Lent 1 Lead us not into Temptation Feb 10, 2008

Matthew 4:1-11
4Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” 7Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” 11Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.For Christmas my kids got me an old spice gift set. Yes, the truth is I am a one sent man, and that sent is classic old spice. This year the gift pack came with a body wash and I being the advertising nut I am love reading the slogans on labels. The slogan on the body wash said, If your grandfather wouldn’t have used this you wouldn’t exist. Now Millions would have read this and smiled and that would have been the end but I do some of my best philosophical work in the shower probably because it is the quietest 10 minutes of my day. I also preach for a living so most preachers will tell you that the world begins to be seen through the lens of teachable moments.

I started to think about existing. To ex•ist
Etymology:
Latin exsistere to come into being, exist,
Date:
circa 1568
1 a: to have real being whether material or spiritual
b: to have being in a specified place or with respect to understood limitations or conditions 2: to continue to be 3 a: to have life or the functions of vitality b: to live at an inferior level or under adverse circumstances

One of our core questions always needs to be do we want to just exist or do we want to thrive? Do we want to get by or do we want to flourish? I know this about myself I am not much on just getting by I like to flourish, I will always pick participating verses watching.
In the gospel today we hear about Jesus getting tempted in the desert. The devil tempts Jesus with existence questions. Do you want to exist? Do you want to survive or thrive? Jesus you must be starving turn these rocks into bread, God will do that for you? Jesus jump off this temple the angels will not let you fall. Jesus if you just pay homage to me. The world will be yours.
In a world that is always looking for a short cut this is a very important lesson to hear and to consume. Jesus says there are things more important than hunger, and not every test is a fair one or a good one and what good is every THING if it costs me every ONE and all I believe. The desert has always been a place where God and people connect. Where God teaches us, feeds us, challenges us and forms us. The desert is sometimes a lonely place and sometimes a place of community. The desert is a place where we find ourselves and God’s will for us. The desert is a place of covenant, a place of testing and a place of God’s presence and promise.
Here is what happens in the desert of Lent. It get’s complicated and simple just like life. Sand gets every where and nothing stays clean but the main thing is very easy to identify and life and death help us clear out the junk and the less important priorities in our life. Have you ever noticed how quickly we stop our lives when there is a death or a life emergency. I often ask myself why does it take an emergency to make time for the most important people in my life. For my God who is so I say my hearts desire. Remember the last line of the Ash wed gospel where your treasure is there your heart will be also.
I am a big on opportunities. Will anything happen if we don’t take this Lenten desert opportunity, maybe not. It is just that an opportunity. You can choose to use it or not, change or not. Embrace your God and your life or not. But God cries out to you. Like the sand that you pass by as you enter church, you can delve your hand in and remember that God calls us to transformation or you can pass by in a rush of life. You can write a message or cross yourself or not even notice it. With enough gas, water, and air conditioning you can drive through the desert and not even notice you’re their until you break down or stop and take notice it is up to you that is the message from the 1st reading with Adam and Eve in the Garden God is as present or distant as we want God to be. We can are as embraced and transformed or isolated and distant as we choose to be. This is not a God who Lord’s over us but this is a God who creates with us and he calls to us in the desert to be in covenant, to be in relationship and to be in love with Him as he is with us. Do we want to exist or thrive?

