Daily Devotions

“He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.  The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.  But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”  He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it?  It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;  yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”  Mark 4:26-32

Oh, if it were only so simple…

When Jesus tells his stories of seeds growing in the earth, he draws from universal images that cross every culture.  Wherever people gather, seeds and dirt come together to produce that which keeps life moving.  It is ever a mystery.

But dirt does far more than that.  It not only feeds us, it also defines us.  Far beyond the practical fruits of cultivation, there are other roots that reach deeply into the earth as well.

I grew up in the land of rich loam soil.  For thousands of years, the rhythms of life included tall prairie grasses growing, sometimes burning and always dying.  Throw in an appearance as the bottom of one of the largest pre-historic freshwater lakes in the world, and a deep rich topsoil is born.  It was dirt that smelled good.  It was dirt that tasted good.  It was dirt that not only fed us, it defined us as people rooted to the land.

People rooted to the land.

I remember well the images of American prisoners of war walking down steps from the bellies of the airplanes that brought them home from years of captivity.  I remember seeing them fall to their knees and kiss the ground – an eternal symbol of thanksgiving, belonging and home.  They never kissed the airplane or the hangar, always the ground.

The newspapers tell us that an impasse has been reached in the peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis.  Among the key issues is the ownership of portions of Jerusalem.  Ever since David first defeated the Jebusites, that has been among the holiest, and bloodiest, piece of dirt in the world.  Surely it is more than an address….

Humanity has always been rooted to the land.  Even those who wandered, did so only insofar as the land continued to make their wandering possible.  Only today, in our quest to master and subdue the earth, rather than simply to live in partnership with it, are we beginning to lose our attachment to place, our sense of connectedness to the land which sustains us.

Many people have told me they get a lot of peace and satisfaction out of digging in the dirt.  Most of those do so only because they can, rather than because they have to.  For while much grows easily once planted, the tending of what has been sown is the real art.

We are extensions of the dirt beneath our feet, filled with the breath of God yet destined one day to return to the soil out of which we spring.  Between now and then, between birth and death, let us tend well the dirt which God has given us.  Let us live thankfully and well upon this dirt.  For in it we will one day take our rest.  And out of it shall rise those who follow us – for their sake, let us use well the time we have been given to tend the soil of our lives.

Let us pray: Lord, your Word reminds us that we are dust, and to dust we shall return.  We are creatures of the earth, tied to its bounties and rhythms.  We pray for those who make their living from the land and those who long for a land in which to find their place.  We continue to pray for those who seek peace and wholeness among the peoples of Israel and her neighbors.  Help us tend well the garden you have given us.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

“Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.  He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it.  When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.”  John 2:7-10

Max Lucado in “When God Whispers Your Name” offers a theory about why Jesus decided to attend the wedding at Cana.  After exhaustive research, drawing upon his many years of experience as a pastor and biblical theologian, Lucado says he believes there was one main reason for Jesus to show up at the wedding – fun.  Jesus figured he was going to have a good time.

Evidently he did.  So much so that he did his part to keep the party going.  He outdid everyone who has ever brought a bottle of wine to the host of a dinner party.  Wine, a symbol of conviviality and fellowship.  That which makes a wonderful meal even better.  But that was a later discovery.  It couldn’t have begun with that in mind.

At some point in time, someone ate a grape.  It was juicy, tasty and tasted like more.  But once picked, grapes don’t last long. 

Someone else liked the juice better than the meat of the grape.  They discovered that if you squished a bunch of them, you could gather enough juice for a nice drink.  But grape juice, apart from refrigeration, doesn’t last very long.

Someone else figured out that you could take some grape juice, add some yeast (or whatever it is you add to the juice), let it alone for awhile and, voila, you have fermented grape juice.  It tastes good.  It lasts a long time.  And it has the added punch of a little added punch.

Jesus made much of wine.

Jesus stood before a group of befuddled servants who were filling jugs with water.  He stepped away, leaving a wonderful vintage behind him.  Jesus reclined at the table in Matthew’s house, wine glass close at hand, friends all around, visitors wandering in and out.  Jesus took the cup of wine, the cup of redemption, and told his disciples it was the cup of the new covenant, in his blood, given and shed for them for the forgiveness of sins.

