Do you ever have those moments when you wander around, overtired, restless, unsatisfied...? Do you ever have times when you head out to find something, anything, that can fill your time thinking that it will be THE thing that will really turn your life around? It is kind of amazing how so many of us have grown up being told that we don't have enough, that we need something else to make our lives "complete". And so we wander aimlessly about seeking but never finding, sometimes at the cost of friendships, other people, our environment. Sometimes what we are looking for is right in front of us but we just don't see it.
I'm thinking today about the story of Zaccheus, let's just call him Zach. If you ever went to a summer Bible school, you might even recall a song that goes: Zaccheus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he..... Well, Zach does have a problem. He's so short that when a crowd forms around Jesus, Zach cannot see anything. Can you just see him, hopping about, up and down like an impatient child trying to get a glimpse of the floats at a parade. There is something more important going on here than meets the eye.
You see, Zach is pretty wealthy, but he makes his money by collecting taxes. We could probably delve into Zach's psyche to see if his zeal for tax collecting was an overcompensation for his height, but I'll leave that alone for now. Zach is also a person whom the crowd is not going to have much regard for though...I mean who likes a tax collector, right? So, he cannot find a way to get past everyone else to see a glimpse of Jesus.
I always wondered why Zach was so interested in the first place. What had he heard about this Jesus? What did he expect from Jesus? But the story that appears in Luke (19:1-10) is about something completely different. As Zach runs ahead to climb into a tree in order to see this Jesus he has heard so much about, it is Jesus who calls to him. It turns out to be an odd invitation because Jesus basically says, "Hi Zach, what are you doing up there? Didn't you know I am staying at your house?" Doesn't that seem a bit odd to you?
That is just the way it is though with this Jesus. Everytime we run to see him, we find out that he has been looking for us. It is a key realization that we at By the Way discover everytime we sit down with someone to share a cup of coffee, or a pint. When we come together to share the stories of our own lives, God's presence in shaping and calling us together becomes ever clearer. We re-discover the presence of something holy in our every day search for meaning that is revealed when we enter into community with one another.
I think that is perhaps what Jesus came to reveal to Zach as well. Zach's response initially is to say the right things, "I'm going to give to the poor now, Jesus. And if I have been sneaky with people I will repay them four times what I took." Jesus' response is a bit interesting because he pronounces that Zach has been "found". He is no longer a slave to a directionless life. Zach has received a glimpse of equity for all that changes the way he will deal with the abundance of his life. Zach goes from coming up short to growing generous.
These encounters with Jesus are opportunities we share with one another in community. They are places where we can be reminded of our own wealth and how often we short-change our neighbors, the poor in Nashua, and others who are restless like ourselves and mask their restlessness by thinking they have little, all while consuming even more.
Consider in the coming week how you can "go long." Stop by to discover how Jesus is present in your everyday life, and reveal to me, and others, how you see the same in ours.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
So, what's a "path guide"?
When we began "by the way" as a new ministry there were some people who wanted to know exactly what it is that we do. These were mostly friends and well-meaning colleagues. They were, without knowing it, helping us discern just exactly what it is we were doing. Some might call us "developers." But we felt that that word made some unusual assumptions. How could we develop something that was already there?
Already here? You may ask how we could assume that something seen as new could already be present. Wow that is a mind-numbing thought at first. But as I have pointed out here and on Facebook, by the way is a ministry that comes alongside others to rediscover that God is here. Sometimes we just need to be in community with others to discover, or mostly re-discover (perhaps reveal or uncover might be better?), that God is present and that signs of that presence exist all around us.
So as "path guides", Kari and I are hear to listen and explore spirituality and faith together with anyone who is curious about such an opportunity. We don't have a set of "special laws" you have to know, we don't have a 10-step program to make you a better Christian. As we continue to discover people who are interested in forming a different kind of Christian faith community we not only get to meet new friends but we also discover new things about our own walk with God. We do all this along the way...well, "by the way" to be exact.