In the Name of God
Clippings and reference
Israel’s time in the wilderness was not simply a time of aimless wandering, of pointless movement. They were on a journey with a beginning in Egypt and an end in the plains of Moab as they are about to enter the promised land of Canaan. It progresses in orderly stages, from Egypt to Sinai, where they stay almost a year, and then from there to Moab.
Two temptations against the journey recur and have to be dealt with. The first is the temptation simply to stop the journey, to settle down, to say, “That’s enough! Let’s stay here.” There were periodic resting places along the way, for example, at the oasis of Kadesh Barnea (Nm 13:26; 20:1), but the time comes to get moving again, and they do this “at the bidding of the Lord” (Nm 9:17-18; 10:11-13). In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses recalls the departure from Sinai: God says, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain….Leave here…” (Dt 1:6-7). The community is forbidden to settle down too long. A similar theme can be noted in the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ transfiguration (the reading for the second Sunday of Lent). “It is good that you are here. If you wish, I will make three tents” (Mt 17:4). But they come down from the mountain. Could this be a temptation we face in our Christian lives? The God of the Bible is a God who calls us continually out of secure and comfortable presents into unknown and risky futures.
In some ways, the second temptation is even worse. “And they complained to Moses…Why did you bring us out of Egypt?” (Ex 14:11). They do not want to stop the journey; they want to reverse it. They want to go back. Even though they have seen all the signs and wonders God has worked on their behalf, they wish these had not happened. They want to go back to Egypt!
The second temptation is idolatrous, seductive (especially for religious people) and very common. It is nostalgia for the past. The past looks more attractive, more secure, safer. As well it ought! We have already been there; it holds no surprises. What makes the past so attractive is precisely the fact that it is past, and preferably not too recent. Nostalgia depends on distance and selective amnesia. We are indeed supposed to remember the past; this is absolutely essential. But when we do this, we bring the past into the present in order to help us live into the future. In nostalgia, on the other hand, we want to bring the present into the past in order to avoid the future.
How often this is justified by an appeal to the Bible! “Back to the Bible,” we hear, “back to the Bible!” Do we ever hear, “Forward to the Bible?” When we go back to the Bible, what we find there is a God who is always out ahead of us, calling us into the unknown, into the future. Could this be a temptation we face on the journey of our Christian lives?
We have looked at several general aspects of Israel’s wilderness experience. We now look more closely at exactly what happened in the wilderness. It is a place of covenant, of testing and of presence.
Place of covenant
“The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you with the message: ‘Let my people go, to worship me in the desert’” (Ex 7:16). Yahweh’s people come to Sinai to learn to worship Yahweh.
But perhaps we can go a bit deeper. In a situation of oppression, a twofold problem exists: Some people are oppressed because others are oppressors. History eloquently attests that most often, when a people are freed from oppression, they quickly become oppressors in turn. The victims of today become the oppressors of tomorrow. The problem is that both share a common set of values; they agree on the basic issues, but disagree on the present arrangement of things. The chain of oppression goes on.
If the Israelites, newly freed from oppression in Egypt, were to go directly into Canaan and assume power there, why would they be any different? Instead of Canaan, they come to Sinai for an extended period of “attitude adjustment.” Covenant with Yahweh, the God who frees from oppression, calls them to a whole different view of reality, a new set of values and a totally different style of life. To live the covenant truly is to worship this God and to be concerned for the rights and needs of others. The only way to break the chain is to become a servant of Yahweh.
During his temptations in the wilderness, Jesus is also tempted to live by a set of values totally different from those of the Father. Will he be the kind of Messiah that God was calling him to be, or would he go the more culturally acceptable way of power, prestige and spectacle? We know the answer.
During Lent we examine our lives in the light of our sharing in the covenant of Christ. We too are called to a view of reality and a set of values quite different from those of the culture(s) around us. Do we really embody them in our lives?
Place of testing
The wilderness was also the place where Israel was tested in its faithfulness to Yahweh and where it repeatedly failed. What is it that tests the Israelites’ faith? They have nothing to drink; God provides them with wonderful water from the rock (Ex 17:2-7). They have no food; God sends them manna (Ex 16). They are threatened by enemies from without, the Egyptians first, then the Amalekites (Ex 17:8-15); later they will face others (Nm 21:1-3; 21-35; 25:16-18). In addition to this, there are internal struggles for power. Disputes center especially on the leadership of Moses and Aaron (Nm 12:1-16; 14:1-4; 16:1-35).
The wilderness is a place of extremes, and choices are more clear-cut. Food and water are essential for physical survival. Security from external threat and internal stability are essential for social survival. These are legitimate needs, but in the wilderness, they become temptations for Israel’s faith: Will they maintain their faith in the God who brought them safely from Egypt and who guides them in the wilderness? They often failed. They could not unlearn so quickly and easily all the old values of their previous way of life.
Jesus, in the wilderness, was also tempted about food; unlike Israel, he kept his faith in God. What of us? As strongly as we may say that we want-and really intend-to follow God, many forces remain, within and without, to pull us away and push us toward idols. It is always the most legitimate needs (e.g., food, water, defense, internal order) which can become the most seductive idols. Is our service of God the true foundation of our life?
Place of presence
The wilderness was a place of threats to life and of death. The Israelites are tested to see if, in fact, they will truly believe that their God, a God of life, is with them there.
At the beginning of their exodus, God had called to Moses from the burning bush and sent him to lead the people out of Egypt. Moses replied, “When I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” God replied, “I am who I am” (Ex 3:13-14). God’s enigmatic answer implies that “I am with you/I am present to/for you” (see Ex 3:12, 16-17).
In addition to the assurance of God’s presence, reflected in the “name,” there were more tangible signs of God’s presence: the Ark and the Tent. The Tent was a portable shrine that could be carried with them on their journey; the Ark, a portable throne for God, was kept in the Tent. These were visible reminders of the continuing presence of God in the midst of the people. Whether encamped or on the march, they should not be afraid because Yahweh was with them.
Jesus never wavered in his close relationship to God. We Christians are assured that Jesus indeed is “God with us” (Emmanuel, Mt 1:23), and he has assured us, “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). In the midst of our struggles, temptations, journeys, do we really believe that God is with us? The wilderness is a place to nurture our belief that God is truly with us.
During the 40 days of Lent, we share with the whole Church an annual “wilderness experience.” The questions and issues we face are basically the same as those we have seen in the Old Testament and in the New. They are themes ripe for our Lenten practice, themes around which we can organize our traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
The Bible bears witness that it is all right not to know the details of the future. We do know the most important thing about it: We are not alone; “God is with us!” The words addressed first to Israel speak to us as well: “Do not be afraid, for I am with you” (see Gn 28:15; Ex 3:12). Whatever the future brings, we will make it together; we will persevere even through death itself. Lent, after all, looks forward to Easter!

