Wanted: disciples
If we are inhabited by, powered by, Jesus’ living Spirit, what do we do?
We've begun a four-week worship-n-preaching series to think about our own job descriptions as followers of Living Jesus. (If he's still working, his followers also have stuff to do.) We read Matthew 9, almost the entire chapter, and sang songs about sickness and healing. We watched a video clip from "The Normal Heart" to start things off, which you can watch here if you can stand it.
Cookies delivered to working people... the risk of embrace... the terror of hope... my son's friend on his bike, needing toast and a listening ear... our neighbors, as suspicious of us as we are of them. Everybody is a stranger to somebody. Disciples of Jesus are called to stretch our arms wide and take the risk of being rejected. Matthew 9:37–10:14.
It's cruel luck that the recorder we use to capture sermon audio filled up about 11 minutes into worship on 6/29. The opening prayer was barely prayed; the first song barely sung; and there sat Rev. Nathan Russell, waiting to preach his heart out. How many people told me later how amazing it was? How many of the listeners lucky enough to be there remembered the power and presence Nathan brought to the room? All of them, that's how many.
So we who weren't there can't listen to him speak the words, but he's been gracious enough to lend us his manuscript. Just imagine Nathan shining with the light of God while he tells what he knows about being a faithful follower of our Lord and brother.
"Hold that brick," she said. "You think I'm going to talk about it, but I'm not. I'm just asking you to hold it for a while." And everybody did, for the duration of the sermon. We read Matthew 11:16-30, minus a few verses in the middle, and contemplated our eating-and-drinking messiah, the one who promises rest for our souls. Rest from what? Man, those bricks are heavy.