I began this week thinking about some of the basic gifts of creation – air, water, bread and wine.  Each day, I’ve discovered that each of these holds the mysteries of life.  They are all so simple, yet each holds a surprise.  They are gifts, but they are also tools.  All require the intricate inter-workings of creation.

We talk easily and often about God being around us all the time.  Do we see God in the air?  Do we feel God in the water?  Do we taste God in bread and wine?  Yes, to all of this, but only with the senses and taste buds of faith.

Let us pray: Dear Lord, you sustain our lives with the basic gifts of creation.  Today, as we eat and drink, we pray that we may do so with thankful hearts.  May we enjoy the party of life, a mere appetizer to the life to come.  As Jesus gathered for the fun of a wedding, may we today experience the joy of fellowship.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

“Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.  Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”  Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?”  Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”  So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?  Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'”  Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  John 6:26-33

A little flour, a little water (both required).  A little salt, a little yeast (both optional).  Mix.  Bake.  Bread.

We pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”  Martin Luther, in his explanation of this part of the Lord’s Prayer, said that daily bread is more than the food on our plate.  He said it included such gifts as home and family, daily work, favorable weather, good government…all that is needful for a good life.  He was on to something there.

If you were fortunate enough to grow up within sight of amber waves of grain, you know something about the process of seed, water and sunlight becoming the fluffy stuff in the plastic bags.  Many many hands play a role in the process.  Many different prayers are said along the way.  People working together, doing their part, getting fed along the way.

We need our daily bread.  Much of our lives has to do with the creation, acquisition, distribution and management of daily bread.  We’re always looking for ways to do it better, faster, more efficiently.

The crowds followed Jesus because he gave them bread.  People will do just about anything when they are hungry.  But hunger is hardly our problem.

Our problem isn’t hunger – it is recognizing the difference between the bread which satisfies and the junk food which coats our arterial walls.  It is recognizing the signs of health and pseudo spiritual-obesity.

I believe Jesus healed blind people as a sign that Jesus is interested in helping people see.  Really see.  To see beyond the apparent to the real.  To see the connections between the signs which point to the presence of God.

Our daily bread is such a sign.  God gives us a little flour and water.  We make “Cookie Crisp.”  Life is complicated but we make it far more complicated than it needs to be.

The crowds followed Jesus because he gave them bread.  Had they eyes to see beyond a fast food meal, they would have seen that in giving them bread, he was giving them himself.  Daily bread that endures to eternal life.

Let us pray: Gracious Lord, give us this day our daily bread.  And give us eyes to see all the ways which you feed us.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

“A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”  (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.)  The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)  Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”  John 4:7-10

We learn of water first through experience.  Long before we are capable of extending our experience beyond pure sensory stimulation, we are bathed in the waters of life.  We are protected in the warmth of our mother’s womb.  Each movement, each kick, each time we punch a kidney or strain against a rib cage, comes with the subtle resistance of the waters surrounding us.

I am still unable to wrap my thinking around the idea that our bodies are primarily comprised of water.  I can hear that percentage – 92%?  94%? – but it remains ever beyond my comprehension.  How can it be? 

And yet I remember well the joy of afternoons at the city swimming pool, amazed at how the water changed reality, made us weightless, slapped back when we hit it wrong from the high board, and yet felt so much like home. 

The Spirit moved over the water as God spoke life into being.  The children of Israel passed through the water at the hand of God.  Water poured forth from a rock as a sign of God’s provision and protection.  By water and the Word we are made children of God.

There is no life without water.  The essence of life is found in the molecules of water.  Good and evil, life and death are joined in the molecules of water.

Many popular movies have told the story of the destructive fury of water.  The people of my home town, people all along the Red River Valley, are living today with the fear of the destruction that water can bring.  The largest water park in America is called, ironically, “Noah’s Ark.”  The fun shared by thousands flies in the face of the gruesome story of the death of millions. 

My earliest memory of water is being thrown into a lake – against my will – for someone else’s fun.  It wasn’t fun for me and instilled a fear of water that didn’t go away quickly or easily.  Water means life but it also brings death.

So too, for many of us, we were too young to remember being brought down into the death of baptism.  God, who holds both death and life in his hand, brought us from death to life with the living waters promised long ago to a woman at a well.

Jesus once lifted a child in his arms and said that anyone who gave even a cup of cold water to one of these would never lose their reward.

Water is a gift.

