Scripture: Luke 13:1-9
Everyone has a theory about how things should be. If we were to spend this afternoon we would have probably fifty different ideas of how best to proceed into the future as a community, church, or nation. Wait did I say fifty…that might be a little low, even though we have less than fifty here. Each of us have so many ideas about how best to do things we are not even in unity in our own minds. It is actually quite humorous if you think about it.
The good thing about most ideologies is that it makes discerning what ideas you agree with easier. You do not have to think about it, and to be honest most of us don’t think about it. We go through life latched onto some ideology that we think suits us best and we hold onto it. It doesn’t really matter to us that at times that ideology and our actions do not actually reflect each other. We like the labels because it is easy. We like the label of Christian, spiritualist, Democrat, Republican, capitalist, or socialist because these labels seem to allow us to sit back and let our lives be defined for us. If I say I’m something then I do not have to prove it.
This is a problem because of the six ideologies I mentioned I strongly doubt there is one person in this room that is one hundred percent any of them. I say this because we each have this independent streak in us that does not want to be fully conformed into a group, yet we want to be accepted by it. Yes I even include Christian in that list.
Today’s passage is a passage about what it means to be a follower of God. Just as a warning you may not like what I have to say. I give this warning because each of us, even in our journey in faith, tends to get in our own way.
“At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.” What a way to begin. This section of scripture is unique to the book written by Luke. It is unique not only in scriptures but in historical documentation as well. No one really knows what specific moment in history Luke is referring to. The do not even know if it is an actual even or just some hypothetical scenario used to test Jesus. I want us to consider it as an actual historical event because it very well could have been. I say this because the northern area of Palestine in the Roman era is similar to the American South. They have a nationalistic fervor that is almost annoying to people outside their culture, and a skewed view of what the nation is supposed to be. Galilee is filled with a bunch of good old boys that think they know what is best for everyone else and they tend to want to push the rest of the nation into their line of thinking. There were several groups among the Galileans that built up enough support amongst themselves that they tried to lead revolts several times. They had a reputation as being rebels, nonconformists, and trouble to the outsider.
Pilate is the Roman appointed Governor over Jerusalem. He is not directly involved with ruling the rowdy Galileans but he does have to deal with them on occasion since everyone must make pilgrimages to Jerusalem to worship in the temple and offer sacrifices. Pilate’s number one concern is to stop any uprising that would attract the attention of Rome, and history has proven that he did this with a firm hand. It was not uncommon for Pilate to send in the troops to settle things quickly, and he was not opposed to killing anyone that stood in the way of restoring order.
So we have a scene of civil war. Rome is stopping an uprising. A tyrant is being opposed. Terrorists are being vanquished. Depending on one’s perspective. There is much that could be said about this event. We could focus on the mingling of blood, which would not only have left their sacrifices ceremonially unfit, but also rendering the temple unclean. We could focus on the rebellion of the Galileans. Jesus takes a different route. It was a common understanding at that time that bad things happen to bad people. If something happened to you it is your fault because you lacked the faith. I say that as if it is a school of thought that passed away in antiquity but it is still present to this very day. It is probably one of the most widely accepted ideas in pretty much every religious culture. If you have a problem its your fault. Jesus asks those he’s talking to “did this happen because these guys were worse sinners?”
It is an odd question. It almost leads us to believe that maybe Jesus was talking to people that supported Roman rule. It could also be that these Galilean men acted independently without unifying the group so they sinned because they acted rashly. What we do know is that Jesus knew the hearts of those in this conversation. They were judging these Galileans. Some may have judged them as heroes to the cause or righteous martyrs. Some may have seen the men as the problem of the world they lived in, and others may have been more concerned with the sacrifices in what ever case Jesus is saying each judgment is wrong.
“No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.” Harsh! This is where it gets personal. We judge. We use judgment to try to make sense of the world around us. We judge people to determine their worth to a company, or if they should be a member of committees. It is difficult to keep from judging. The issue with judging is that we often do it from a skewed perspective. We judge based on how something or someone will affect us personally or how they will affect our ideology. This manner of judgment has its place in some areas but not in the kingdom of God.
