Ordinary Time

Dear friends,

The secular calendar says that today is July 7, 2005. More importantly, we Christians are in the season of Ordinary Time; better understood as "counted" time. That is, the Sundays following Epiphany and Pentecost are "numbered." The season is hardly "ordinary" in the sense of everything being easy and all questions being answered.

For example, our 5:15 a.m. stretching this morning was extremely difficult. I had not moved much during the night, and Carole could hardly stretch my arms. In the end everything came out fine, but a less determined therapeutic pair might have given up. Likewise, we have been experimenting with my medications. The doctor has given permission to try lowering my dosage on two particular medications -- 1 medication for nerve pain and the other to keep my blood pressure up -- that's right, up! Last week we left off one nerve pain pill, and I paid dearly. We resumed the original dosage immediately. Also, we cut the blood pressure-raising medication in half. This one took longer to affect me, but it has affected me quite noticeably. As I write to you this morning, I feel terrible. I suspect we will be giving up on this change -- for now!

As we turned on the television, CNN reported the alarming series of explosions on the London transportation system. The last time we were in London, we could not get on the subway near the Tower of London because of a "bomb-scare." We had to walk several blocks to Aldgate, which, at the time was the nearest "safe" station. How things change! Our hearts go out to all who have been injured; to the families of those who have been killed, and to all of us who must live with fear and pain and grief every day. We must deal with such things as part of ordinary time.

In ordinary time we awaken aware of God's love and the promise of a better life. Sometimes life's stark realities stark cloud the picture in our eyes and cause us pain instead of hope. One of the blessings of awakening each day with God is its sanctuary quality. Although we arise with our minds and hearts full of questions and pain, our vision of the living God alleviates the pain. Although we often bear the burdens of life-changing decisions, we know, after all, there is only one God who is above us, below us, and surrounds us on all sides.

Ordinary Time is hardly and absence of problem and pain.

A few days ago I finished reading an excellent novel, The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald. It is a novel that is marked by loss, grief, and many stories that helped make sense out of life for a Royal Canadian Air Force family and its travels across the world and across a world of shattering experiences. Here is a wonderful quote from an essay on the power of stories that comes between sections of the book.

When stories are not told, we risk losing our way. Lies trip us up, lacunae gape like blanks in a footbridge. Time shatters and, though we strain to follow the pieces like pebbles through the forest, we are led farther and farther astray. Stories are replaced by evidence. Moments disconnected from the eras. Exhibits plucked from experience. We forget the consolation of the common thread -- the way events are stained with the dye of stories older than the facts themselves. We lose our memory. This can make a person ill. This can make a world ill

Today's reading from St. Luke 24:36-53 in the daily lectionary is a wonderful example of this kind of "story." To remember this story in "ordinary time" is a wonderful gift for all of us. According to Luke, on the day of resurrection, Jesus appeared three times -- first to the women and a few disciples at the tomb. Later, he appeared to a large group on the road to Emmaus, at which time they did not recognize Jesus, thinking him to be only a fellow-traveler. He appeared a third time at a fish fry -- a pretty "ordinary" occasion, to use another meaning of the term.

On each occasion, Jesus either was not recognized, or else he was greeted with fear and disbelief. Such a reaction is understandable when we remember that the Jews of Jesus' time did not believe in an after life at all, much less the possibility of a man who had obviously been killed coming back to life. Dead men do not come back and walk around with their friends, do they?

It is with good reason, then, that the disciples should think he was a ghost. But Jesus quickly allays their fears by allowing them to touch him, demonstrating that his body was as real as theirs. The matter was closed when Jesus did something no self-respecting ghost would ever do -- he asked for a bit of fish. Luke intentionally says that Jesus ate the fish before their very eyes.

This fish-eating Christ reflects Luke's theological purpose for his gospel and for the Book of Acts. Every Scripture was written for some theological purpose -- that is, to bring the message into our life situations. The Christian church cannot be separated from life. The church always meets the challenges of life head-on and redeems them in the name of the risen Christ.

For example, if we look at Luke's version of the Sermon on the Mount we do not find Matthew's emphasis on the Law. Rather, it is a compact set of teachings about the ordering of a just and righteous society based on the love of God and caring for others. Luke is not concerned for "spiritual" matters alone, but for the poor, the hungry, and the persecuted.

Our world can be a frightening, de-humanizing place - the result of our sin. The Church's task is to re-humanize the world through its on acts of fellowship, love, and service. In the brokenness of a fallen world, we read Luke's writings about a faith community involved in justice issues, feeding the hungry, and healing the sick. Luke's community is continually at work for the healing of God's people and the restoration of God's world.

The risen Christ ate fish with his followers; he returns to our world, sharing our food, our fear, and our pain. He is God's unfailing presence at our tables when everything else is in jeopardy. He is the sign that God has entered the Creation and has no plans to leave it -- or us.

Listen for a moment to a little fairy tale:

Once upon a time, a troll asked a boy named John to name the strongest bond in the world. John thought and thought. He said to himself, "If my brother the sailor were to guess this riddle, he would say the strongest bond in the world is the horizon. It joins the sky and sea together and gives us our place in the world. If my brother the farmer were to guess this riddle, he would say the strongest bond in the world is the rainbow. It joins the rain and sun together so that the crops can grow. But I guess the strongest bond in the world must be the bond of love. Not even death can destroy it."

Love, in this sense, is not exploitive as is much of what we humans pass off for love. It does not serve self, nor does it demand anything of others in return for it. The strongest bond in the world is the love of God for the Creation, as revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

His presence at the disciple's fish fry points us to an important reality that is embodied in the immortal words of the Apostle Paul in at the end of Romans chapter 8.

I have become absolutely convinced that neither death nor life, neither messenger of Heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today nor what may happen tomorrow, neither a power from on high nor a power from below, nor anything else in God's whole world has any power to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!

As we move through "ordinary time," I hope you will remember the stories that give our lives shape, hope, and confidence -- and that you will tell them gladly and passionately. The added joy is when the biblical story intersects with your congregation's story. It is that this nexus that mission begins to take place -- and please know that there is no joy like missionary joy!

The peace of Christ be with you,

Jim

For Your Prayers

1. On Saturday evening and Sunday morning I will be teaching a class in Practical Theology for the Portuguese language track of the Lay Leadership Training Program, sponsored by the three North Georgia presbyteries. Please pray for my stamina as I will teach 3 1/2 hours on Saturday evening and 3 1/2 hours on Sunday morning.

2. Dave Grove's (pastor, Cedartown First) father died earlier this week in the Newark area of New Jersey. The funeral service will take place tomorrow, Friday. Please pray for Dave and his family during this stressful time of transition.

3. Please continue in your prayers for Gary Webb, Commissioned Lay Pastor for the Lafayette church. His chemotherapy treatments have been very difficult and taxing.

4. Please do not forget to register for the great Leadership Training Event sponsored by the three North Georgia presbyteries on August 20 at the Peachtree church in Atlanta. Registration materials are online at www.cherokeepby.com. I hope you will go there today and register.

5. Having said this, I hope you will pray daily for Zeta Lamberson who is our Consultant for Nurture and has provided staff support for this great event. By the way, she is available to consult with your Christian Education/Nurture committee.

6. Our Camp Cherokee staff has enjoyed a week off for the July 4 holiday. Pray for them and for Kelly and Craig, our staff leadership team, as they begin their special work again.

7. As always, please pray for our President, especially as he meets with the G8 leaders. I am so thrilled that Africa is clearly on the "radar screen." Let us pray for all who give leadership so faithfully at all levels of government.