Let us pray: Lord, the water of life courses through our veins.  We give you thanks today for your gift of water.  We pray with those who long for rain.  We pray for those who thirst.  We pray with thanksgiving for the life held within as little as a cup of cold water.  Remind us today, as water touches us, of your love which surrounds and supports us.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

“Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!  For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you.  He grants peace within your borders; he fills you with the finest of wheat.  He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.  He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes.  He hurls down hail like crumbs– who can stand before his cold?  He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.  He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel.  He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the LORD!”  Psalm 147:12-20

Life is full of gifts that often pass unnoticed.  I’m grateful today for air. 

The atmosphere around us reminds us of the delicate balance of the gifts of God’s creation.  Gravity, a function of the mass of all that exists, holds a layer of air that protectively blankets the earth.  From this air, we literally breath in life.  Without it we can only exist for minutes.

It gets really hot in Texas.  There have been times, under the sweltering heat of the day, that I’ve felt pockets of wind pass through the shaded areas in which I’ve hid, that have been amazingly refreshing.  I know the physiological reason why the passing wind brings the sensation of coolness but increased evaporation hardly captures the wonder of such relief.

Wind causes trees to sway like dancing friends.  The tall prairie grasses are plush carpets before the walking winds.  Driving through the prairies, you can still see the old windmills in the distance, waving as you pass by.

God moved in the wind over creation.  God blew quail into the camp of the complaining Israelites.  Jesus stilled the wind and the waves.  Peter and the others at Pentecost drank deeply from the wind of God’s powerful presence.  Still, as the wind, God blows through our lives.

Like all gifts of creation, the wind can turn on us.  In the sweltering heat of the summer, winds confound the meager efforts of valiant people struggling against fires.  Wind whips rain into hail.  Wind swoops down wreaking the devastation of tornadoes.  Wind gangs up with wind becoming terrifying hurricanes.  What can be worse than struggling for our next breath?

Who do we turn to when the winds turn against us?  Who do we thank for the wind?

Psalm 147 is written as a song of praise from those who know from whom the wind comes.  It is a song of praise for the gifts of God’s creation and the blessings of God’s provision.

Today, I’m grateful for air.

Let us pray: Gracious Lord, Spirit of gentleness, rushing wind that fills our lives.  Bring to us today the refreshing uplifting power of your unseen presence.  You have given us both the gift of air and the gift of recognizing both Giver and gift.  With gratitude, we meet this day.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.  And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them.  See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.  Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.”  1 Thessalonians 5:12-22

Paul ends this first letter to the Thessalonians with the words of verses 26-27: “I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”  These words answer the question, “Why did Paul write letters and why did the early church preserve them?”  He wrote them as his strategy to continue to shape the faith of others even when he couldn’t be in two places at once.  He wrote them to encourage their growth in grace.

Christianity is a team sport.  When you read Paul’s exhortations regarding life in community, you get a vivid picture of what it takes to live together, work together and share a common purpose.  “Admonish, encourage, help, be patient, do good to one another – this is the way people who love one another and share a common mission treat one another.  This is how teams play.

But when the members of the team focus only on themselves, their statistics, their acclaim, their glory, their team suffers and even splinters apart.

When team members get along, play together, encourage one another, they develop an infectious spirit of fun.  They truly enjoy one another and have mutual respect for one another.  There is an attitude that flows through such teams.  Paul captures that attitude with the words, “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.”  Such an attitude results in the feeling that you just can’t lose.  Regardless of what happens along the way, the joy of the team is the victory.

But great teams need great coaches.  Someone needs to be there providing guidance and structure and boundaries and discipline.  The coach of the Christian faith is the Holy Spirit who comes to us through the word of God, using human voices to direct that Word where it needs to go.  “Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise the words of the prophets, but test everything.”  Listen to your leaders but hold them accountable to God’s Word.

As we work our way through Paul’s letters, they continue to do among us what they did among their first readers.  They remind us that we are part of a faith movement that stretches back to the very beginning.  They remind us that we are on a team that is much bigger than our local gatherings.  And they bring us the comfort, encouragement and focus we need to play the game to the best of our God-given abilities.

Let us pray:  Dear God, thank you for coming to us through the words of your servant Paul.  Thank you for his leadership, his witness and his guidance.  As we live our lives, use our gifts, do what you have called us to do, we pray for your continued guidance and encouragement.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.  For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.  For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore encourage one another with these words.”  1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

“Are we there yet?”

