7 May 2014 - seeds scattered

7 May 2014 -  seeds scattered


Now those who had been scattered

... retreated to their own homes?  Did they isolate themselves?  Did they stop talking about Jesus?  Did they privatize their faith?  Nope.  Instead, they...

 went about preaching the word.

Wow.  Really?  Things are so bad that have to leave where they are to escape.  And as soon as they arrive they are at it again.  If this is not human foolishness it is doubtlessly supernatural courage.  From where does such courage come?

And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.

This courage comes from the heart of Jesus.  He wants to make this courage manifest in us.  He wants our hearts to become like his heart.  Or more to the point, he wants to live in us in  such an amazing way that our hearts become his heart.  Jesus is the bread of life that satisfies the deepest desires of our hearts.  If we come to him and believe in him we do not hunger or thirst for food which perishes.  Receiving him brings about this profound unity, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him."  This unity is what we long for and our hunger for food which perishes is quickly eclipsed. 

As this old hunger, the hunger of our natural desires, is eclipsed we are filled with a new hunger.  It is the hunger of Jesus for "the will of the one who sent" him.  We hunger that none should be lost, just as he does.  This hunger is far more profound than the natural desires which it supersedes.  And by profound we don't just mean stronger, though it is certainly that.  It is the hunger of martyrs who give their lives to build the kingdom.  It is a desire which is stronger than the desire for self-preservation.  It is stronger than death.  But it is also more fulfilling than the old hungers it replaces.  We share the joy of the shepherd finding a lost sheep, the woman finding a lost coin, the Father welcoming home the prodigal.  Our lives, to the degree that we enter into this adventure, take part in the celebration wherein the Father slaughters the fattened calf.  No longer is the Eucharist the celebration of someone else.  It is the celebration of our kingdom family.

Philip has this heart.  Like Jesus, he "will not reject anyone who comes" to him.  So when he is scattered by persecution he nevertheless "proclaimed the Christ to them."  Because it is the Father's desire, because it is the Son's desire, because it is the Holy Spirit's desire, the crowds are unable to ignore the invitation Philip offers.

With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip
when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.
For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice,
came out of many possessed people,
and many paralyzed and crippled people were cured.

And listen!  They all begin to enter into the celebration of the Father for all those who were lost but are now found.

There was great joy in that city.

Is there great joy in Ann Arbor?  In Port Huron?  Or is there rather quiet desperation?  Let us be about the work of the kingdom so that our cities may be marked by this joy.  This is God's plan.  Sadness and struggle are a part of it.  Persecutions happen.  But they are eclipsed by the supreme good of knowing Jesus Christ as LORD.  This is what it means to seek first the kingdom.

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth,
sing praise to the glory of his name;
proclaim his glorious praise.
Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!”