Woody Allen famously said, "80% of life is showing up." There is truth to that, of course. When God expects you to show up, that may be all that's required as God works out whatever God intended. It may mean being led into new discoveries by the work of the Holy Spirit, or it may seem like a total bust that hardly mattered at all. It may have been exactly what God wanted, but the actor in the story may have no idea what that was all about. This week's readings show how important simply showing up can be.
We likely are familiar with the great stories of Jonah. Well, this week's reading skips the fun stuff. Instead, it focuses on Jonah's march across the great city of Nineveh, after he was convinced to cooperate with God's mission agenda. That big fish story, remember? He showed up; that's all God wanted. He did his thing, and the outcomes was incredible.
The calling of the disciples is a classic Mark story in its spare words and swift action. Jesus calls a couple of fishermen brothers and they all go off together. It's quite remarkable no matter how you understand the calling story. The bottom line is that when Jesus called them, they showed up.
If you're on AARP's mailing list, you probably find inertia to be a commanding force in your life. These scriptures remind us that such inertia needs to be overcome so that we remain active witnesses for the kingdom-building ministry in which Jesus wants us to participate.
There's a lot more to the sermon which you can check out in the video below. Below the video panel are the downloads for Sunday as well.
We likely are familiar with the great stories of Jonah. Well, this week's reading skips the fun stuff. Instead, it focuses on Jonah's march across the great city of Nineveh, after he was convinced to cooperate with God's mission agenda. That big fish story, remember? He showed up; that's all God wanted. He did his thing, and the outcomes was incredible.
The calling of the disciples is a classic Mark story in its spare words and swift action. Jesus calls a couple of fishermen brothers and they all go off together. It's quite remarkable no matter how you understand the calling story. The bottom line is that when Jesus called them, they showed up.
If you're on AARP's mailing list, you probably find inertia to be a commanding force in your life. These scriptures remind us that such inertia needs to be overcome so that we remain active witnesses for the kingdom-building ministry in which Jesus wants us to participate.
There's a lot more to the sermon which you can check out in the video below. Below the video panel are the downloads for Sunday as well.
| 01-25-15-ff-answers.pdf |
| 01-25-15-showing_up_to_serve.pdf |