Vacation season is just around the corner.  Soon, parents will be hearing those words from the back seat ten minutes or so after pulling out of the driveway.  We want to know where we’re going, when we’ll get there, and we don’t have much patience on the way.

Here in the 4^th chapter, Paul gets down to the other reason why he wrote to the church in Thessalonica.  In the first half of the chapter, he reminds them of the importance of living holy lives.  Lives free from fornication, lives devoted to spiritual growth, please God.  Such lives keep our neighbors safe and free us to live as God would have us.

Then come verses 13-18.  These verses are full of images that have inscribed themselves into popular Christian imagination, into songs of power and hope.  I’ve read these verses many times at the bedside of people near the end of their lives.  I’ve used them in funerals.  All of this has been appropriate since the purpose of these verses, as Paul himself says, is to encourage one another.

But these verses also point out that, even for Paul, theology was a work in progress.  Even Paul didn’t know the whole truth.  Even Paul was learning on the way.  Here, in the earliest of New Testament letters, Paul continues to expect that Jesus will be coming back to wrap things up very quickly.  Paul expects Jesus to come back in his own lifetime – “then we who are alive” – but that just wasn’t going to happen.

“Are we there yet?”

That early vacation plaintive wail from the back of the car quickly gets irritating to parents.  They would rather the kids enjoy the drive and see that the drive is just as much a part of the vacation as the destination.  But that’s hard for kids to do.  Miles of America rolling by doesn’t quite cut it when Wally World beckons at the end of the trip.  But the journey does matter.

These lives we are living matter.  The ways we treat people along the way does matter.  Maybe Paul was wrong in his timing on when Jesus would come back – but the intensity and passion he poured into life, living with the expectation and anticipation of the end, was fueled by his awareness that the journey itself participates in the destination.

We’re going somewhere good.  The journey is worth it.  Live well the journey.

Let us pray:  Dear Jesus, we wait for that day when we see you face to face.  Sometimes this time of waiting is full of anticipation, other times it is full of fear.  Draw near to those to whom death draws near.  Draw near to those who are wasting their lives away.  Encourage us with reminders that we belong to you.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

“Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.  And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.  And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”  1 Thessalonians 3:11-13

Whenever we open a New Testament letter, it is hard to remember that we are actually reading a letter.  A piece of correspondence.  A word from a friend to a group of friends.  We so quickly categorize it into something holy, strange, mysterious and unapproachable that we sometimes miss its humanity.

Paul was a real person.  The nameless Christian community in Thessalonica included people who had Paul over for dinner, who hosted Paul in their homes, who sat in circles with Paul as they said their prayers together.  There were children in their company who had sat on Paul’s lap.  They laughed together.

When Paul heard troubling news from Thessalonica about the health and well being of his friends, he sent Timothy to visit them.  Paul expresses real joy and comfort in having heard from Timothy that all was well, despite the persecutions and troubling times they had endured.

And now, in these verses, even as he is writing a letter to them, Paul prays for his friends in Thessalonica.  He prays to see them again, that their love may increase and that God might strengthen them in their Christian walk.

We say it all the time…”I’ll pray for you.”  Sometimes we actually do it.  And when we pray on behalf of our friends, on behalf of those whom we may or may not know, we are doing the very thing that Paul was doing.  We are expressing our unity with those that God loves, our common dependence on the God who gives us life.

When we pray, we are acknowledging that we do not do life on our own.  When we pray, we are coming to God as children would to a loving father.  We are casting ourselves at the feet of a power greater than ourselves, trusting that we are heard, and that God’s will be done.

Let us pray:  Dear Lord, thank you for the gift of knowing you, knowing we can depend on you and knowing that we can lay our hearts before you.  Thank you for the gift of prayer – encourage us to come to you in all times, with all things, rather than suffering through life alone.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

“As for us, brothers and sisters, when, for a short time, we were made orphans by being separated from you–in person, not in heart–we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face. For we wanted to come to you–certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and again–but Satan blocked our way.  For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?  Yes, you are our glory and joy!”  1 Thessalonians 2:17-20

In this 2^nd chapter, Paul reminds his readers of the personal investment he made in their lives as he lived among them, teaching them about the faith, guiding them in their new found relationship with Jesus.  It wasn’t easy.  There were deep sacrifices on both sides – Paul, working night and day, and the Thessalonians, embracing a faith which challenged so many aspects of their lives.