Epiphany Last Up on the mountain Feb 3, 2008

DANCE WITH ME
This is Holy time, we’re gathered together
to worship You To love one another
And as we pray, And as we sing
And as we dance, And as we dream
Oh Lord I beg of you Just this one thing…Won’t You dance with me? Throughout the Heavens
And below the sea. Up on the mountaintops
Flow with the breeze, Come carry me,
Lord won’t you dance……….with me?

I love this Gospel and I love this feast. I love it because it so captures for me the world that the disciples of Christ find themselves in. We tell Jesus we will follow him and then he brings us up to the mountain and we see Moses and Elijah and hear God speak and we think cool we made it and we no more get passed the cloud and the light and we are still caught up with what should we make for dinner and God blows the whistle and says rests over lets go play the game, Sergeant assemble the troops we are marching. And Peter, James and John look at each other, scratch their heads and say, Is He nuts, we just got here.

It confirms my core belief that Rev. 3:15 is true there is no middle gear in the kingdom of God. You are either on fire or you are not. God says in rev 3:15 that if you are lukewarm you will spit out of my mouth.
We are either on fire or we are not. Even on the mountain Jesus had very different ideas about what would happen and how it would look.
I think this is a message for us. We need to do as the song says and dance with God; we need to be very intentional about listening for god’s voice and God’s direction and most of all we need to be ready.
This is Holy time, we’re gathered together
to worship You To love one another
And as we pray, And as we sing
And as we dance, And as we dream
Oh Lord I beg of you Just this one thing…

Won’t You dance with me? Throughout the Heavens
And below the sea. Up on the mountaintops
Flow with the breeze, Come carry me,
Lord won’t you dance……….with me?

I believe this was what Jesus really wanted us to understand, to embrace, to burn onto our heart that life is not a test to endure but a dance and when we dance with God all the junk of this world can’t hold us.
How many of us have ever had your heart broke. Been rejected, disappointed by a friend or family member. Suffered tragedy, been overwhelmed by life, wondered how we were going to take the next breath. I can say yes to all the above and some others, Today, Peter, James and John stand with us and Jesus calls out to us and says the mountain is great and come and rest when you need too. But the work in down off the mountain and all three of them left the mountain and with great Joy suffered for Christ and gave witness to him.
God begs us this day and every moment to trust him to dance with him to let Him hold us and to believe that if we do nothing in this world will overcome us. The definition of faith is to believe in what we cannot prove.
So this day and always God invites you dance. And the light will not elude you trust in God and me Jesus says to his disciples which we share the honor and responsibility of being called.

3 Epiphany Good Followers Jan. 27, 2008

Today’s readings all speak about community. The messages given are good not just for our community but for any Community of Christ that is working to be vibrant and faithful.
Isaiah tells the communities of Zebulm and Naphtali to not give up hope that if they stay the course and stay faithful God will reward their faithfulness and Paul writes to the community at Corinth and says hey get along and stop being caught in pettiness the message of Jesus is the point. The rest is small stuff. The gospel has Jesus coming to Capernaum to fulfill the words of Isaiah this only happens in Matthew’s gospel. Jesus as he walks along the Sea of Galilee starts his community. His Rabbi circle. His followers and he uses a phrase that is rare he calls them to be fishers of people. This phrase is not used in the Old Testament.There is a country song that made me think of the work of being a community that follows Christ.

