I think the opening words of the Lord in the Samuel reading define how I hear the remainder of the lessons for this Sunday. "The Lord said to Samuel, 'How long will you grieve over Saul?'"
Father Keith preached a few weeks ago about our God who is constantly running away from us. Not in the sense that God wants nothing to do with us, but that God does not stand still; God is always moving toward the in-breaking of his kingdom. As soon as we are comfortable, God is ahead of us beckoning that we follow.
I think the words of God to Samuel are the words of God-out-ahead. And they could be repeated over and over again in the lessons. Psalm 23 could begin, "how long will you worry about your physical condition?" The Ephesians reading, "how long will you sit in darkness?" And the Gospel lesson could have it at least twice, to his disciples and to the Pharisees, "how long will you seek direct blame for the bad things in life?" Or "how long will you hold onto to your old way of understanding?"
Much has been made in the media - traditional and otherwise - of the Pew Foundation study that showed that the journey of faithful people is much more fluid than it once was. The Senior Pastor over at The Church for Starving Artists has two insightful posts on what the results of this study might mean for us - here and here. I commend them to you. Anyway, what I'm hearing today is one of those rare times when every lesson ties together (though this week they make no sense with the Collect) - God is out there wondering, "how long?!?" Are we able to hear Him? Are we willing to change our preconceived notions? How long will we remain blind?
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