Introduction to Worship for 8/13/2017

Getting Lost:

This week we continue our journey into the Dark Wood by looking at the gift of Getting Lost. Dr. Elnes writes that, “People who find and live into their calling rarely do so without getting lost first. Yet since there are no straight or clear paths in the Dark Wood of life, they do not cease to get lost after once being found. Rather…[they] learn that the regular experience of getting lost is one of the most important gifts we can receive.” (p.84)

Exodus 2: 11–15, 3: 1–12

In this week’s scripture, we’re looking at one of the early stories in the life of Moses. Born to an enslaved mother, raised as a prince in Pharaoh’s house in Egypt, Moses loses himself by killing an Egyptian nobleman, then fleeing into the hinterlands of Midian. He marries and starts a life, but he is far from what God intends for him to be. Whether by his own actions or by the forces acting around him, he is lost. He’s going through the motions, but he is no more at home in this new life than he felt in the old one.

The second part of the story finds Moses in a field, talking to a bush. God has finally gotten his attention, and is telling Moses what his role in life is to be. And Moses has a few doubts…

When you feel lost, or are not sure what God intends for your life, how do you respond? Do you flee from the place you are in? Do you rush around, trying to keep busy so you can avoid the feeling? Do you dig and keep doing the next thing, refusing to look around at all?

David Wagoner’s poem, “Lost”, suggests that sometimes the best way forward is to stop and listen:

Stand still. The trees ahead

and bushes beside you

are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,

and you must treat it as a powerful stranger,

must ask permission to know it and be known.

The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,

I have made this place around you.

If you leave it, you may come back again,

saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.

No two branches are the same to Wren.

If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,

you are surely lost. Stand still.

The forest knows

where you are. You must let it find you.

My own mother used to say, “The Holy Spirit is not big on details”. Even when we are pretty sure that we know where God is calling us to go, sometimes there are detours or blocks in the path; sometimes we have to find ways to overcome our own reluctance to be led. But if we understand that the Spirit comes alongside us as our guide and friend, we can learn to listen for the voice that will help us to find our way.

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Introduction to Worship for 4/30/2017

Followers of the Way: Renowned Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan made a profound statement about this week’s gospel reading. “Emmaus never happened,” Crossan wrote. “Emmaus always happens.” What we are invited to grapple with in that statement is the truth that the factual (historical) significance of the resurrection stories is secondary to a more profound truth: the risen Christ is with us. Now. Here. That is what the early church began to learn, and it is what enabled them to move on. Luke 24:13–35 The exact location of Emmaus is not known. Perhaps this uncertainty forms a commentary on the focus scripture. Emmaus may be anywhere. Hearts burning and eyes opening do not take place in only one place, either geographical or spiritual. Emmaus comes into sight wherever a path leads us toward communion with God and whenever we recognize the risen Christ among us. On the day of Jesus’ resurrection, two disciples walk along the road to Emmaus with Jesus, informing this “strange

Introduction to Worship for 9/3/2017

Misfits: As we come to the close of our journey through the Dark Wood, we are considering one final gift. Eric Elnes calls this the gift of “Misfits,” and by that he means two things. The first is the experience each of us sometimes has of being a misfit in our cultural context or our community, when it seems that who we are and what we want is at odds with the world around us. And the second is the gift of others who are also misfits, who guide and challenge us along the way as we strive to find our place and our purpose in God’s commonwealth together. He names this second category of misfits as “mentors”, and invites us to identify and to keep regular contact with those who can mentor us toward living fully in the gospel, and keep us from becoming too comfortable on the wrong paths. Psalm 137: 1–6 The Psalm is the classic cry of the broken hearted, finding themselves in a faraway land and a world that does not value “Zion”—the reign of God on earth. By crying out their grief a

Introduction to Worship for 5/7/2017

Glad and Generous Hearts: The image of Jesus as Good Shepherd is the most common one to be found in the catacombs. In days when Christianity was not yet legal, this symbol clearly evoked Jesus to those within the community, but was just another image for those outside. One source for this image is the parable of the shepherd who hunts for a lost sheep; another is the 10th chapter of John in which Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd. Yet there are other images, too, such as descriptions of things the early church did that were “shepherd-like” in caring for others. How we emulate the shepherd we follow is a key part of being Christian. Acts 2:42–47 As noted in verse 42, the rituals and practices of teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer define the early Christians. Their life together sets the stage for the Spirit’s continuing work of empowering witnesses to proclaim, in word and deed, God’s saving love that comes through Christ. This community of Jesus’ fol

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