Life’s a Dance lyrics by John Michael Montgomery
When I was fourteen I was falling fast

For a blue-eyed girl in my homeroom class

Tryin’ to find the courage to ask her out

Was like trying to get oil from a water spout

What she would’ve said, I can’t say

I never did ask, she moved away

I learned something from my blue-eyed girl

Sink or swim, you ought to give it a whirl

Chorus

Life’s a dance you learn as you go

Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow

Don’t worry ’bout what you don’t know

Life’s a dance you learn as you go

The longer I live, the more I believe

You do have to give if you want to receive

There’s a time to listen and a time to talk

And you might have to crawl

Even after you walk

I’ve had sure things blow up in my face

Seen the long shot win the race

Been knocked down by the slamming door

Picked myself up and came back for more

Chorus

Life’s a dance you learn as you go

Sometimes you lead, sometime you follow

Don’t worry ’bout what you don’t know

Life’s a dance you learn as you go

Again God does not call us to perfection He calls us to faithfulness. He calls us to work together because using all our gifts together we increase the possibilities and keep from burning out. Here are a few cute stories about being a leader.

A young woman was filling out an application for college when she came across the question: Are you a leader? She thought she had better be brutally honest, so she answered, “No.” She was convinced when she sent the application in that she’d never hear from them because of that answer.

But she received a letter back from the school that read: “We have reviewed numerous applications and, to date, there will be some 1,452 new leaders attending school next year. We have decided to accept your application because we felt it was imperative that they have at least one follower.”

One man bought a sign and put it on his office door. The sign read: “I’m the boss.” The next day he came to work he noticed that someone had put a post-it on his sign that said, “Your wife called. She wants her sign back.”

Steve Goodier says, we can’t all be the boss. And what good are leaders without followers? In actuality, we need to be both.

Sometimes we lead, sometimes we follow. We lead by example, but we still follow role models. We lead by sharing our expertise, but we remain open to the wisdom of others.

There are numerous courses and lessons on leadership. Yet the best leaders are also excellent followers. They know how to listen, they respect and follow great ideas from those around them, and they are humble enough to seek help when it’s needed.

You may be the boss, but do you know how to follow? This world could use a few good followers.
– Steve Goodier
Here is the thing about being a follower of Christ of belonging to this community. If we commit ourselves to Christ and one another we will be a powerful tool for Christ. If we commit ourselves to using our gifts and talents and trust that God will watch over us then sometimes we will lead and sometimes we will follow sometimes out part will be large and sometimes smaller. Good leaders are good followers and vice and versa because they share the same quality they listen, they understand and they commit themselves to the success of the goal which is being God’s love in the world. 1st in our hearts then in our head then in our community at Good shepherd and then into the world wherever we can take it. I was talking to a community leader Friday hung up the phone and called him back and invited him to church. Even I need to keep focused on the opportunities before me.

Because life is a dance we learn as we go sometimes we lead sometimes we follow. Don’t worry about what you don’t know life’s a dance you learn as you go.

