October 3, 2022 – I’m Calling Yooooooouuuuuu

“This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” Then Amos answered… “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’” Amos 7:7-9, 14-15

“The third vision was that of a plumb line in the midst of the people. A plumb line is a string with a heavy weight on the end of it. This causes the string to be vertically level, making a perfect standard by which to measure. The Lord says that He is going to put that plumb line in the midst of His people. He will measure them by His perfect standard, and they will be found wanting. A lot of people believe that God grades on the curve. That, as long as they are better than some people or most others, that they will not have a problem getting into heaven. But as Paul pointed out: 2Cor. 10:12 …when they measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. We will not be compared to other people. We will be compared to the perfectly vertical plumb line that God has established.” (rondaniel.com website)

Many…individuals played a significant part in (G-d’s) plan to save the Israelites, to warn the Israelites, and to tell them they were in trouble. For example, G-d provided Gideon with 300 men, valiant heroes all, to win the battle — G-d provided Amos, a farmer and dresser of Sycamore trees to prophecy to the people. We are not always told their names, but the bible is filled with examples of obedience – and disobedience. Some would have held up to a plumb line placed into their midst – others their efforts would have been left wanting.

Today, G-d is still calling ordinary people to do G-d’s work and assuring us that He will be with us as we do. G-d does not only call “Pastor’s Kids” to the ministry, G-d calls all kinds of people, from all kinds of backgrounds, with all kinds of perceived barriers along the way. But it is bigger than just calling people to the ministry. G-d calls ordinary people every day to lead ministries, to serve as volunteers, to attend bible study groups, and to visit the lonely, sick and imprisoned. Because we are ordinary people being used by God, it should be obvious to you and me that the power comes from God, and not from us. And when we realize that it is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can persevere in these ministries, then we will be able to give G-d the glory for all we can achieve.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, If you call me, I am ready to follow. Give me the strength and the words to fulfill this calling. Amen.

Pastor Dave

October 1, 2022 – Trusting the Spirit

“Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two. He gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in their belts – and to put on sandals but not to wear two tunics. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the area. If a place will not welcome you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” Mark 6:7-11

“Wallet, keys, phone…” Many of us have a mantra we recite as they leave home, to ensure we are ready for the day. Jesus sends us out with less, inviting us to trust, to be ready to engage with and respond to the world around us. Many people allow themselves to become defensive and protective, aware of slights and insults. Jesus invites his followers to shake off and leave behind acrimony, resistance and unfriendliness. We ask Jesus to help us to keep our eyes on him and his heart rather than letting our hearts be restricted or narrow.”(Sacredspace.ie)

Trust….it is a funny thing. We like to think we live with trust in our hearts. And yet we have our mantras about what to take wherever we are going because we do not trust our memories any more. How willing are we to venture out without the things that we use as crutches in our lives — cell phones, credit cards, GPS devices, items of comfort and luxury that we are told constantly that we cannot live without? When we have exhausted all of the other devices that trick us into thinking we can trust them, hoping and trusting they will give us direction, we may finally learn that the Holy Spirit is the most difficult to use, but gives us the clearest direction — but it takes time and trust.

The Holy Spirit is easy to tap into, but requires time, focus, and determination to understand where it is leading us. When you got your first GPS device, it took time to understand how to use it. The same is true with the Holy Spirit, however, you can use the Holy Spirit anywhere, anytime, any way you discern. But it takes time, and trust.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, help me to learn to place my hope and my trust in you and your guidance through the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Dave

October 2, 2022 – Pentecost +17C, Luke 17:5-10

“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”  Luke 17:5-10

“I just love the Dilbert cartoon strips by Scott Adams. They are one of that
very select company of cartoons that have achieved ‘classic’ status by their satirical and witty take on life. They feature the office workers Dilbert, Alice and Wally and the rather thankless tasks they are frequently occupied with. One of the strips seems to speak directly to today’s gospel reading:The annual appraisal interview is due and Alice waits for it in the office of the pointy-haired boss. The boss begins, ‘Alice, your performance this year is “meets expectations.” You get a two percent pay increase.’ Shocked, Alice shouts, ‘MEETS EXPECTATIONS?! I worked eighty hours every week!’ The boss replies, ‘Yeah … Well, I expected that.’ Defending what she has achieved, Alice stands up and imploringly holds her hand up, saying, ‘I earned three patents this year! The company will make millions!!’ The boss says, ‘Really? Wow. ….I mean … I expected that too.’ Absolutely beside herself, Alice continues, ‘I donated bone marrow to our biggest customer!!! TWICE!!!’ To which the boss replies, ‘I noted that under “attendance problem.”’ We hear the echoes there from our text, or at least so it seems at first sight: ‘So you also when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!”’ These sayings from Jesus are just too near the appraisal comments of the pointy-haired boss for comfort. Do our heartfelt and taxing efforts at discipleship really amount to nothing more than ‘Meets expectations?”’ (George Herbert, Preacher Rhetorica website)

Thank goodness our salvation is not based on how well we achieve the things that Jesus commands, because the life of the disciple is hard – very hard. It is almost unachievable. It is unachievable if we try to do it on our own. My friends, we will fail more often than we will be successful in doing what Jesus commands, but that is not the point. The point is not that we keep track of what we achieve, but that we practice our faith, no matter where we are on our faith journey. We all fall short of the glory of G-d, we are all worthless slaves who are called to do the Master’s bidding.

But we are not worthless – we are loved. We are loved – and so we take that love and we stop thinking or worrying about deserving a reward for our good deeds, but simply go and follow Jesus, modeling the example of Jesus to love our neighbor, forgive limitlessly, and share our faith.

Pastor Dave