One of the traditional purposes of the church is to proclaim the word of God. Judging by current trends, maybe that’s harder than one would think. My preaching professor told us a story of a young minister who found out ten minutes before a service that he would be filling in to preach. He had never preached before and certainly hadn’t prepared anything. So he opened the Bible to a random place in the New Testament and read slowly for ten minutes. And the word of God was indeed proclaimed.
I’m looking at the lectionary this week and it’s some damn fine passages. You got Isaiah 43:16-21, where Isaiah talks about God doing a new thing: “a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Psalm 126, short and sweet, sounds a call to joy: “May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.” Then Paul is braggin’ and cussin’ in Philippians 3:4b-14 – “rubbish” isn’t rubbish, FYI. And finally, in our beloved Gospel of John, the story of Martha perfuming Jesus for the tomb. We might just read them all.
Of course, the conversation will be a mess. Even with a single, simple passage, y’all often surprise me with the directions you take. It might take some kind of supernatural force to pull it all together, some kind of Spirit in whom we trust. The word of God will be proclaimed.
Let’s see what happens if we just let the word of God speak to us, to each of us. You’ve got the passages. Feel free to read ahead and bring your joys, fears, frustrations, and moments of beauty on Sunday, 11am at Kidd Springs Rec Center.
Grace & Peace,
Scott