2 Epiphany Come and see- Jan. 20, 2008

The Other “H” Word (I Cor. 1:1-9; Jn. 1:29-42)
By Mark Ralls
Mark Ralls is the pastor of St. Timothy United Methodist Church in Brevard, North Carolina, and is co-author of a 12-week course for seekers called Beginnings: An Introduction to Christian Faith (Abingdon). This article appeared in The Christian Century, January 11, 2005, p. 16. Copyright by the Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. Current articles and subscriptions information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock.
Church bells chime. Two muscle-bound men stand arms-crossed in front of a Gothic cathedral. A gay couple approaches holding hands. “Step aside, please,” say the muscle-bound guards. They speak similar words to an African-American girl, a Hispanic man, a young man in a wheelchair. Then, just as we realize that the two large men are “church bouncers,” the scene fades to black and the tag line reads: “Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.”
This 30-second commercial from the United Church of Christ ignited weeks of national debate after CBS and NBC refused to air the spot, claiming it was too controversial. Pundits weighed in, filling airwaves and editorial pages with opposing views.
I am not sure what to think. On one hand, I worry that the decision reached by CBS and NBC marks a new era in public life: the political correctness of the 1990s has been replaced by values correctness. Networks are so concerned that they might offend the sensibilities of religious conservatives that they refuse to air commercials that break no FCC guidelines. Yet I also feel a small bit of gratitude toward those nervous television executives whose actions sparked controversy over an issue that Christians have forgotten ought to be controversial — not homosexuality, but that other “H-word” — hospitality.
________________________________________
In the Hellenistic world, the peculiar way that early Christians practiced hospitality set them apart from the surrounding culture. Non-Christians prized hospitality, but understood it to be discriminate. It was directed toward family, friends and influential social contacts — those who could easily reciprocate the host’s goodwill. Christian hospitality, on the other hand, was notoriously indiscriminate. Not only were all welcome, but it was those least likely to reciprocate — the widowed, the orphaned, the outcasts and the estranged — who were its primary recipients. In a modest way, Christian hospitality cut against the grain of social propriety and courted controversy in the ancient world.
Hospitality has lost its edge in the contemporary church. We no longer see it as a weighty moral issue; it is now more about manners than morals. I recall meeting with a group of church members about changing the name of our evangelism committee. We were divided into two camps. One side recalled Billy Graham and felt we were unworthy of the title “evangelists”; others remembered Jim Bakker and thought we could do better. Thinking I had the perfect solution, I recommended that we call ourselves the hospitality committee. Neither side was impressed. One man finally broke the silence. “We’re about more than just hospitality. That makes it sound like we’re the tea and crumpets committee.”
But the hospitality of Jesus was controversial. He chafed against the limits of social propriety by welcoming prostitutes and adulterers, crooks and outcasts into his gracious presence. His hospitality knew no limit. It was not just indiscriminate: it was promiscuous.
It was also central to the incarnation. Through his promiscuous hospitality, Jesus reenacts the gracious being of’ the Triune God. The Trinity calls into question everything we assumed about the structure of reality. We live not in a world of divisions ruled over by a supreme being, but in a universe tightly bound and called into being by the God who desires intimacy with us. Divine hospitality lies at the heart of creation. It is also the source of our redemption. When Paul greets the church in Corinth, he does so in the name of the God ‘who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The pattern can be seen in a story from the Gospel of John. Two men approach Jesus and ask, ‘Where are you staying?” Jesus replies, “Come and see,” and Andrew rushes to find his brother Simon. It is such a simple story, but John seems to want us to see something significant. He concludes with the words that signal the beginning of the Christian church “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas.” John wants us to see that simple words of invitation are more crucial to the life of redemption than even proclamations of faith. This is how the church begins.
“Come and see.” Christ invites us to enter into a shared life with this Gracious Host. From this point on, the way to truth will be constituted by personal encounters. Our evangelism is simply a reflection of this truth. Andrew invites Simon to come and see, We welcome because we were welcomed ourselves. We invite because we received an invitation.
I was leaving church one evening as the Alcoholic Anonymous meeting was about to adjourn. I noticed a man crouched over the hood of a rusty Ford and introduced myself as one of the pastors. He sighed and told me how long he had intended to “get back to church.” I invited him to worship. His face flushed and he launched into the story of his life. It was the familiar string of regrets and loss that accompany addiction. We shared a prayer and said, “Good night.” As I was walking to my car, he called after me with urgency. “Did you mean what you said?” “About what?” I asked, “Did you mean that 1 could come to this church?” Driving home, it occurred to me that he had told me his life’s story as a response to my invitation. It was his polite way of explaining why he couldn’t take me up on my offer. He felt he wasn’t “clean enough” to be included in our congregation.
I never saw him again. I wish my response to his questions had been more direct. I wish I had simply repeated the words of Christ. I wish I had said, “Come and see.”
Church bells chime. Two muscle-bound men stand arms-crossed in front of a Gothic cathedral. A gay couple approaches holding hands. “Step aside, please,” say the muscle-bound guards. They speak similar words to an African-American girl, a Hispanic man, a young man in a wheelchair. Then, just as we realize that the two large men are “church bouncers,” the scene fades to black and the tag line reads: “Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.”
This 30-second commercial from the United Church of Christ ignited weeks of national debate after CBS and NBC refused to air the spot, claiming it was too controversial. Pundits weighed in, filling airwaves and editorial pages with opposing views.
I am not sure what to think. On one hand, I worry that the decision reached by CBS and NBC marks a new era in public life: the political correctness of the 1990s has been replaced by values correctness. Networks are so concerned that they might offend the sensibilities of religious conservatives that they refuse to air commercials that break no FCC guidelines. Yet I also feel a small bit of gratitude toward those nervous television executives whose actions sparked controversy over an issue that Christians have forgotten ought to be controversial — not homosexuality, but that other “H-word” — hospitality.
We hear in the Gospel those simple words that should be burned into our hearts. Come and see.
This weekend marks our 1st annual meeting together. We have also had six months of working together as priest and people. I feel like I have settled in and we have gained some basic trust. We will over the course of lent do some intentional work at looking at our church past from 1966 to present and with easter we will mourn our failures and celebrate our success and then it is time to settle in and begin the hard work of being missional. Being missional can only happen when we are all paying attention to Christ’s mission. It starts like the article I mentioned in the beginning suggests, when we focus on Radical hospitality which has to be a passionate focus and balanced, people don’t want to be smothered they want to be loved, welcomed and accepted.
I can promise you this if we haven’t thought it through on how we are going to welcome the stranger, how we welcome people of color, one of our homebound families has a daughter who with her same sex partner has adopted two African American boys. Are they welcome here or not? Will they be ignored here, judged here, Of course not is an easy answer but acceptance is intentional. Mark Rallis says that hospitality has lost its edginess. Hospitality is no longer seen as a weighty moral issue but in the early church they were notorious for there undiscriminating hospitality. Hospitality in Jesus time was very important because it was expected that when you extended hospitality it would be returned to you. Have you ever said now we have to have you back over after you received someone’s hospitality? The church from the beginning stood out because of the fact that they did not discriminate in who they were gracious and welcoming too. Jesus himself in representing God’s love for us was radical and non- traditional in his giving and sharing of his love and graciousness, sinners, tax collectors, women, children, lepers.
Moving toward mission, practicing Radical Hospitality and shifting out of our comfort zone is going to be uncomfortable until we get use to it but like our examples before us once we get use to it God has infinite possibilities in us. I understand some of the practices we are going to try may rub some people the wrong way but trust that even if I don’t know what I am doing that I am as you are being as faithful to the gospel and God call as I can be.
Let us turn these words in our hearts to everyone we meet Come and see what happens when Christ ignites us from the middle. May we blaze in the unbinding light of Christ.

