oz, he uses sleight-of-hand, smooth talk, and sneaky stagecraft to convince people there that he is Oz’s long-expected supernatural savior. But he’s not; he’s a hypocrite. Few things are more frustrating than hypocrisy, especially when it comes from people in positions of influence or authority. But most of us have been guilty of pretending to be someone we aren’t or of behaving in ways that don’t match our words and values. Next week LinC talks about how we can reject hypocrisy in favor of authentic faith.