Jesus is telling them that they need to change their perspective. Repent, or stop and turn the other direction. Everyone talking that day was throwing out their ideas of why this tragedy happened. Jesus tossed in the idea, “what should you be doing.” If we fail to stop and turn the other direction, if we fail to stop and turn to God we run a risk. None of them were focused on what really mattered, not one person in that conversation was focused on what the true Kingdom of God was. Is the kingdom a nation devoted to religious structures, worthy to fight to the death over?
Jesus then shares another tragic event, the falling of a tower in Jerusalem. What causes towers to fall? Structures fall because those put in charge of them neglect them in some way. They fail to maintain the structure, to defend the structure against various attacks, or maybe they failed to build it properly to begin with. We do not know how or why this structure fell, but it did, and in the process it killed eighteen people. Tragic. Who is to blame? The people who died? A tower, in ancient times, was a defensive structure so when it falls it means that there was a break down in the government that failed to maintain something. It very well could have been that those eighteen people were supposed to keep the tower structurally sound but instead used funding for other purposes. They could have also been a victim of inadequate funding or rebellion. The same answer comes from Jesus, they were not worse sinners but if you do not repent then you will perish just as they did. Again the crowd looked to blame someone and again Jesus turns the blame not on one person but on all of them.
Repent! Stop and turn around go the other direction. The problem in our world is that everyone is going around thinking that they know the best way and they want to force everyone else to comply. Repent. That is not the Kingdom of God, no matter how benevolent or righteous it is, but the kingdoms of man. In the kingdoms of man, we want to see results and if the results are lacking we slash and burn and take down anyone and everyone that was associated with it. Repent. The Kingdom of God is not like that. The Kingdom of God does not look to place the blame on whom caused the tower to fall and why people were killed. We already know why that happened. Towers fall because people fail. People are killed because people kill. Repent. Stop focusing on answer those questions and start going a different direction. The Kingdom of God is focused elsewhere.
Jesus finishes this discussion with a cryptic story. “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:6-9, NRSV)
What does it mean to be a citizen of the Kingdom of God? What does it mean to be a Friend of God, or a disciple of Christ? The answer is right in this story. The full gospel is presented in this short cryptic parable. It actually is not very cryptic. The world is the vineyard. Each of us is a tree or a creature of this earth, the adversary or the accuser has been given charge over the vineyard and it looks at us with judgment. The ruler of the air the kingdoms of man judge the tree as being fruitless and a waste of soil. In comes the gardener, with a very different perspective. Let us nurture and encourage the tree. Dig around it putting fertilizer in the soil to encourage growth. Then look at it.
The people in the conversation with Jesus were not looking to encourage or nurture growth, they offering judgment from a skewed perspective. Jesus says repent. Stop looking to accuse, stop becoming a hindrance, and start encouraging growth. This takes work. Repentance is not just the saying of a few words and magically you become a citizen of Heaven. It is work. It is the turning and the changing of one’s life to focus on the things important to God. The gardener worked with the tree. He dug down around the roots. If you have ever used a shovel you know that digging is work, but like most things if you keep working you will develop skills.
The digging around the roots is like the discipline of prayer. Prayer is not something that comes easy to many people. I would venture to say that a life style of prayer is probably one of the hardest things to develop because it takes time. It is more than speaking our requests to heaven; it is studying scripture, meditating on the scripture, examining our lives against the testimony of scripture, it is crying over our failures, and celebrating our liberation from bondage. Prayer is where we being our relationship with God and where we begin to Love God. Prayer is work but if we develop skills a lifestyle of prayer it opens up our lives for something more.
After the gardener digs, he adds manure or fertilizer. This is a catalyst for growth and change. As we pray we will often find areas of our lives that we cannot overcome. We may resent others, an addiction, a grudge, or something that is holding us from fully turning our lives to God. We may also find a calling to a ministry, or a correction in an attitude we need to make. We need something to encourage growth, because many of these things seem bigger than we can handle. Embracing the Holy Spirit is that catalyst for change; the Spirit is the fertilizer that encourages growth. If you know plants you would know that they grow to nutrients and water. Roots will always grow toward the things they need. Prayer opens our lives so that God can add the Spirit to our lives. As we embrace the Spirit more fully our roots spread, we begin to release more of our live into that realm of God reaching for more and more Spirit. This growth beneath the surface has a mirrored affect above the surface. As the roots grow the branches grow. As the branches grow more leaves emerge. As more leaves emerge more flowers bloom, and as flowers bloom fruit is produced.
