Origin Story

We love origin stories. Often called “prequels”, in literature and entertainment they look back, making the case for why a character is protagonist or antagonist. It changes our understanding of them, most often illuminating something we didn’t know before…something foundational and complex behind what made them who they are (my favorite, by far, is the musical “Wicked”). In many ways, you can never see them the same way again.

It strikes me that this Sunday’s Gospel reading—the same one we read every Sunday immediately following Christmas—is hands down the best, most compelling, and most important origin story ever written because it makes the case for why we take the life, teaching, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus so seriously every other Sunday of the year, and perfectly sets the stage for the year to come.

Steve+

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and as we are sorely hindered by our sins from running the race that is set before us, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Gaudete Sunday

O Lord Jesus Christ, you sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise make ready your way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient toward the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world, we may be found a people acceptable in your sight; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Fast Friday

During the penitential season of Advent, historically Christians have exercised the spiritual disciplines of fasting, praying, repentance, and almsgiving. These are important because they help keep the main thing the main thing during a season that culturally can too often entice us to excess and indulgence.

I am asking that you join me today and on the following three Fridays in skipping one meal and devoting that time to prayer.

As I said in my sermon Sunday, in praying for the Thessalonians, St. Paul sets an excellent example of prayer that’s:

• Audacious: the expression of profound longing for something beyond what can now be imagined;

• Enthusiastic: it’s “in God” as the word literally means…en theos. It’s rooted in and inspired by the character of God revealed in Jesus (in this way, even biblical lament can be said to be “enthusiastic”); and,

• Firmly Fixed on the Future: it believes confidently that God will one day bring heaven and earth together in a new way, with the personal presence of Jesus as the central feature and light of this new world. God’s will will be done.

And if nothing audacious comes immediately to mind, join me in praying that God would miraculously provide a suitable permanent home for Redeemer and all the resources it will require.

See you Sunday.

Steve+

Dead Reckoning

Not that it’s of interest to anyone but me and a few other nerds, but in my pre-GPS flying days, before embarking on a long flight we had to draw a lot of lines on actual paper aeronautical charts (not maps) using a lot of calculations, between lots of identifiable landmarks or “fixes” to keep us on course. Nowadays it's just keep the little cartoon airplane on the big pink line on the iPad. No one can say exactly why, but the former is called “dead reckoning”. It’s thought that the “dead” in dead reckoning comes from either “deduced”…or that if you don’t do it that’s how you’ll wind up.

This is because being even just a little off course on a 300 nautical mile trip can leave you hopelessly lost and produce some potentially disastrous results (not that this has ever happened to me).

In the Epistle reading for this Sunday, The First Sunday of Advent, St. Paul carries this kind of urgency for not getting off course, even just a little.

See you Sunday.

Steve+

You Live Right Here

So, there’s this hysterical scene in the movie “Hitch” with Will Smith and Kevin James (easy to find on YouTube if you’re up for a laugh). I won’t go into all the details, but it involves James just bustin’ all the moves… “Start the fire. Make the pizza. Q-tip, Q-tip, Q-tip. Throw it away…throw it away.”

To all of which Smith replies, “Never. Do. That. Again. Never. From now on, this is where you live. Right here. You live right here. This is home. Elbows six inches from the waist, 90-degree angles. DON’T YOU BITE THAT LIP!”

St. Paul told the church at Colossae a similar kind of thing in the Epistle reading for The Feast of Christ the King, this Sunday: “From now on, this is where you live. Right here. You live right here. This is home.”

See you Sunday.

Steve+

The Why Question

A good friend and seminary professor from the 80s, now a successful executive coach, has a refrain: “Until you answer the Why question, the cost is always too high.”

Simply put, Why gives What meaning.

Nearly anyone who reads last week's Gospel reading (spoiler alert: The Widow’s Offering) can pretty quickly come up with the What: sacrificial giving. That’s easy.

But what’s the Why? Well, that’s the vital question, isn’t it?

See you Sunday.

Steve+

What Trust Looks Like

In this week's reading from I Kings, we are told that God "commanded a widow" to feed the prophet Eljiah during a drought. That's interesting because the widow was not expecting Elijah. From the widow's perspective, it was Elijah (not God) who commanded her to feed him. In fact, the poor widow was preparing her last meal and then expected that she and her son would starve to death thereafter. But Elijah declares in the name of the Lord that her source of food would not run out until God sent rain upon the earth. The widow prepared the meal for Elijah and her household had food "according to the word of the Lord."

In typical Old Testament storytelling fashion, we aren't given access to many details. The economy of the storytelling provokes questions and invites us to ponder. We don't know what the widow was thinking or feeling during this encounter with Elijah. It isn't hard to imagine that the woman was in distress, which makes her obedience all the more striking. The text does not use words to describe this, it just tells the story. To me, it portrays what trust looks like. It also causes me to ponder how God's commands and promises arrive within the concrete details of our lives and through the ministry of others.

The woman thought she was preparing her last meal. She did not realize that she would host a prophet and receive miraculous deliverance from the hand of God. Our lives are probably more like this than we realize.

Do you have a story of how God provided for you in a time of great need? Have you been a partner with God for answered prayer in the lives of others?

This Sunday, we'll be exploring some new ways of trusting God and each other to encounter His transforming presence together. I look forward to being with you!

Steve Engstrom+