What is the Lord Cooking?

Our reading for this upcoming Sunday is from Acts 1:1-14. Jesus has died, he has risen, and he will come again! In these verses Jesus is talking to the disciples before he is taken up to heaven. He meets with them as they eat meals together and he encourages them to "shelter in place". A term we are all too familiar with at this time in the world.

I only noticed this because it was mentioned in the "I love to tell the Story" podcast, but it is an amazing observation! They are told not to leave Jerusalem and they meet in a little room waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit. A gift that will not arrive until Pentecost, seven weeks later. When they finally left that little room they did so with great power and spread the faith to the ends of the earth. What great movement of God might we see at then end of this time of waiting and preparing?

I just spent the last couple of hours discussing and planning with one of my co-workers how we will address this crisis as a church. We discussed how church may change and how we can adapt to meet the people where they are. I love these conversations because they demonstrate our hearts, and our burden for those we have been entrusted with...however, we easily get caught up in our plans and our strategies. Sunday's scripture reminds me that this may be a season to wait on the movement of the Lord, because what God is doing is SO much better than what I can cook up.

May God give you the patience to wait on what the Lord is cooking!

Comments

Divine | Shame | Humans

Shame is often the only thing between our creator and us. Our reading this week is from Job 14:5-6: A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired laborer. Job is struggling with shame and judgement. He is wondering why God is spending time paying attention to him, a tiny speck in the great universe, a blink of an eye in all eternity. Why would God waste time casting a glance at us, let alone fostering us, raising us, and disciplining us? He cries out "Why won't God just let us be, to live out our miserable existence?" A friend shared a post with me on Facebook this week. It was a video of her dog who had stolen her donut. The dog had been under the bed for two hours before she started the video. The video begins with a clear view of the dog and the uneaten donut under the bed. The dog casts glances from s

Justice & Privilege

The narrative lectionary reading for this week begins a 5 week series on the book of Job. We focus on Job 1:1-12. This first section sets the background for the parable. It is important to note that this is clearly a parable, not a historical text. This means we must look beyond the described events and towards a deeper meaning within the text. The story goes like this: ___ There was once a man who thought he was good, an upright citizen, a religiously devout man. He made good choices and avoided all forms of evil. He was so pious that he made sacrifices in the name of his family members in case they had unknowingly sinned. He had great wealth and privilege, and so this was evidence of his goodness. God was so pleased with this great man, named Job, that he bragged about him to the accuser. The accuser objected "Of course Job is good, you have provided him with wealth, power, and protection. He would curse you if he was not so privileged." At this, God takes the

Fool for Christ

Our reading from the Narrative Lectionary this week is 2 Corinthians 5. Verse 13 stood out to me. If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. - 2 Corinthians 5:13a (NLT) John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard churches did a famous sermon called "I am a fool for Christ, whose fool are you?". Reading this week's text reminded me of this wonderful sermon. Wimber's sermon reminds us that, as christians, we are called to something truly radical. The christian walk is strange and counter cultural. Jesus once explained this to his disciples in John 15 "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. You don't belong to this world, I have chosen you out of it. That is why the world hates you." Peter, in a letter to the church, later referred to all of us as strangers just passing through this world. Do you feel like a stranger? Do you feel like the world hates you? Are you a fool for Christ? Here is the thing, you are going t

Monastic Pastor

Search This Blog