An "I made it" Sunday.

I made it!

This last week has been one of those weeks when I have had to just carry on even though I have not felt 100% healthy. Once again there have been a few extra unexpected time consuming things thrown into the mix. I looked at the set reading for Sunday and thought that it was a complicated passage to dissect and even then was not inspired by the message of the passage. There were a few verses in which Jesus warned his disciples of difficulties ahead, and it struck me that Jesus often did this. I explored more passages on this. There are those around who promise would-be disciples of Jesus all sorts of things, even riches. They maybe slick salesmen, but they are not in tune with Jesus. Again and again he warned that following him was a challenging way. Not good salesmanship and not popular then or now. It seems to me that if we are going to be true to him though, we cannot ignore these insights. So I decided to explore why it was a challenging way. I had not investigated it much, but had been gathering resources in my mind, and forming a direction for the day. On Friday night after drop-in centre I took a paper and pen to bed and wrote furiously. I brainstormed, writing things down, then ordering, discarding, scribbling down more resources to look up. Saturday was spent on other work and some Habitat for Humanity stuff. When I got home a funeral director phoned to ask if I would do a funeral on Thursday. Of course I said "yes", but wondered how I could fit at least another 8 hours into the week ahead. On Saturday evening we had a delightful multi-ethnic family night at the Church. Late Saturday night I got to return to the service and did some more reading, gathering and sorting. I was up on Sunday morning and in my study with a cup of coffee by 6 a.m. and did the final touches before going to the church office to belt out the power points. Apart from a few technical hitches, it went well. At 2 p.m. I had to lead a service at a rest home and knew that I could not just repeat what I had done at church... I had given some thought to alternatives and polished it up for an hour before fronting up to the chapel there. After that I came home and rang the funeral family to make a time to see them for Monday morning. Then I collapsed on my bed with a cup of tea. I had got there! There were times when I thought I would not get it all done or at least done well! But I was thankful, that looking back I could say I had done a good job, I had made it! I celebrated tonight with my quickest 9k run for a long time, even though there were very windy conditions. I will rest easy tonight. Tomorrow is meant to be my day off, but I begin on funeral preparations and ministering to the bereaved family. (I have never met them before) I have a few extras in the week ahead, but I am thankful that I go into it in good health. I made it this week! Looking back on the week I can say I did well. There were some significant, life enhancing things that I achieved, what more could I ask for? It was really a week well spent.

I liked this...

I am an old guy, but these days, as well as my books and commentaries, I do a lot of my reading and exploring of a subject or text on line. There are some good thinkers out there and lots of resources. (Lots of rubbish too!) Sometime, some where this week I found this. I read it and thought that is just what I have been thinking lately. I hope you find it helpful.

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the Church's mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about: we plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realising that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own. .... - attributed to Oscar Romero 191

I liked it and found it thought provoking, inspiring and yet comforting. Off to bed now, I hope I sleep for hours!