This is all provided through the one that stood against the adversary or the accuser. We are not the Gardener. The Gardener is Jesus who provides the way for us to enter into a relationship with God by taking on all of our failures, and all of the judgment from the kingdom of man, and hanging them on a cross of shame. It is through Jesus that the Spirit flows into our lives from the Father. It is Jesus that stands between judgment and us and says give it some time, let me work with them, let me stand between life and death for them, and I take on the responsibility.
Repent or you will perish. Repent stop doing what you are doing and examine your life according to the Kingdom of God. God does not want us to rebel against a tyrant He wants us to love our enemy. God does not want us to let our structures to fall but He wants us to be stewards of the blessings He has given us. God does not want us to judge others according to strict codes, but He wants us to provide an environment where His creation can flourish and be fruitful. Without repentance we are just root bound dying trees. Dying trees are only fit to cut down and tossed in a fire. With repentance with we can turn our lives toward the Light of God and we can grow and His Kingdom can come to Earth just as it is in Heaven. You see it is not about what we can do ourselves but it is about what we can do with the help of our gardener.
We all have ideals and ideologies. We have them for reasons, but as we enter this time of open worship and holy expectancy let us all toss those away, because many of those ideologies are based on the kingdoms of man and not the Kingdom of God. Let us become a people of repentance, a people of turning. Let us become a people of Prayer, Worship, and Ministry. Let our lives be about loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the love of Christ with others.
Scripture: Luke 13:31-35
So often times as we move through our bible reading plans we zoom through passages and forget to really take the time to think about what they are saying. We read the words but can often fail to let the words soak into our hearts. The form of prayerfully reading scripture and meditating on it, called Lectio Divina, is a practice that takes time to read. You pray, read, and sit with the words. The difference between the one-year bible reading plan and Lectio Divina is like the difference between snow and rain as forms of precipitation. Our environments, ecosystems, farms, and lawns need water. I grew up in an area where our lives depended on precipitation. We would pray for rain, but if you would as any farmer they would have a preference in the form of precipitation they would ask for. In the spring they would pray for slow gentle rains, but most of all in the winter they would pray for snow. This week as much trouble as it has been for many of us in the city, has been an answer to prayers for the farmers in our area.
Snow is an amazing form of precipitation; it actually protects and waters the crops from harsh weather. Snow reflects heat. When a layer of snow covers a field of wheat it will often protect the fragile plant from the subfreezing temperatures of the air. While the snow is protecting the plant it gently waters them as well as it melts, the water goes directly into the soil. Snow is actually the most efficient watering system of nature. Slowly melting and shielding the plants it surrounds. Where the torrential rains of spring will often run off of the soil and down the hillside to collect in a valley where it forms streams, rivers, and in some cases it will even form a canyon as the water erodes the rock and soil. The difference between the slow prayerful reading of Lectio Divina and the rushing plans that push through scripture. Both are needed without the running streams and rivers Kansas City would be without water, but without the snow we would be without food.
I urge everyone to read scripture in both ways. Download the YouVersion App to your smart phone and tablets and start a plan to read through the bible in a timeframe you are comfortable with, but also slow down and practice the divine reading of prayer. The plan will give you a quick rush of biblical knowledge cleansing and watering the dry soul, but the prayerful reading of scripture will provide the protection and fulfilling nourishment we need to survive.
I begin this way to yet again remind us all of the three things Jesus did frequently. The disciplines of Christ: the practice of prayer, worship, and ministry. These three things are not only good but also vital for us to build a healthy spiritual life; each of these three disciplines builds and feeds on the others. Our ministry or service to others drives us to our knees in prayer and it also gives us reasons to celebrate and worship God. Our worship can encourage others to minister and also reveal to us that we need to seek the face of God in a deeper way. Our discipline in prayer provides the energy and direction in both our worship and our ministry. These three things keep us each centered on what is most important in our community, and in our spiritual lives.
Over the past few months if have noticed some things. It is easy to get caught up, in my own life I have gotten caught up in work, politics, church business, and several other things. Not that any of this is bad, but none of them are central. I get caught up and I allow an area of life to take over, and as a result I neglect another area. Suddenly what I have been caught up shoots roots into my soul and it begins to dominate my outlook, it can even be found in areas of life that it should not have influence. I learn this by taking the snowy approach at reading scripture.