Already here? You may ask how we could assume that something seen as new could already be present. Wow that is a mind-numbing thought at first. But as I have pointed out here and on Facebook, by the way is a ministry that comes alongside others to rediscover that God is here. Sometimes we just need to be in community with others to discover, or mostly re-discover (perhaps reveal or uncover might be better?), that God is present and that signs of that presence exist all around us.
So as "path guides", Kari and I are hear to listen and explore spirituality and faith together with anyone who is curious about such an opportunity. We don't have a set of "special laws" you have to know, we don't have a 10-step program to make you a better Christian. As we continue to discover people who are interested in forming a different kind of Christian faith community we not only get to meet new friends but we also discover new things about our own walk with God. We do all this along the way...well, "by the way" to be exact.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Seeing God Face to Face
I was looking at the story of Jacob this week. It's in the book of Genesis (that's the first book in the Bible). Jacob and Esau were brothers who had a pretty bad history...kind of traditional sibling rivalry stuff. Well, after years of estrangement from one another, Jacob finds out that Esau is heading towards his encampment. And Jacob kind of panics. He is concerned that his brother is coming to harm him and perhaps destroy everything. And so he begins to make sure that some remnant of his family and belongings will survive a possible attack.
Jacob sends his family off he hopes to safety and sends his servants ahead with what he hopes will be received as a peace offering between brothers. But that night, while he waits, he undergoes a wrestling match with a "man." This is no ordinary WWF Smackdown. This is a real struggle that Jacob undergoes that lasts the entire night. Towards the end the man manages to dislocate Jacob's hip and still in his grip asks Jacob to let him go. Jacob tells the man that he will not let him go until the man blesses him.
Now that is a pretty odd request. But the man agrees to do so, and in so doing also tells Jacob that now he will have a new name, Israel. It is after this battle that Jacob/Israel decides to call this place "Peniel" because he understood that it was God with whom he had been struggling. "Peniel" translating roughly into "seeing God face to face."
I tell you all of that story to share with you the time this scripture (Genesis 32) hit home. I'm not real fond usually of Old Testament stories, but that particular morning I was at a huge youthworker convention in San Francisco and went to the Morning Bible Study time out of a personal obligation to do something different to start my day. Well, later that afternoon, I went on an immersion experience in the city. Our group spent the day walking through places like Chinatown where we stopped at a local shelter. We were told about the large incidence of domestic violence in the community and the importance of the shelter's work with abused women and children. It made walking on the street as we left a little harder as we began to notice in the faces of many of the women we passed signs of domestic abuse (I don't recall ever seeing that many bruised faces before!).
A little later we went to another mission in the city. The mission was located downtown and served a lot of homeless people. We worshipped there with the folks that came in that day. It was amazing to be in the presence of people coming to God in the midst of their own struggles. None of these experiences though truly made much sense in my own mind until I walked back out the door and realized that we had just been in the Peniel Mission. Indeed, here we had seen God, face-to-face. We each had to struggle with the visible poverty in the midst of our wealth (yes, youthworkers are "wealthy"). We had seen God in the faces of the people who had come to worship at that mission. But we had seen God's eyes in the battered women who walked down the street in Chinatown. In the faces of the hungry children that we passed after lunch. There were visible signs of God everywhere we looked.
Such is the point of "by the way." It's a reminder that God is here in the faces of those who sit around us at the bar, who read quietly in the corner at Barnes and Noble, who are sitting here this afternoon at Panera. All of us are reminded of the nearness of God when we are among others, in community with them. We are able to discover ways to share God's grace in our own lives with those around us because we are able and willing to look at one another.
Sometimes it might seem like a struggle to be in community with others. It is so easy to just hang out in our homes, glued to our TVs, computers....afraid that if we open ourselves up to others we may be too vulnerable. It's the same emotion Jacob no doubt had as he wondered why after all these years his own brother was coming to meet him. Maybe it's the same emotion you are having as you struggle with whether or not you should stop by at Panera, Barnes & Noble, or Unos.
