What’s the last big transition you went through in life? A job change? Divorce? Birth of your child? Consolidating and moving to a smaller house? Your child’s wedding? Death of a loved one? At Trinity, we’re currently going through a pretty big transition time – Pastor Shelley has retired, and Pastor Alex has yet to start. We are living patiently and a little anxiously through a liminal space, continuing to journey on, wondering what is on the other side.
Read 2 Corinthians 9:6-12 & Luke 17:11-19.
Jesus encounters the lepers in Luke in a liminal space – the border of Samaria and Galilee. Jesus was on His way to somewhere else, until the lepers made themselves known. After their encounter with Jesus, the lepers then also start a journey to somewhere else, and, while on their way, they are healed of their isolating disease. The healing is freely given and freely received, and the lepers can be restored to their community.
The healing story in Luke clearly mirrors our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The ten lepers did not earn their healing in any way. Out of His goodness and compassion and love for the lepers, Jesus makes them whole once more. Out of His sacrificial love and desire for reconciliation, Jesus went to the cross and was resurrected three days later, making us whole again and again.
The healing and the saving power of Jesus Christ are freely given blessings from God, blessings in abundance. The question that both Luke and Paul present to the reader is how will you respond to these blessings? Are you the one leper, who comes back to praise Jesus, who turns his blessing of healing into praise? Are you cheerfully sharing your abundant blessings for every good work through Trinity? Or are you hedging your bets, waiting to see what’s on the other side, waiting to see if you really want to share your blessings, waiting for this liminal space to end?
Jesus is with us at Trinity through this liminal space, on the border between pastors. Jesus continues to pour out blessings in abundance at Trinity, regardless of our hopes and fears during this time of transition. And God continues to challenge us to share all our blessings in abundance so we may share in every good work. How can you share your time, your gifts, and your money with Trinity so that we may glorify God, share Christ’s love, and make new disciples? Through our commitment and our giving, we may show the world the gratitude we feel for the blessings we have freely received. Through our commitment and our giving, we may continue our ministry to the least of these, even in the liminal spaces.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Kate
Showing posts with label gratitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gratitude. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
God Holds a High Bar: Prayer as the Pinnacle
Jesus' disciples ask him, "Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples." Hooray for disciples who want to pray! But...I'm not sure prayer is so much teachable, as it is something to be practiced, practiced, practiced with much patience and persistence. Beside, weren't they paying attention to the Master Prayer who prayed in their midst? What better example and role model could they have had?
But, Jesus wants to encourage his disciples so that they continue to deepen a more intimate relationship with God. Jesus provides what we consider the first half of The Lord's Prayer that most congregations pray every Sunday. We're faithful members of the Jesus club when we recite it, considering the authority it carries. See Luke 11: 1-13.
If I were to encourage folk as pray-ers, I'd advise simple prayers: Ann Lamott has hers down to "Thank you. Thank you. Help me. Help me." I'd also advise against self serving prayers as the ONLY way to pray. In Jesus' words, I see him challenging us to also ask for forgiveness, for guidance, and for deliverance. Jesus also presses us to be urgent and persistent in praying. Ask. Seek. Knock.
But is praying just about us - our actions - our faithfulness - our persistence? Jesus teaches us more about God and God's persistent faithfulness in this scripture. An underlying assumption is that God is eager to provide for us and powerful and persistent enough to wait on us. What if it's God's generosity that our Lord will give us so much more than we ask for? What if it's God knocking at OUR door? What if praying is aligning ourselves with God so that we participate in God's kingdom here and now?
Now THIS is good news.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley
But, Jesus wants to encourage his disciples so that they continue to deepen a more intimate relationship with God. Jesus provides what we consider the first half of The Lord's Prayer that most congregations pray every Sunday. We're faithful members of the Jesus club when we recite it, considering the authority it carries. See Luke 11: 1-13.
If I were to encourage folk as pray-ers, I'd advise simple prayers: Ann Lamott has hers down to "Thank you. Thank you. Help me. Help me." I'd also advise against self serving prayers as the ONLY way to pray. In Jesus' words, I see him challenging us to also ask for forgiveness, for guidance, and for deliverance. Jesus also presses us to be urgent and persistent in praying. Ask. Seek. Knock.
But is praying just about us - our actions - our faithfulness - our persistence? Jesus teaches us more about God and God's persistent faithfulness in this scripture. An underlying assumption is that God is eager to provide for us and powerful and persistent enough to wait on us. What if it's God's generosity that our Lord will give us so much more than we ask for? What if it's God knocking at OUR door? What if praying is aligning ourselves with God so that we participate in God's kingdom here and now?
Now THIS is good news.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley
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