He is risen!

This proclamation and statement of faith is the center of the Gospel that we as Christians proclaim. Because of our over focus on the death of Jesus to save us from our sins, we have sometimes become people who wait around waiting for the day to come when we can leave this place. The resurrection of Jesus Christ ushers in the New Creation and the Kingdom of God lived out here and now by his followers as we wait for it to be made fully known when Christ returns. "His is Risen!" becomes the proclamation of the gospel in every moment of our lives as we see the world's brokenness and breathe new life into it.

What is the Gospel? How you answer that determines how you read and understand the Bible, how you live your life, and how you engage people and the world around you. We need to reclaim the fullness of the Gospel and live into the reality we are to proclaim.

In a loud world where speaking takes more value than listening, the church is called to be a non-anxious presence to create space for listening and reconciliation. The world makes changes through force, through cancel culture, boycotts, and the like. These kinds of movements have potential to change policy but rarely change hearts. The church has a responsibility to step into the tension and bring about a transformative reconciliation the brings people closer together. Paul calls this the ministry of the church as Christ's ambassadors and God's co workers (2 Corinthians 5).

How would life be different if we invited God's presence to be made especially known in the spaces we enter and inhabit? Would it change the way we see people? Would it change the way we act? Eyes were opened to Jesus's identity in the breaking of bread in Luke 24. May the eyes of every person we meet be opened to who Christ is in our lives when we sanctify the spaces around us.

At some point this week before entering a community space, pray this prayer: Lord, make me aware of what you are doing in the lives of the people I encounter in this space. Make me attentive to the needs of each person I meet as though I am attentive to Jesus himself. Help me to leave that person more at peace, filled with joy, and/or more in touch with the love of God. Lord, come quickly and make your presence known. Amen.

At the end of your day, answer these questions:

-  Where did I feel the Holy Spirit tugging at me to act?

-  Was I hesitant? Why?

-  How would that situation have gone differently if I had slowed down to be attentive to God’s presence?

-  Pray that you’ll be more aware and attentive tomorrow.

Read John 6:1-15 as a Eucharistic passage where Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, and then distributes it for the nourishment of the multitudes. Consider the elements of the table: bread and wine. God gives us grain and grapes. We make the bread and the wine and offer it back to God. The mystery of the Lord's Supper is that God then sanctifies the gift we have given and gives it back to us as the body and blood of Christ. Our simple gift is transformed into the nourishment of the church and transformation of the world. 

What small gift do you have to give, that when offered to God can nourish the multitudes? 

When we gather together in the presence of Christ, the church becomes one in Christ. The imagery is an assembly of God’s Temple where God’s presence is known in Christ. When we receive the bread and cup, we participate in Christ and are continually transformed into his dwelling place. In keeping with the church being the new Temple where God dwells, I imagine the Lord’s Table as the Holy of Holies where we receive God’s presence to make us his Temple on the move.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 1 Corinthians 10:14-17, Ephesians 2:13-22

Questions for reflection:

Seven Practices for a Church on Mission

The Practice of the Lord’s Table

The Practice of Reconciliation

The Practice of Proclaiming the Gospel 

The Practice of Fivefold Gifting 

The Practice of Being with the Least of These 

The Practice of Being with Children 

The Practice of Kingdom Prayer

The church carries the presence of God into the world as guests where they show up as servants. When we try to impose our way of life on others we are cultivating an environment where we feel more comfortable and lives are not transformed. The cross calls us to live in the power of love in a way that subverts the love of power. When we love power we are missing the way of the cross. 

Jesus used table fellowship to bring people close and put the presence of God on display for their transformation. The problem with Jesus is that he went to all of the wrong people to share God's presence. These "tax collectors and sinners" landed Jesus with the label "drunk and glutton" (Mt 11:19) and also set the context for the three parables we will focus on this Sunday in Luke 15. 

Questions to reflect on as you prepare for Sunday:

Devotional Blog

I once heard it said that churches do not have a mission but God's mission has a church. What does it look like for the church to live out God's mission? Different churches have taken various approaches to mission over the years. As the world changes, our approach to mission changes. We've been talking about one of the central themes in scripture being God's desire to be present to and in his creation. "Faithful Presence" is how we will approach mission as a church in a culture that have moved away from Christianity. This Sunday we will look at the rhythms of life that move us into the presence of Christ to then carry his presence into the world and be attentive to God's presence and activity in the world around us. This is not a "program" approach to mission but a way of life. As you prepare for Sunday, spend some time reflecting on these questions below. I'd love to hear some of your responses!

Questions for reflection: