It's been hot! So very hot and humid. I know there are some within our church family that thrive in this weather, and I must say we are thankful for you because you bring us perspective in how this heavy, hot weather can also be enjoyed. Naturally when it is hot out we HYDRATE! In the passage this past Sunday, we explored Mark 9:36-41. The conversation on the part of the disciples was riddled with competition, otherness and once again GREATNESS. It is so easy for us to look at the disciples from hundreds of years ago and shake our heads thinking,"What is wrong with them? Jesus is living among them. Get it together! Stop missing it." But if we pause like we did on Sunday and reflect on our own personal attitudes, persuasions, and motivations, could it be possible that we at times are more like them than we think?
The disciples throughout chapter 9 have struggled. They were unable to fulfill their call in casting out a demon tormenting a little boy and later on in the chapter they find OTHER people, not a part of the IN crowd with Jesus successfully casting out demons in Jesus' Name. This comes right after they were caught by Jesus arguing about who was the greatest. Time and time again Jesus reorients and refocuses them back to the way, the truth and the life; himself. They didn't need to have the right way or the best truth or live their best life, they needed to return to listening to Jesus, asking questions and being willing to be faithful in the small, ordinary tasks, just as much as the big tasks.
Jesus in this passage could have highlighted amazing, powerful, big spiritual wonders, as something worthy of reward, but instead he highlighted a simple cup of water. A symbolic representation of the stance we should have in relationships to those within the church and outside the church. He was calling them to have a default stance of being FOR others rather than against. This looks like being willing to celebrate how God is moving in and through the lives of others, being willing to receive from others rather than just give. Where are the places where it's hard to choose to be for rather than against others? Where is it hard to believe that others are for you rather than against you? How might God be reorienting you and refocusing you in these places?
How A Glass Of Water Can Change Your Week
It's been hot! So very hot and humid. I know there are some within our church family that thrive in this weather, and I must say we are thankful for you because you bring us perspective in how this heavy, hot weather can also be enjoyed. Naturally when it is hot out we HYDRATE! In the passage this past Sunday, we explored Mark 9:36-41. The conversation on the part of the disciples was riddled with competition, otherness and once again GREATNESS. It is so easy for us to look at the disciples from hundreds of years ago and shake our heads thinking,"What is wrong with them? Jesus is living among them. Get it together! Stop missing it." But if we pause like we did on Sunday and reflect on our own personal attitudes, persuasions, and motivations, could it be possible that we at times are more like them than we think?
The disciples throughout chapter 9 have struggled. They were unable to fulfill their call in casting out a demon tormenting a little boy and later on in the chapter they find OTHER people, not a part of the IN crowd with Jesus successfully casting out demons in Jesus' Name. This comes right after they were caught by Jesus arguing about who was the greatest. Time and time again Jesus reorients and refocuses them back to the way, the truth and the life; himself. They didn't need to have the right way or the best truth or live their best life, they needed to return to listening to Jesus, asking questions and being willing to be faithful in the small, ordinary tasks, just as much as the big tasks.
Jesus in this passage could have highlighted amazing, powerful, big spiritual wonders, as something worthy of reward, but instead he highlighted a simple cup of water. A symbolic representation of the stance we should have in relationships to those within the church and outside the church. He was calling them to have a default stance of being FOR others rather than against. This looks like being willing to celebrate how God is moving in and through the lives of others, being willing to receive from others rather than just give. Where are the places where it's hard to choose to be for rather than against others? Where is it hard to believe that others are for you rather than against you? How might God be reorienting you and refocusing you in these places?