Every year University Lutheran adopts an annual focus as a way of centering us on a consistent idea throughout the year. Our annual focus this year is “We Are the Body” . We are the Body is the annual focus for the 2017-2018 Church Year. Coming on the heels of “What does this mean?”, this focus seeks to discover our identities, our functions, and our relationships with others in the mystery of the Church as the Body of Christ . Scripturally we see the Apostle Paul use this image of the Body throughout many of his epistles, but notably in Romans 12:5 where it says “So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.”
Unlike foci of the past, this foci has distinct timed phases. While the concepts behind these phases are not mutually exclusive, the teaching and the goals of the focus will coincide with the timing of the phases.
1. Identity – Discovering what it means to be the Body of Christ and our own individual participation and membership in that Body. Advent (Late November) through Lent (Late March)
2. Function – Discovering our function in Christ’s Body and finding where our functions align with God’s design of our lives. Easter (Early April) through Early Post Pentecost (Early July)
3. Relationship – Discovering the identity and function of others in Christ’s Body and how we are a part of this together. Early Post Pentecost (Early July) to Christ the King (Mid November)
Since this focus does ask for people to consider their function within the Church which is often interpreted through a Law lens, it is important to be clear about the Gospel throughout this focus. The reality of our inclusion, and the inclusion of our function into God’s Kingdom is a Gospel reality. If it were not for the sake of the Christ whose Body we are incorporated into, ourselves and our functions would be cast out of the Kingdom rather than used by the King.