As Paul writes so personally to the Thessalonians, we get a glimpse of the nature of the spread of the early Christian faith.  It wasn’t a philosophical movement marked by the guru in the front of the room while the transfixed disciples drink in the wisdom.  And it wasn’t a religious movement with a new set of rules and regulations for appeasing the gods which replaced the old set of rules and regulations.  What Paul was leading was a spiritual revolution marked by broken people gathering to hear and tell one another’s stories, knocking down dividing walls, and experiencing the power of God in the midst of it all.

It wasn’t wisdom or show or splendor that attracted the Thessalonians to Paul’s message.  It was more mysterious than that – the mystery of human authenticity, the mystery of truth telling, the mystery of falling in love.  The Thessalonians were not Paul’s clients, not even his parishioners, they were his friends.  He lived among them not because of what he could get out of them, but because it was the very nature of the faith into which Paul had been baptized that he share it and that he share it in community.

It wasn’t wisdom that attracted early converts to Christianity – it was love.

So Paul isn’t showing flattery when he tells the Thessalonians that they are his “glory and joy.”  He is telling the truth.  Their embracing of Paul’s faith is an encouragement to Paul and a vindication of the movement of God in Paul’s life.

As I send out today’s devotion I feel like I am in a time warp.  I have three more weeks to directly serve a congregation that I have poured my life into for the past fifteen years.  I will leave them with the same sense that Paul had toward the Thessalonians – they have given me glimpses of glory.  And then I will move on to a position in which I serve them indirectly, a position in which I will get to serve as cheerleader and coach to the newest congregations in our synod.  My prayer is that this same spirit which filled Paul for enthusiasm for ministry and the Thessalonians with a grateful eagerness to respond might continue to be the hallmarks of Christian community.

God is in the business of helping people, welcoming them, loving them, challenging them, shaping them, using them for holy purposes.  And when we gather as Christian community, it is our privilege to see that holy work of God happening in our midst.

Let us pray:  Gracious Lord, it is not good that we are alone.  So you gather us as a hen gathers her chicks.  You bring us into this company of strangers which is your Church and there you teach us how to love and be loved.  Continue to bless us as we share the journey of faith together.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

“For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake.  And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.”  1 Thessalonians 1:4-7

When was the last time you played tag?

When I was a kid, we played it for hours.  Basic run and touch tag.  Complex tag where you had to touch certain places and every house’s porch was safe.  Team tag where you could get your friends out of prison.  Flashlight tag at night.  It was always so much fun.

Unless you were the younger brother or sister who could never catch anyone once you got “it.”  Or if you were the last person who still wanted to play when everyone else had enough.

As Paul describes the Christian faith here in the first part of his letter to the Thessalonians, it looks a lot like tag.  God tagged Paul;  Paul tagged the Thessalonians; the witness of the Thessalonians is tagging the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.  The faith movement of Christianity is growing, one person at a time.

This first letter, perhaps the earliest New Testament book, was written by Paul to encourage the Christian community he had gathered in Thessalonica.  As relatively new Christians, they are torn between the lives they once knew and the lives they now know.  They live with questions – some of which the faith answers and some which the faith intensifies.  In short, they sound a lot like us.

It is so easy to feel ourselves cut off from the wider movement of God throughout the world and throughout history.  We forget that we are not the first ones to believe in Christ in the midst of a radically diverse culture where plenty of people think such faith is misguided, fanciful and foolish.  We forget that we aren’t the only ones torn between conforming to a self centered lifestyle and the self giving nature of our faith.

We think so often that we are all alone – as individual believers, as individual congregations.  Especially in those settings where the conversion of unbelievers is rare, where congregations are shrinking with age, we feel like that kid that can’t catch anybody else.  Or in those places where we step out in faith and take risks, and we end up feeling like the one who still wants to play when everyone else just goes home.

Remember this morning that we aren’t alone!  We’ve been picked, chosen, by God through those he tagged ahead of us.  And if we are going to keep having fun, then we are going to have to do our part to tag the ones in front of us.  The game goes on!

Let us pray:  Gracious Lord, you have come to us, chosen us, and included us in the grand sweep of your kingdom.  Thank you for the witness of those who have gone before us.  Use us to reach those still waiting to be caught.  May your kingdom come!  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.