Mission POSSIBLE: God's Secret Agents

IF you wake up in the morning and faithfully lift up your prayers to God...
IF you take time for a morning devotional and then sit quietly waiting for God to speak...
IF you seize opportunities during your day to send shooting prayers to God...
IF you prepare for bed by reflecting on your day and turn to God in prayer...
Does your heart feel as if you're talking to a wall - a brick wall that doesn't let any light through the cracks - a high wall that keeps you in shadows - a wall that separates you from God and whatever God might choose to say to you?

Because these are common experiences for Christ followers, it may make Ephesians 3: 20-21 hard to swallow:  "Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen."

This is a doxological prayer - a prayer of thanksgiving.  What's powerful in this promise about God's abundance is that our prayers and our church aren't just another self-help project.  God is the agent - the primary actor in this prayer.  It's not a matter of becoming stronger and better Christ followers on our own.  But by letting (ie surrendering ourselves) Christ into our hearts, we allow Christ to change us.

And how Christ wishes to transform us is to call us (perhaps through our prayers; perhaps through another person; perhaps through worship or acts of mission; perhaps through a Mission Possible tape recorder) to be agents for God and partners with God.  As the hymn, "Called as Partners in Christ's Service" sings:  we're called to ministries of grace and we respond with deep commitment [trusting in] fresh new lines of faith to trace.

We commit ourselves to be God's agents by generously and trustingly offering our time, our talents/gifts, and most specifically in this season of our stewardship campaign, our treasures.  My question is:  If the voice on the Mission Possible tape recorder were to be God's voice issuing us our challenge...would we trust God enough to give joyously and abundantly of those treasures with which God has blessed us in the first place?

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley

Warriors' Weapons

I don't like guns.  Taking archery in college as a PE requirement is as close as I've come to holding a weapon.  I've never worn a bulletproof vest.  I've never been robbed or mugged.  I've only been in prison once to participate in Chuck Colson's Prison Ministry.  CSI is as close as I come to understanding the evil forces of crime.  So, Ephesians 6:10-20 is a challenge for me to understand how and why I would put on the whole armor of God.
But it's scripture.  It's the Word of God, so struggle I must, in my desire to be faithful.
It's helpful to understand the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes to keep me ready to proclaim the gospel of peace, and the shield of faith as protective gear against the cosmic and powerful forces of evil and sin both within me and swirling about me in the world.  I can vote for this kind of protection.  But the sword of the Spirit - the Word of God - is an offensive weapon, meant to get me up off the couch to do battle with injustice and oppression and all that imprisons people in states of poverty, hunger, uneducated, homelessness, vulnerable to crime or drugs or gangs.  If God is calling me - us - into battle the very real forces of violence, I'll need all the protection and power possible.
So, I'm intrigued with Topeka JUMP - Topeka Justice and Ministry Project as a community, congregational effort to tackle root causes of injustice specifically in Topeka.  I'm anxious to team up with my congregation and many other diverse congregations to re-think justice beyond responding to the symptoms of injustice.  As we examine our values of faith and our call to share God's good news with the world, we can claim God's power through careful and caring discernment.  As prophets or speakers of truth to power, we can call institutions to accountability for fairness, equality, and well being.
May we all be fed with God's truth that we may then use the sword of language and testimony to call for transformation.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Shelley

Dirty Dancing

American author Erma Bombeck wrote “Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving.” We are all too familiar with guilt in our world today – guilt over things done, things undone; guilt over failing our boss or our children or our parents or our teachers. We are reminded in every commercial, in conversations, in emails of the burden of guilt.

In our Scriptures today, King Herod’s guilt is overwhelming. Read Mark 6:14-29 and Ephesians 1:3-14.

This story, used in the context of discerning the identity of Jesus, is a flashback caused by Herod’s guilt over killing John the Baptizer. It is a story of seduction, power, lust, tragedy, and vengeance – no wonder it has been extended into a play and a famous opera. In the face of power, John continued to speak the truth – John continued to follow God’s call unto his death.

It seems that we are often more like Herod than John, capitulating to what is easy and what pleases the people around us instead of following God’s call on our lives. It is easier to give into the whims of the world around us, to give into the dirty dancing that calls us to consumerism, materialism, gossip, and posturing, away from the Other-centered existence, away from reaching out to the least of these.

The story ends with a sad, foreshadowing moment, as the disciples retrieve the dead body of the religious leader who was not afraid to speak truth to power, to follow God. Yet we know that this story takes place within the larger Story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are secure in the knowledge, as we read in Ephesians, that redemption, forgiveness, and grace are freely offered to us and are destined to be in God’s family. Even in our Herod moments, when we are weak and hear the Word but are too perplexed, we are presented with a deep hope that this is not the end – that redemption is possible. Rest in the assurance that Herod and his kingdom were temporary, while the kingdom of God will reign forever.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kate