Regardless, know that when are paths do cross we will have the most amazing opportunity to discover the holy in one another. It will be the chance to see in each other the grace that allows us to be who we were created to be. May you also have a "Peniel" moment in the coming week.
Jacob sends his family off he hopes to safety and sends his servants ahead with what he hopes will be received as a peace offering between brothers. But that night, while he waits, he undergoes a wrestling match with a "man." This is no ordinary WWF Smackdown. This is a real struggle that Jacob undergoes that lasts the entire night. Towards the end the man manages to dislocate Jacob's hip and still in his grip asks Jacob to let him go. Jacob tells the man that he will not let him go until the man blesses him.
Now that is a pretty odd request. But the man agrees to do so, and in so doing also tells Jacob that now he will have a new name, Israel. It is after this battle that Jacob/Israel decides to call this place "Peniel" because he understood that it was God with whom he had been struggling. "Peniel" translating roughly into "seeing God face to face."
I tell you all of that story to share with you the time this scripture (Genesis 32) hit home. I'm not real fond usually of Old Testament stories, but that particular morning I was at a huge youthworker convention in San Francisco and went to the Morning Bible Study time out of a personal obligation to do something different to start my day. Well, later that afternoon, I went on an immersion experience in the city. Our group spent the day walking through places like Chinatown where we stopped at a local shelter. We were told about the large incidence of domestic violence in the community and the importance of the shelter's work with abused women and children. It made walking on the street as we left a little harder as we began to notice in the faces of many of the women we passed signs of domestic abuse (I don't recall ever seeing that many bruised faces before!).
A little later we went to another mission in the city. The mission was located downtown and served a lot of homeless people. We worshipped there with the folks that came in that day. It was amazing to be in the presence of people coming to God in the midst of their own struggles. None of these experiences though truly made much sense in my own mind until I walked back out the door and realized that we had just been in the Peniel Mission. Indeed, here we had seen God, face-to-face. We each had to struggle with the visible poverty in the midst of our wealth (yes, youthworkers are "wealthy"). We had seen God in the faces of the people who had come to worship at that mission. But we had seen God's eyes in the battered women who walked down the street in Chinatown. In the faces of the hungry children that we passed after lunch. There were visible signs of God everywhere we looked.
Such is the point of "by the way." It's a reminder that God is here in the faces of those who sit around us at the bar, who read quietly in the corner at Barnes and Noble, who are sitting here this afternoon at Panera. All of us are reminded of the nearness of God when we are among others, in community with them. We are able to discover ways to share God's grace in our own lives with those around us because we are able and willing to look at one another.
Sometimes it might seem like a struggle to be in community with others. It is so easy to just hang out in our homes, glued to our TVs, computers....afraid that if we open ourselves up to others we may be too vulnerable. It's the same emotion Jacob no doubt had as he wondered why after all these years his own brother was coming to meet him. Maybe it's the same emotion you are having as you struggle with whether or not you should stop by at Panera, Barnes & Noble, or Unos.
Regardless, know that when are paths do cross we will have the most amazing opportunity to discover the holy in one another. It will be the chance to see in each other the grace that allows us to be who we were created to be. May you also have a "Peniel" moment in the coming week.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Donnie Darko: Discovering a Tangent to Reality?
Have you ever seen the film Donnie Darko? It is a rather strange film about a teenager who is struggling with some kind of mental health issue who slowly discerns an alternate reality. It seems as if this other reality is breaking through into his own world. In an early scene, Donnie hears a voice that draws him out of his bedroom and outside. We cut to the morning when he is awakened in the middle of a golf course and when he returns home it appears that a jet engine has crashed into his bedroom.
This strange voice continues to plague Donnie. It comes from a bizarre looking rabbit that seems to appear in and around bizarre crimes that Donnie commits. While most of them are more like really bad pranks, Donnie still is not capable of realizing what he is doing. But he does know, that something is not right.
