God’s Way, Not Ours
I was meditating on how the early church functioned so differently than ours do today. Paul wrote in First Corinthians 14:26 that when Christians come together everyone should have something to share. I quote, “What then, brothers and sisters, when you meet together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a disclosure of special knowledge or information, an utterance in a strange tongue or an interpretation of it. But let everything be constructive and edifying and for the good of all.” Our worship services tend to be a one-person show with no one else being allowed to contribute anything - as if God only works with one person in the group and no one else! How strange that must seem to many who come to worship our loving Heavenly Father, having experienced His Presence, goodness, blessing, outpouring throughout the week and being unable to share it. Instead, just being able to sit and listen to someone talk about something that may or may not have relevance to their lives at the moment. We are so diverse and we need to celebrate that diversity.
In Jesus’ day, that was not totally the case, either. Only men could share, but men from the gathering were allowed to come to the pulpit and share what was on their hearts. Once, Jesus did just that and it was so significant that it has been recorded for us forever in the Gospel of Luke 4:17 – 20. He told of His fulfillment of the prophesy found in Isaiah 61 – that the eyes of the blind would be opened; the people caught in captivity whether physical, emotional or spiritual would be released; the oppressed would be released whether they be downtrodden, bruised, crushed, or broken by calamity; the poor would have the good news of the gospel preached to them; and everyone would hear of the acceptable year of the Lord – the day when salvation and the full favors of God profusely abound. What good news! Then He just closed the scroll, which seems odd to me, because the very next half verse of Isaiah 61:2 says – “and the day of vengeance of our God”. That was because Jesus brought to us the time of favor, grace, love, freedom from sin, peace with Himself and His Father. Yes, the day of vengeance was coming, but it was not yet. So Jesus closed the book before He could say that part.
As we look and listen and try to imagine the horrors that are going on in our world today, we know it is not God’s doing. We are not in the time of God’s vengeance – yet. We are still in the time of the Grace and Truth that Jesus brought with him (John 1:17). All we have to do is BELIEVE. Believe that Jesus is Who He said He Was and will do what He says He will do. Simple, isn’t it. Don’t miss out. Believe.
I wanted to thank those of you who prayed for the Rimrock Humane Society and the possibility of their winning $5,000 in a contest. They did not make it into the top 5 to be voted on. I only discovered that yesterday and promised I would let you know. The top 5 were mostly from the east coast. The farthest west winner was in Kansas. I let Sandy know and now I am letting you know. Keep praying for Sandy and the great work she does at the Humane Society. She deserves our heartfelt love and thanks.
May God bless all of your who prayed for this project. God will continue to provide for their welfare.
Rev. Joyce Kaplan , M.Div.,
retired United Church of Christ pastor.
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