April 20, 2024 – The Coffee Shop Devotions: A Long Shot

“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.  And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Matthew 9:9-11

In my coffee shop devotions I have talked a lot about “shots of espresso”. In my conversations with various baristas I have learned that there are three kinds of “shots”. There is the regular shot – just a regular amount of coffee and a regular amount of hot water – whatever “regular” means.

Then there is the “Ristretto” which is a short shot of espresso coffee made with the normal amount of ground coffee but extracted with about half the amount of water. And finally there is the “long shot”. As the young man explained to me, the “long shot” is taking the regular amount of coffee but drawing water through it for a longer period of time, so that the result is something more akin to an Americano than a shot of espresso.

Of course, when we talk about long shots, we usually come up with another idea. There have been lots of long shots in the world, especially the sports world, and this year, the world of soccer saw one of the longest of long shots ever. Out of nowhere, the 5000-1 outsiders Leicester City won the Premier League soccer title in 2016. And in 2013, bookmakers thought the rock singer Bono of the band “U-2” had a 1000-1 chance of being the next Pope. Without exaggeration, Leicester’s season to win the Premier League is one of the unlikeliest, most shocking events in the history of sports.

And in deciding who his disciples would be, who would be in the “inner circle” of disciples, when it came time for Jesus to pick the big twelve, Matthew the tax collector would have been another long shot. But when called, Matthew immediately left everything to “follow him”. And soon enough, Jesus is dining in Matthew’s home. There is an immediate connection between Jesus and Matthew – one that goes beyond just being another fringe disciple. If you think about it, most of the disciples were long shots. These men who were fishermen, who were poor, who were uneducated, and who lacked the qualifications, none of them would have been on anyone’s short list for leaders in Jesus’ school of theology.

And that, my friends, is good news for you and me. We often think we do not have the qualifications to serve our churches – to serve either on congregation council, to lead a bible study, or even to participate in the ministries. We forget that Jesus selected his disciples from people who had no qualifications, no resume, and no letters of recommendation. Jesus was just looking for people who would follow him. I think you and have that qualification, don’t you?

Pastor Dave

April 19, 2024 – The Coffee Shop Devotions: The Cha Cha Latte – Are You Kidding Me?

“The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. All the brothers and sisters here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed! Come, Lord! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.” 1 Corinthians 16:19-24

The Cha Cha Latte sounds interesting, and apparently is very interesting. This Latte combines “Matcha” green tea and chai to give you a drink that combines interesting flavors that complement each other. Matcha is a special type of powdered green tea that is grown and produced in Japan (in most cases). The green tea leaves are shaded from the sun for the last few weeks of their growth, increasing the chlorophyll content and creating a rich green color. Then, the leaves are carefully ground with stone grinding wheels to produce a fine powder. The powder can then be used to brew an antioxidant rich frothy green tea. This Matcha powder gives the original green tea latte an extra kick. Either hot or iced, this drink is an interesting option for the Chai lover.

The NRSV of 1 Cor 16:22 (here translated as Come, Lord!) translates the word Maranatha as: “Our Lord, come!” but notes that it could also be translated as: “Our Lord has come”; the NIV translates: “Come, O Lord”; the Message version puts it differently as: “Make room for the Master!” As understood here (“O Lord, come!”), it is a prayer for the early return of Christ. If the Aramaic words are divided differently (Maran atha, “Our Lord has come”), it becomes a credal declaration. The former interpretation is supported by what appears to be a Greek equivalent of this acclamation in Book of Revelation 22:20 “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Wikipedia explanation for “Maranatha”).

Now, why did I mention the word Marantha? Well, this tired pastor was looking for something to say about Jesus, and since Matcha is probably not well known, I thought I might be able to find another word in the bible that is not that well known and begins with the letter “M”. Maranatha, as is mentioned above, became an early prayer if not an early lament for 1st century Christians. Just like the “Prayer of Jabez” and other 20th and 21st century fad, we need to find easy prayers or statements of faith that we can repeat when our lives feel threatened, or we are at our wits end.

Maranatha, “O Lord, Come”. Just like Matcha powder, Jesus is full of faith antioxidants, or in other words, Jesus does a body good.

Pastor Dave