What fascinated me about this film was this thin line between being able to discover what is real and a kind of veil that separates us from a secondary universe. It is not clear in the film whether this is imaginary or not, though Donnie's guide along the way is a book written by a former teacher at his school who is now a recluse. The book seems to provide a template for him to try and make some sense out of what is happening to him.
The one thing that struck me about this film was this sense of feeling like there is sometimes a veil over what reality could be for us. It is the sort of thing that keeps us from knowing who we are and what potential we may have. I am struck by this image because so much of our own lives these days can feel like we are living in our own entertainment film about our life. We play the roles we think we need to succeed, heck, we even have our own soundtrack in our IPods to play as we perform various acts throughout the day. Our conversation may be peppered with cute cultural phrases to make us seem "hip" or "with it" (how do you like those out-of-date phrases) even though deep inside we may feel like no one really knows who we are.
I think at the heart of Donnie's dilemma is that he is surrounded by a family that is trying to make sense out of who he is now. His father tries to use humor to brush off the fact that he doesn't really understand Donnie either. His teachers seem to walk him right up to the precipice of discovery but then back away, as his science teacher says, "I could lose my job."
At the heart of Donnie Darko is this sense that sometimes we might see through the veil in front of us into a world of different possibilities. In Donnie's case, these seem to be headed towards destruction. You'll have to watch the movie to find out how it plays out.
I bring it up here though because in talking with many of you I sense that inner desire to try to see the world that is in front of you. The veil we are trying to see through is the one that the culture we live in places in front of us. It is a sheet of sorts that can be used to separate us from where we are and lie to us about what we could be if only we had the latest gadget, or sexiest girlfriend, or a better body. This veil causes us to look at external expressions of who we are and bury deep inside the people we were created to be.
By the way is not a community forming to lead you on a tangent. We are just walking alongside the Donnie's of the world to help them discover God's reality. Together we are able to discern how life is different and how very present God is in each of our lives. It's going to seem odd, because you might think the "leaders" you meet are going to tell you how to think about God, or how you should worship God, or why you should worship God. But the truth of the matter is that time and again, when I sit at Unos or at Panera, it is you who reveal to me how God is working in and around Nashua. Together we discern how our two paths became one. We discover how we are each being called through the veil into a new reality. Together we will be able to move into the real world that allows us to be who we were created to be. It is the world we are already living in now, if we could only see it.
This strange voice continues to plague Donnie. It comes from a bizarre looking rabbit that seems to appear in and around bizarre crimes that Donnie commits. While most of them are more like really bad pranks, Donnie still is not capable of realizing what he is doing. But he does know, that something is not right.
What fascinated me about this film was this thin line between being able to discover what is real and a kind of veil that separates us from a secondary universe. It is not clear in the film whether this is imaginary or not, though Donnie's guide along the way is a book written by a former teacher at his school who is now a recluse. The book seems to provide a template for him to try and make some sense out of what is happening to him.
The one thing that struck me about this film was this sense of feeling like there is sometimes a veil over what reality could be for us. It is the sort of thing that keeps us from knowing who we are and what potential we may have. I am struck by this image because so much of our own lives these days can feel like we are living in our own entertainment film about our life. We play the roles we think we need to succeed, heck, we even have our own soundtrack in our IPods to play as we perform various acts throughout the day. Our conversation may be peppered with cute cultural phrases to make us seem "hip" or "with it" (how do you like those out-of-date phrases) even though deep inside we may feel like no one really knows who we are.
I think at the heart of Donnie's dilemma is that he is surrounded by a family that is trying to make sense out of who he is now. His father tries to use humor to brush off the fact that he doesn't really understand Donnie either. His teachers seem to walk him right up to the precipice of discovery but then back away, as his science teacher says, "I could lose my job."