This passage is all about what is central in our lives. It is about who or what controls life. If we quickly read over this passage we may miss that point and just get caught up in the idea of Jesus playing the role of a chicken and the people missing the point. This passage is very deep. If we let it seep into our souls it very well might change our outlook in life.
We first meet with Pharisees meeting with Jesus. I am glad that last week we had the privilege to hear a message from a Jewish Rabbi because he did highlight a fact that we often forget, Jesus was a Pharisee. He was a teacher within the Jewish faith and the teachers were Pharisees. When we take the quick approach to reading scripture we see that Jesus and Pharisees were often at odds, but this is not the full picture. They were religious leaders that had a different understanding of how best to approach the teaching and leading of people. In this passage Jesus and the Pharisees are on the same side. They are concerned for his well being, they are giving him a legitimate warning. They were telling him leave because they want to kill you. The problem was that the government was beginning to find the religious leaders, namely Jesus as a threat.
Herod is mention by them. Herod the Roman appointed leader of Galilee and Perea the lands in northern Israel, was tuned into Jesus’ ministry. This is important to us for a number of reasons but mainly because Jesus was being seen as a political threat. Politics is all about control of people. When a new idea begins to divert attention from those in power it threatens the ability of those people to control the populous. Herod wanted to control his people, it was his job to control, and without control he would not have a livelihood. But who governments only control when people allow them to control, it does not matter if the Government is a monarchy, democracy, or an oligarchy those being controlled give that governing body the power to control, and when they lose the people they lose and the power is given to another. Herod is nervous because in his courts he is hearing the name of Jesus more often, and suddenly he is losing the control of people. Jesus is healing, feeding, and giving people a new life.
“Go and tell that fox.” is Jesus answer. He calls Herod a fox because is sly. He can twist and manipulate things to go in his favor. Jesus says, “tell that fox, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow…’” Jesus is saying I am ministering not seeking power. It is not any of his concern. He says that He will be doing this for a time and that Herod can come get him if he wants. The Government and national politics has no place in ministry of a church. No matter how sly and cunning a politician is it should not affect what we do as a church. If we are called to cast out demons, heal the sick, or feed the hungry we should precede. The ministry is more important that any nation, any politician, any government. Governments no matter how powerful cannot stop God; ask those Soviet Union how that works. All of our concern for what our government does in the world outside these walls should have no bearing in what God calls us to do inside them.
Now Jesus gets to the heart of the issue. “It is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.” This is a cryptic portion of scripture. Is Jesus talking of Jerusalem proper or Jerusalem the idea? Cryptic words can only be deciphered with discipline and understanding. Jesus is speaking not of the city but of religion. Jerusalem is the center of the faith tradition. Religion is about influence of people, much like government. It seeks to influence people to act in certain ways. Now before we get to far off remember that Jesus is telling the Religious leaders to tell this to the governmental leaders. Jesus is telling Herod that the government has less power than religion. It is religion that can silence the prophet not the government. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!” Religion can get it wrong if the religion is focused on controlling and not guiding. “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wing, and you were not wiling! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the times comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
God does not desire us to be divided into religions and governments. He does not desire us to divide into political parties or denominations. These things are about control over people; Jesus spoke often against lording it over people. Those that desire control will be given just what they want. They will gain the house…but the house will eventually be found empty. This is contrary to everything that Jesus promoted. Jesus gathered by offering people something different then a leader to follow. He offered life. To the blind man he offered a life of sight, which lead them out of the life of begging and gave them the opportunity of a different life. To woman with a bleeding condition He offered a life without shame. To the leper he offered acceptance into a community instead of a life of rejection. To the woman caught in adultery he offered an alternative to the constant giving and seeking of lustful desires but one of respect and forgiveness. How He wanted to gather the religious into the brood but they were not willing.
