Steve-o's Devos: In the beginning...

You always have to start somewhere. A couple of years ago, I thought, wouldn't it be great to discover a new way to reach out to people in Nashua who had not discovered, or perhaps had forgotten, God's very present being in their lives. It was quite a thought....almost mind-boggling to some. Weren't there already plenty of churches in New Hampshire? People could always come to those services. At least, that was the conventional wisdom.

When you give birth to a new thing, especially when it might involve change, things are a little weird at first. When you give birth to a new idea, lots of people want to know how it might end up. It is sort of like announcing the birth of a new child to your extended family who then begins to ask questions like: What will it be when it grows up? Where will it go to college? How will it be able to live on its own? Where is it going to live later?

Questions like that seem silly to ask the parents announcing the birth of their child. A new thing requires a simple response: joy. There should be excitement about something new coming into the world. There should be a sense of great possibilities.

John's Gospel gets rid of those cosy family pictures and pushes us back to recall the very beginnings of the world (click above to read the passage). John wants us to hear the Good News as a rebirth, a new creation, something that God is doing that has a precedent only when the very world was first new. John wants us to recapture that amazing sense of the generousity of God that first came to us in creation. And John wants us to realize that there is a new grace even more overwhelming than this early birth pang: the coming of Jesus, God in the world.

I love the way Eugene Peterson puts this in his adaptation of this Gospel passage: God has moved into the neighborhood. What an amazing return! What a fascinating thought! God is here with us in our own city. God wants to be where we are, where we live. Wow!

Perhaps that is why By The Way was birthed...to remind people that God is here, even in Nashua! God is in our neighborhood and we go out into the businesses and public places to remind everyone of God's intense love for them. We go on the way because of God's intense grace for each and everyone of you.

In some ways, we are also at a new beginning stage at By the Way. Kari will be taking on the duties of this ministry fully in the coming year as God calls me to new ventures. She will need your grace and support as she walks into the neighborhood with God, discovering this amazing new thing that God is doing here. It is a wonderful way to use her gifts.

I will continue to lift you all up in prayer as you enter into this new beginning together and will enjoy the news of your discoveries and the blessings God has in store for you! May you hold the grain of grace given to you in Christ Jesus so that it may blossom into a wondrous new thing! Amen.