At the heart of Donnie Darko is this sense that sometimes we might see through the veil in front of us into a world of different possibilities. In Donnie's case, these seem to be headed towards destruction. You'll have to watch the movie to find out how it plays out.
I bring it up here though because in talking with many of you I sense that inner desire to try to see the world that is in front of you. The veil we are trying to see through is the one that the culture we live in places in front of us. It is a sheet of sorts that can be used to separate us from where we are and lie to us about what we could be if only we had the latest gadget, or sexiest girlfriend, or a better body. This veil causes us to look at external expressions of who we are and bury deep inside the people we were created to be.
By the way is not a community forming to lead you on a tangent. We are just walking alongside the Donnie's of the world to help them discover God's reality. Together we are able to discern how life is different and how very present God is in each of our lives. It's going to seem odd, because you might think the "leaders" you meet are going to tell you how to think about God, or how you should worship God, or why you should worship God. But the truth of the matter is that time and again, when I sit at Unos or at Panera, it is you who reveal to me how God is working in and around Nashua. Together we discern how our two paths became one. We discover how we are each being called through the veil into a new reality. Together we will be able to move into the real world that allows us to be who we were created to be. It is the world we are already living in now, if we could only see it.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Leaping for Joy?
Last week, our devotion from Luke’s Gospel urged us to “pass the mustard” as the faith and gifts we’ve been given add seasoning to our lives and the lives of those we encounter. This week we are are looking at another story (also from Luke, 17: 11-19. Here Jesus heals ten people who are considered outcasts or losers by society because of their illness. In the story, only one of the ten stopped to say thank you and we are left to wonder about the other nine. They were healed as well, so were they in shock, disbelief, so shaken by their miraculous new selves that they ran away?
Jesus also wonders about them and in response to the only one who stopped to say thanks, Jesus tells him to go on his way that his faith had made him well. Faith… faith that helps make you well, now that must be some kind of mustard! Well the story got me wondering… how many people do I know who fit this category, consider themselves losers, or who don’t fit what society considers normal or successful? And given the challenges of everyday life… how can I be more like Jesus and bring healing in some way? How can I add seasoning and encourage mustard like faith in others?
In wrestling with these questions, I though about Danny who is feeling a bit like an outcast or loser by society standards this week. And while he doesn’t have a horrible illness or life threatening disease, he is feeling depressed and far removed from where his friends are at. A place so bad that he told me he just wishes he could be fixed and returned to a “normal” life. Danny lost his job two months ago and even though he qualified for unemployment, with bills and a car that crapped out last month, he had a decision to either admit “defeat” and crash with friends or “be a loser” and go back to his parents house (his terms).
Well Danny’s mom and dad have provided a place to crash, and by his own admission have not hassled him about his circumstances. But he is feeling depressed and having a hard time even hanging out with friends because of everything that’s happened. I asked about where God might be in the middle of this transition and the pain and/or embarrassment about returning to his parent’s house. Danny thought about it for a while and said he guessed it was in the home cooked meals his mom and dad were providing and access to a car while his was out of commission.
I don’t think Danny is alone in his circumstances, or how he feels. I asked him if he’s said thanks to his parents or God for the things that have been given and done for him. His response was that he wanted everything fixed, back the way it was before and that in his bitterness and feeling “like a loser” hadn’t thought there was anything to be thankful for. He paused, cracked a small smile, nodded and whispered thanks. I sensed a glimmer of faith there, perhaps as small as a mustard seed, but after my conversation with him, wondered if there were nine more Danny’s out there…
I share this because we all have burdens and pain in our lives and we’ve all been given a bit of faith, a gift we don’t fully understand or do anything to get/earn. This week I encourage you to keep on “passing the mustard” by being on the look-out for those that might like Danny, need you to add some seasoning and walk with them along the way.