Control…Who is in control…What is in control? Do we want to control? To exert control over other is not godly even if it is done in the halls of the most pious organization. Those that seek to control are not leaders of God but the murderers of prophets. I want to ask a hard question to each of us, one I hope we all will consider, do we want to control our community or do we want to gather? The hen does not seek to control her brood but to protect, direct, and encourage them into their next stage of life. Eventually all of the chicks become adults who will live their own. Jesus wants to gather us. He wants to protect, encourage, and direct our lives not to control our every movement but to transform us into a people that are less concerned with control and more concerned with transforming the earth to be as it is in Heaven. He wants us to offer life, hope, and opportunities to people so that they can move from being a brood and into disciplined people living a life of prayer, worship, and ministry. To gather a community Loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit, and Living the Love of Christ with other.
Today as we join together in this time of communal prayer and open worship, let us remember the difference between snow and rain as well as control and gathering. I pray that we will allow the Spirit of God to let us release those things in our lives that we have allowed to gain control over us, and that we will move under the wings of the God that loves us and let Him guide us into Life.
Scripture: Luke 9: 28-43a
I am one of those types of people that comes to believe that every story about Jesus, what he has done in the past, and really in the present and future quickly become my favorite. I would have to say that it is not because of the events but how I read scripture. I love to read, I love to hear people tell stories. When I read and listen to the stories my mind is somehow transported into a different time and place. I guess I am really the kind of person that could still spend a day in a library just surrounded by books.
A child reads and listens to stories differently than most adults. They do not just hear the story they visualize and become part of the story. They tie a cape on their back to become the characters, and they begin to carry the story on in their play. They not only hear the story they often become the story. Well maybe that was not the way you interacted with a book when you were younger, but it is how I did, my mom had video evidence of it. Miraculously that evidence went missing before she could use it against me.
How often do we read this story of Jesus, and just sit and ponder the theological implications of the situation? Come on everyone…Jesus was GLOWING; let your imagination get the best of you. He went up to the top of a mountain, started praying and began to glow. Scripture can be fun sometimes. Just think about it for a bit. What would you think about Jesus if you saw him standing there glowing before you? It’s probably best that he only brought Peter, James and John up there with him, I don’t know if Thomas could have handled it. He’d probably want to poke him with a stick or something.
The imagination is an amazing tool that many adults have let atrophy as they begin to mature. God gave us this mind and this ability for a reason. It is in the imagination that he can give us the greatest inspiration. Einstein began his theory of Relativity on a bus in a daydream, the author James Barrie was inspired to write one of the greatest plays, Peter Pan, watching children actively imagine as they played. And oddly enough some of the greatest theological and inspiring writings have come from using the imagination to visualize and interact with scripture.
I have often asked you to imagine the scene in scripture. To meditate on a character or what you might do if you were hearing the words directly. Today is no different. How could I not ask you to imagine this scene? Jesus was GLOWING! So I want you all to imagine this, make it as fantastic as you can, and answer one question: Would you want to stay?
Jesus withdrew often to pray. I have been saying this for the past few weeks. This is what is going on in this scripture. This time He takes three of his closest friends with him as he prays. In this time of prayer something amazing happens. This is not something that Jesus found strange but his friends were shocked. Have you ever really thought about this? Of course we can quickly say, “he didn’t find it strange he’s God.” I do not think that that answer is acceptable. It basically leaves out the reason for bringing the three friends up with him. Of course if he was trying to show them that he was God it might be a descent answer. But I think he was trying to prove a point that went beyond, I believe he was trying to prove to his disciples just how important and powerful prayer is.
Prayer is more than lifting our requests up to heaven to try to twist God’s favor to sway our way. Prayer is transforming. Remember Jesus started to GLOW! Prayer is where we join together with God, it is in prayer that God’s spirit begins to transform our lives and renew our minds. It is in prayer that we learn to hear the voice of God, where we discover who we are created to be. It is prayer where we become Children of the Light.
I love that phrase from our older Quaker vocabulary, Children of the Light, along with another phrase holding in the light. I really think it gives a wonderfully visual concept that connects this story with the power of prayer. Being held in the light means we take that concern of our friends into our hands and lift them up to God and somehow pass our hands beyond that veil that separates the realms of reality and place that concern before God. It also attaches us with the concepts of God presented by the writer of John when he speaks of the true light, which enlightens everyone, and the light shining into the darkness and the darkness not overcoming it. That in the light there is life. The light John speaks of in the beginning of his Gospel is filled with imagery that links right into this story. Jesus was Glowing.
