“Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a cubit long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man. After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way those who had carried it. But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.” The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left. Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose from his seat, Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.” Judges 3:15-23

“My doctor took one look at my gut and refused to believe that I work out. So I listed the exercises I do every day: I jump to conclusions, I climb the walls, and drag my heels. I push my luck, make mountains out of molehills, and bend over backward. I run around in circles, put my foot in my mouth, go over the edge, and beat around the bush.” (Reddit)

A Crazy, Holy Grace

“A CRAZY, HOLY GRACE I have called it. Crazy because whoever could have predicted it? Who can ever foresee the crazy how and when and where of a grace that wells up out of the lostness and pain of the world and of our own inner worlds? And holy because these moments of grace come ultimately from farther away than Oz and deeper down than doom, holy because they heal and hallow. “For all thy blessings, known and unknown, remembered and forgotten, we give thee thanks,” runs an old prayer, and it is for the all but unknown ones and the more than half-forgotten ones that we do well to look back over the journeys of our lives because it is their presence that makes the life of each of us a sacred journey. Faith is like the dream in which the clouds open to show such riches ready to drop upon us that when we wake into the reality of nothing more than common sense, we cry to dream again because the dreaming seems truer than the waking does to the fullness of reality not as we have seen it, to be sure, but as by faith we trust it to be without seeing. Faith is both the dreaming and the crying. Faith is the assurance that the best and holiest dream is true after all. Faith in something—if only in the proposition that life is better than death—is what makes our journeys through time bearable.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life . HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

The New Year will bring new challenges of all kinds. We know this. We know intuitively that there will be all kinds of people making all kinds of promises to do things differently in 2021. Just recently, as I am writing this devotion, we have now learned that instead of 20 million vaccinations for Covid 19 being rolled out by the end of December, they are hoping to get just a tenth of that number rolled out. As human beings we like to make promises, and the advent of a new year will bring out that behavior like no other time of the year. And I believe we need the turning of a new year if for no other reason that it gives us an excuse to spark new beginnings, new directions, new habits.

In 2021 let’s resolve to exercise our minds, our bodies and our faith. Rather than jumping to conclusions, let’s jump into the bible to learn more about the Word of G-d. Rather than pushing our luck, let’s renew our faith and trust in Jesus. And rather than putting our feet in our mouths, let’s share our faith.

Pastor Dave

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said,“and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” Matthew 4:18-22

“THE TEMPTATION IS always to reduce life to size. A bowl of cherries. A rat race. Amino acids. Even to call it a mystery smacks of reductionism. It is the mystery. As far as anybody seems to know, the vast majority of things in the universe do not have whatever life is. Sticks, stones, stars, space—they simply are. A few things are and are somehow aware of it. They have broken through into Something, or Something has broken through into them. Even a jellyfish, a butternut squash. They’re in it with us. We’re all in it together, or it in us. Life is it. Life is with. After lecturing learnedly on miracles, a great theologian was asked to give a specific example of one. “There is only one miracle,” he answered. “It is life.” Have you wept at anything during the past year? Has your heart beat faster at the sight of young beauty? Have you thought seriously about the fact that someday you are going to die? More often than not do you really listen when people are speaking to you instead of just waiting for your turn to speak? Is there anybody you know in whose place, if one of you had to suffer great pain, you would volunteer yourself? If your answer to all or most of these questions is No, the chances are that you’re dead.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life . HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

Do you think Jesus would have used social media if he was trying to find his disciples in the 21^st century? As I ponder this question I am more apt to think he would not. We are all becoming just a little leery and jaded by social media posts and websites and potential fake news with the proliferation of ways we are bombarded with information. I believe Jesus would know enough to realize people need to hear from him personally and individually, like he did with his original disciples if he wants to get their attention long enough to listen to his teachings.

Jesus sought out followers when he began his public ministry – and he approached them and, in many cases, called them by name – and then he offered them life. He called them from their busy lives and sought out their attention away from earthly concerns – for the promise of eternal life. While most of us cannot leave everything to be a follower of Jesus, we can set aside more of our time to be devoted to his teachings and his ministry. In 2021, let us resolve to spend less time on social media and spend more time in our bibles – and our churches.

Pastor Dave