+ Bill Petersen
Jesus also wonders about them and in response to the only one who stopped to say thanks, Jesus tells him to go on his way that his faith had made him well. Faith… faith that helps make you well, now that must be some kind of mustard! Well the story got me wondering… how many people do I know who fit this category, consider themselves losers, or who don’t fit what society considers normal or successful? And given the challenges of everyday life… how can I be more like Jesus and bring healing in some way? How can I add seasoning and encourage mustard like faith in others?
In wrestling with these questions, I though about Danny who is feeling a bit like an outcast or loser by society standards this week. And while he doesn’t have a horrible illness or life threatening disease, he is feeling depressed and far removed from where his friends are at. A place so bad that he told me he just wishes he could be fixed and returned to a “normal” life. Danny lost his job two months ago and even though he qualified for unemployment, with bills and a car that crapped out last month, he had a decision to either admit “defeat” and crash with friends or “be a loser” and go back to his parents house (his terms).
Well Danny’s mom and dad have provided a place to crash, and by his own admission have not hassled him about his circumstances. But he is feeling depressed and having a hard time even hanging out with friends because of everything that’s happened. I asked about where God might be in the middle of this transition and the pain and/or embarrassment about returning to his parent’s house. Danny thought about it for a while and said he guessed it was in the home cooked meals his mom and dad were providing and access to a car while his was out of commission.
I don’t think Danny is alone in his circumstances, or how he feels. I asked him if he’s said thanks to his parents or God for the things that have been given and done for him. His response was that he wanted everything fixed, back the way it was before and that in his bitterness and feeling “like a loser” hadn’t thought there was anything to be thankful for. He paused, cracked a small smile, nodded and whispered thanks. I sensed a glimmer of faith there, perhaps as small as a mustard seed, but after my conversation with him, wondered if there were nine more Danny’s out there…
I share this because we all have burdens and pain in our lives and we’ve all been given a bit of faith, a gift we don’t fully understand or do anything to get/earn. This week I encourage you to keep on “passing the mustard” by being on the look-out for those that might like Danny, need you to add some seasoning and walk with them along the way.
+ Bill Petersen
Monday, October 1, 2007
Pass the Mustard
I have to admit to being in a more reflective mood today. It has to do with the fact that this coming Sunday, many traditional congregations will celebrate "World Communion Sunday." It's a time when all the churchy posturing and denominational theologies are to be layed aside, so to speak, to remember that at the heart of all that they do, they are all one and the same when it comes to the practice of "communion."
If you are a bit new to all this churchy language, communion (or "eucharist") is a practice which Jesus began in the Upper Room with his friends, the disciples, right before his crucifixion. He took some bread, gave thanks, then broke it and passed to those seated with him reminding them to do this when they gathered to remember him. Later he took some wine, gave thanks, and then gave it to them and asked that they continue this practice after he was gone. This breaking of bread and sharing of wine was a key component to life in the early Christian community and it is an important piece of what those who follow Jesus practice to this day.
So the idea of World Communion Sunday tries to call the existing Christian community back to this idea that we are all at the same table when we gather in our individual places to praise God.
Now, that's all well and good, but I think it misses something. To me this is a bigger reminder, a reminder that is core to how we think around bytheway. It's a reminder that all are welcome to the table. It's not that we have everything figured out, or that we know the "right" way to share in this meal, but it is about invitation to those seeking to be a part of a community that makes a difference in one another's lives and the lives of others.
I'm often reminded of this invitation when I sit down at the table in Unos. The various wonderful people who come to serve me with something to drink or an appetizer are pleasant because that is what they are paid to do. They are perhaps not quite the slave servant that Jesus mentions in Luke's Gospel (17: 5-10). There, Jesus asks a pretty simple question. He wants to know what you would do when your servant came in from the field after working hard all day. He wants to know if you would say to him/her "Go make my dinner" or "Come, sit and eat with me."
