April 13, 2024 — The Coffee Shop Devotions: A Red Eye – Not Just Because You Are Tired

“Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John”  —although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized—  he left Judea and started back to Galilee.  But he had to go through Samaria.  So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.  Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.  A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”  (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.)  The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)   Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”   The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?  Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?”  Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”   The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”  John 4:1-15

I was sitting in a coffee shop that I frequent when I heard a barista call out a drink: “Red Eye on the Bar”.  I had never heard of a Red Eye coffee drink – and that got me wondering what it might be. So, being the shy person I am, I walked up to the coffee shop employee the next time I stopped and ask “What is a Red Eye?” They were much too excited to tell me that a Red Eye is a cup of regular coffee (iced or hot) with a single shot of espresso added in. Now, I also looked up on the menu hanging behind the coffee bar to try to find the drink called a “Red Eye” and it was not there. I also ran across a website that was devoted to telling you about the “secret” menu that exists for this local favorite coffee watering hole. Secret Menu?  Yes, apparently there is a secret menu – more coffee drinks so that people will never go thirsty or lack a diversity of coffee beverages.

Jesus was tired and was suffering from some “Red Eye” – meaning he was tired and needed to sit for a while. And in taking a break, he is able to meet with someone who needed a whole lot of Grace in her life. And even though he is “red eyed” by his journey, he takes the time to teach her about the Grace of G-d. Even his exhaustion did not keep him from ministering to someone in need. 

How often have we said we are too tired to go to church, or to go to bible study or some other obligation with the church? Even when we are tired there are going to be people who are looking for some Grace in their lives.  And yes, we need to take a break when we are too tired – because even the genesis of this story is Jesus stopping to take a break. It just reminds us that even when we are least expecting, someone who needs to hear about the love and grace of Jesus may sit down beside us – just as exhausted – but just as thirsting for grace.

Pastor Dave

April 12, 2024 — The Coffee Shop Devotions: It’s Not Dopey, It’s A Doppio

“As Lutherans, we believe certain things, like the Triune G-d – G-d the Father, G-d the Son, and G-d the Holy Spirit. We acknowledge one G-d in these three persons.  We believe that G-d the Father created the universe. G-d is loving, compassionate, just and kind. G-d’s deepest desire is to live in an intimate relationship with all people. We believe that, because of G-d’s desire to live in a relationship with us,  G-d the Son became a human being. We believe that Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, is fully G-d and fully man. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus made it possible for all people to live in a relationship with G-d now, have their sins forgiven, and rise from death to live eternally with G-d. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Through Him we can enter into a relationship with G-d. We believe that G-d the Holy Spirit is the presence of the Risen Christ among us. Through the Spirit, G-d loves us, empowers us and lives in us. The Spirit gives gifts to all believers. We believe in all the gifts of the Spirit and encourage their use.”

Of course, I do not know everything – you can most likely discern that from reading a lot of my writings.  But I am always reading and therefore I am always learning a lot.  For example, I did not know there was a drink called a “Doppio”.  Now, we have learned that the espresso is the foundation of all lattes, mochas, and macchiatos. A “Doppio” is simply two shots combined – but the two shots need to be pulled within a five-second window — and each must have three distinct layers: the crema, the body, and the heart. Did you know there are three parts or layers to a shot of espresso?  The crema is the top thin layer and sweetest part of an espresso shot. The body makes up the middle and “umph” of the shot and should be a caramel-brown color. The heart is the very bottom of an espresso shot and is the bitter balance to the crema’s sweetness. It should be a deep, rich brown color!

As mysterious as the Doppio may sound to me, the same can be said about our G-d whom we know in the three persons of the Trinity. On Holy Trinity Sunday many churches will read one of the three Creeds (I believe statements) accepted by the Church Universal – the Athanasian Creed (the other two being the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed). The Athanasian Creed is only read once a year because of its length and its convoluted expression of the Trinity. It attempts to explain the Trinity, but in the process also tries to refute many different heresies of the time. Therefore, instead of being informative, I believe it just clouds the issue.

But let me just say this, like the Doppio has three parts that make up one whole drink, we have One G-d that expresses G-d’s self in three ways: Father (the top or the Crema), the Son (the Body and the “umph”), and the Holy Spirit (the Heart). Explaining the Trinity is much harder than explaining the “Doppio”.  Today, I will simply drink my coffee – and drink in this G-d who is both fully mysterious and fully loving.

Pastor Dave