Another man also known to have a radiant skin condition met Jesus on that mountain. Moses would also withdraw often to pray and when he did he would return to the camp and people would be afraid of him because his face would be shining, and as he stayed in the camp it would gradually fade. It happened so much that he would put a veil over his face, because the people began to notice the fading more than the shining. Moses was transformed. He too would glow after he spent time in prayer with God.
Then another man was seen, a man who spent most of his time running away from people out to kill him, because when this man went into prayer fire would come out of the heavens, and one time the fire that came down lifted him up carrying him beyond the veil. Fire and light, both have an illuminating property. These two pillars of faith were right there with our glowing Jesus.
The discipline of prayer is something similar between all of these figures. When we read about the prayers of these men they are not often eloquent like a politician’s speech, but are more likely simple words uttered out of a deeply intimate relationship. These men were drawn to pray, not out of duty but they found that the time they spent in prayer was where they drank the drafts of life. And when these men prayed it was as if the very laws of nature were held in suspension.
Prayer is powerful but it is not magical. These men of ancient Hebrew history seemed to control God through prayer but that is not the truth. These men knew God. When Elijah prayed for the fire to come down on the alters of Carmel he did not command God but simply acknowledged that that moment was a good time for God to do what He had already told Elijah He was going to do. When Moses pleads before God for the sake of Israel, he did not change God’s mind but God was actually revealing to Moses what He was already doing and would continue to do. The same is true today. We say that we believe in the healing power of prayer, and I do believe, but I do not control God but instead we converse with God about a shared concern and He reveals his plan. I believe that Prayer changes things, like some many of our Christian authors claim, but I believe that that change is more often in our own perspective as we grow closer to the one that holds the world in his hands and places the stars in the skies with his finger tips.
So have you encountered the incredible Glowing Jesus? Have you experienced that time in the light, in a place where it seems as if everything around you just stops as you enjoy time in prayer? All to often we rush through prayer jumping in and out before the light even gets warmed up. But there are other times where it seems as if God was sitting in a chair waiting for us to stumble in. I have been in the light, no I am not saying that I glowed, but I have been in a place where the intimacy with God real. In that place I knew the mind of God for the situation that I held in the light. More often than not the conversation revealed that what I was asking was wrong and that God had something else in mind.
The disciples wanted to build shelters and stay there on that mountain because they like many of us were not accustom to hanging in that suspended state where the past, present, and future can all meet. They had a taste and they failed to realize what the true power of prayer really is. Prayer is where we talk with God. To talk with God means we tell Him what our needs are but also wait so He can tell us what His needs are. He may let us know that He is going to act in some supernatural way, He may tell us to just leave that concern for Him to worry about, and He may tell us to do what is right. There are even times where there is no concern we carry but we just go to spend time with our Friend. It is good for us to be there, just as the disciples said but we cannot stay. We cannot stay because the power of and in prayer is that it transforms us, it illuminates us and strengthens us to be the laborers God requires to extend his kingdom. In prayer we begin to see how His will can be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. In a sense prayer is where our imagination and God’s imagination meet and we can see and learn what it is God wants to do. We hold the concerns in the light, but we must then turn to walk back down that mountain to carry the answer and love of God back down to the people to whom we have been called to serve.
The very next day the incredible Glowing Jesus and his three disciples walked down the mountain and into a crowd to minister yet again. They immediately were met with agents of the adversary trying to leach the joy of that mountain radiance away. Yet the crowd knew that there was something about Jesus, something attracted them to him something drew them in. The darkness shall not overcome the light. And all were astounded at the greatness of God. We meet God in prayer, He illuminates and transforms us to do what he created us to do, and he sends us back out. We do not have to know exactly how everything will work, we just need to go and do what we are called to do, to shine in the darkness.
Prayer, Worship, and Ministry. The three things Jesus taught his disciples to do. Love God, Embrace the Holy Spirit, and Live the Love of Christ with Others are the three things we as Willow Creek Friends are called to do. They are the same, it is the journey of faith boiled down to the purest form, but often things in the purest form are also the most powerful. If we were to actually live this pure faith what would happen? I asked earlier as we imagined this scripture being played out before us if we would want to stay? I now ask as we join each other in Holy Expectancy and open worship will we be willing to go?