Is Jesus hinting at our own laziness? Or is it about something deeper? The conversation here begins with the disciples begging Jesus to "increase our faith." Jesus tells them that if they had faith the size of a mustard seed they could command a mulberry bush to be uprooted and jump in the sea and it would do that. So, what does having power over shrubbery have to do with living a new life?
Is it perhaps that here we are being reminded that we have a tendency to go and do something that is expected of us but then wish to to be congratulated on our good deed? Ever drove the family car and then just decided to fill it back up with gas before coming home? Did you make it clear to everyone in the household that you should be thanked for such a thing? Or, did you get a little irritated when the response was less than thankful? After all, isn't it just right to fill the car with gas when it nears empty? Where's the special offering in that?
So, as we gather at Barnes and Noble or Unos, or even at Panera, I am reminded that what we do is something that we just do because of our exceeding love for others. It is not something any of us do because of some hidden agenda, or because we are looking for a chance to prove something. It's done because we love Jesus.
That seems like such a small little thing...but it's just what we do. So this week, I think I'll be thinking a little bit about how the table is set for you all to come. Each of you with your own unique gifts and talents bring a wonderful flavor to the kingdom. This week, we'll rejoice at the amazing grace that brings such a fragrant and powerful seasoning to our lives. I'll head out trying to bring a little mustard to the table. How about you?
If you are a bit new to all this churchy language, communion (or "eucharist") is a practice which Jesus began in the Upper Room with his friends, the disciples, right before his crucifixion. He took some bread, gave thanks, then broke it and passed to those seated with him reminding them to do this when they gathered to remember him. Later he took some wine, gave thanks, and then gave it to them and asked that they continue this practice after he was gone. This breaking of bread and sharing of wine was a key component to life in the early Christian community and it is an important piece of what those who follow Jesus practice to this day.
So the idea of World Communion Sunday tries to call the existing Christian community back to this idea that we are all at the same table when we gather in our individual places to praise God.
Now, that's all well and good, but I think it misses something. To me this is a bigger reminder, a reminder that is core to how we think around bytheway. It's a reminder that all are welcome to the table. It's not that we have everything figured out, or that we know the "right" way to share in this meal, but it is about invitation to those seeking to be a part of a community that makes a difference in one another's lives and the lives of others.
I'm often reminded of this invitation when I sit down at the table in Unos. The various wonderful people who come to serve me with something to drink or an appetizer are pleasant because that is what they are paid to do. They are perhaps not quite the slave servant that Jesus mentions in Luke's Gospel (17: 5-10). There, Jesus asks a pretty simple question. He wants to know what you would do when your servant came in from the field after working hard all day. He wants to know if you would say to him/her "Go make my dinner" or "Come, sit and eat with me."
Is Jesus hinting at our own laziness? Or is it about something deeper? The conversation here begins with the disciples begging Jesus to "increase our faith." Jesus tells them that if they had faith the size of a mustard seed they could command a mulberry bush to be uprooted and jump in the sea and it would do that. So, what does having power over shrubbery have to do with living a new life?
Is it perhaps that here we are being reminded that we have a tendency to go and do something that is expected of us but then wish to to be congratulated on our good deed? Ever drove the family car and then just decided to fill it back up with gas before coming home? Did you make it clear to everyone in the household that you should be thanked for such a thing? Or, did you get a little irritated when the response was less than thankful? After all, isn't it just right to fill the car with gas when it nears empty? Where's the special offering in that?
So, as we gather at Barnes and Noble or Unos, or even at Panera, I am reminded that what we do is something that we just do because of our exceeding love for others. It is not something any of us do because of some hidden agenda, or because we are looking for a chance to prove something. It's done because we love Jesus.
That seems like such a small little thing...but it's just what we do. So this week, I think I'll be thinking a little bit about how the table is set for you all to come. Each of you with your own unique gifts and talents bring a wonderful flavor to the kingdom. This week, we'll rejoice at the amazing grace that brings such a fragrant and powerful seasoning to our lives. I'll head out trying to bring a little mustard to the table. How about you?
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