December 31, 2021 — Jeremiah 29:11-14 — “God Willing and the Creek don’t Rise”

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.  When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart,  I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:11-14

If you are like me, sometimes you ask yourself, “Am I doing what G-d wants me to do?” I struggled with deciding to go to Seminary for many years – almost ten – wondering if this was my will or the will of G-d. Maybe you wonder about whether your career is the right one for you, or if you are being called to take a break from your career to care for children or aging parents, or to follow the voice of G-d down some different professional path.

Finding G-d’s will in our lives involves seeking G-d’s wisdom to understand what to do — asking G-d to help lay out a plan to accomplish it including using our strengths willingly and gracefully. This means accepting the changes that are inherent in such a decision. Although I sometimes wondered if I had made the right decision, I learned to trust G-d that there was a greater plan and greater will moving me along on my path.

I am grateful for the path that G-d has taken me on so far, and I keep asking G-d to guide my current situation and to help me navigate the turns and twists that are coming up. And I pray for the grace and wisdom to listen.

If you are wondering what G-d’s will is for your life, perhaps you can consider first what you like most about your life right now? What do you like least? And then consider what does finding G-d’s will in your life—personally, professionally, and for your family—mean for you? It all starts with considering, praying and discerning. It takes time – but G-d will answer those prayers.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, as I come to this new year, I ask you to help me understand your will in my life. Send your spirit into my life, into my heart, and into my relationships, especially my relationship with you. Amen.

Pastor Dave

December 30, 2021 — Luke 17:5-8 – “Up to Snuff” 

“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink?” Luke 17:5-8 

“Up to snuff:” Chewing tobacco once enjoyed immense popularity but owing to its great expense was only afforded by the upper castes. So the original meaning of the phrase “Up to Snuff” shares similarities with today’s, referring to one’s financial and intellectual status. A man who was considered “up to snuff” possessed the money, smarts and sophistication necessary to fully enjoy and appreciate fine tobacco. Today it has a more mundane meaning — those who are up to snuff are the ones who “have the ability” to do something, or who can “cut the mustard”. Uh oh, another idiom. The modern sense of the idiom “cut the mustard” is “to succeed; to have the ability to do something” — just like someone who is “up to snuff”.  The idea that someone could not “cut the mustard” comes from the long development of the established use of the word “mustard” as a superlative, as in phrases such as “keen as mustard.” In the nineteenth century in America, mustard was used figuratively to mean something that added zest to a situation, and the proper mustard was something that was the genuine article. The move from genuine to excellent is just a short step. O Henry used the word in the sense of something excellent in Cabbages and Kings in 1904: “I’m not headlined in the bills, but I’m the mustard in the salad dressing just the same”. 

Thank goodness the idiom is not “Cut the Mustard Seed” — for since it is such a small seed, it might not mean much. However, as we hear from the lesson of the mustard seed in Luke 17, this was the point that Jesus was making. It will not take much for the kingdom of G-d to take root and sprout — as long as there are people willing to scatter the seed of G-d’s word. Jesus tells various parables about seeds, including the “Wheat and the Tares”, and the farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Jesus is aware that people remember stories when he uses familiar imagery — when he talks in terms that all of the people will understand. They were an agrarian economy and people — farmers, shepherds, workers in the vineyards, and people who toiled the ground to scratch out a living. They knew about seeds, about tilling, about watering, and about harvesting. So when Jesus said it takes only faith the size of a mustard seed, they knew what he meant — and knew it only takes a little faith to be able to “cut the mustard” — so to speak.

Let us pray,

Lord Christ, help me to remember that my faith does not need to be giant like a mountain to “cut the mustard” with you. Even if my faith today is as small as the mustard seed, your spirit will allow me to do great things. Amen.  

Pastor Dave