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

Death Will Lose it's Sting

Our reading from the Narrative Lectionary this week is 1 Corinthians 15:51-57. In these verses, Paul reveals a mystery, that in the end some will be transformed, given a new body, instead of facing death. In other words death is not one of life's two certain terms. It seems taxes may be the only guarantee. "...in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes ." - Benjamin Franklin. Ok, all jokes aside, these verses are difficult to read. Paul looks forward to a time when death will have no victory, it will have lost its sting. But today, we are in the middle of a pandemic, surrounded by death. Many are scared for their lives, or their loved ones, and too many have already been lost. Death does not seem to have lost its sting at all, it feels as if it is closing in. When I worked in wilderness therapy I remember holding a child who was desperately trying to kill himself. We cried together as he struggled to end it, and I struggled

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

Looking Back?

"Remember Lot’s wife! " - Luke 17:32 This is one of the shortest verses in the Bible. Jesus was talking about the terrible circumstances that will be present when he comes back. He was warning people that they would not see it coming. People will be going about their business and then suddenly, without warning, chaos will take over. People will need to flee, and he warns them not to go back for their possessions, for anything. This is where he says "Remember Lot's wife!". In desperation he pleads with them to remember the fate of this woman. To his listeners it would bring to mind the story of Lot and his family fleeing the destruction of Sodom. They too were warned not to go back for anything, not to even look back, but Lot's wife did look back. And when she did, she turned into a pillar of salt. Metaphorically speaking this is often what happens when we look back. We get frozen in place and we cease moving forward. I have a childhood frie

Monastic Pastor

Search This Blog