This coming Sunday is one of those "be careful what you pray for" kind of days. Asking God to stir up his power and with great might to come among us is risky, risky business. Quite frankly, it is a prayer that I'm not sure we want to add our "amen" to. Because just as the story of restoration from Zephaniah is a story of God stirring up his power, so too is the experience of JBap and the crowd.
Asking God to stir up his power and come among us means that life while change. A LOT. It will mean giving up your second coat so that someone can have one. It will mean new ways of doing business; ways that will often negatively reflect poorly on the bottom line.
It is an interesting week to be a preacher; do I choose "rejoice" or "you brood of vipers"? Come Holy Spirit, come.
1 comment:
One of my favorite collects of the year! It reminds me of a story from a parishioner about WWII. Everyone was on rations and you could only get a certain amount of anything. So, the story goes that when you asked for more sugar for your tea or for your coffee, the common response from a waitress would be, "Stir up what you got." In other words, God is not adding power but encouraging us to use the myriad gifts we have to go and do God's work . . . I think it will preach.
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