1 Epiphany Come and see- hide and found Jan. 13, 2008

I was home this past Thurs. I was busy with the get ready list for the open house. Heidi took the kids to school and stayed to volunteer in Ann’s class. Emily asked me if she could cut a page out of my journal. I told her I would look at the page she wanted to cut in a minute. She got mad and hid in a closet. I finished my task and then called for Emily. No answer, so I started going floor to floor. No answer. Now I am starting to panic. I am running with Dog pulling on my leg being more frantic by the minute. Finally I open the closet door in her room. There she stood with her arms crossed and a scowl to match a lemon on her face. Then the tears start to roll. I was filled with relief, joy, and frustration at my littlest daughter. I picked her up despite how my parents would have dealt with me in this scenario I held her and let her cry in my arms until she stopped crying.
As I held her as I stared at the ceiling I thought this is how God must feel with us. I was reminded of the story of Adam and Eve in the garden hiding from God. How often do we hide from God? How often does God run around our house trying to find us as we are spiritual, emotional and mentally hiding in the closet from God?
We hear the call of the 1st apostles and disciples in today’s gospel. We celebrate the feasts of the Baptism of the Lord and the Holy Family today. I read a great article this week about the true meaning of the word vocation the article states that we confuse secular vocation usage with monastic usage the true root of the word is to be called. The article says every call has 4 components 1 – a call from outside the person 2 – against the persons will 3 – has a great hardship to over come 4 – greatest danger is from being distracted from the goalI think that is the difference for me between just gathering and going through the motions and really being ready and focused to do the mission. Are we standing in the closest waiting for God to find us or scared God will find us or are we ready to pursue our vocation, our mission and our destiny.
I call us to put the 4 marks of vocation up against all opportunities and challenges we face. I can see God preparing us for great things. We need to keep being faithful, we need to let God hold us and then we need to trust in each other and Go where God sends us knowing that it won’t be comfortable but with God all things are possible.