A God of the Ordinary

The glue that holds it all together

Luke 8:1-3 | Acts 11:27-30

Short readings today. Maybe it’s a reward for showing up on Saturday. :-)

Both short passages have simple details about the ministry of Jesus (Luke) and the Church (Acts) that might otherwise be forgotten. Not included is some big healing or any witty words from Jesus, just details that glue it all together.

That’s really the majority of life, isn’t it?

Part of the attraction of the gospels and Acts is all the big and powerful stuff. We want to know that God is at work in such things. But when we stop for a moment and think/realize it - Jesus wasn’t always healing someone in every moment. The Church wasn’t in a perpetual festival of Pentecost and fire- and tongues-reception. The Mount of Transfiguration happened once. The cross and resurrection: once each.

This is not to minimalize these events. They are pivotal and necessary to the whole thing. But they didn’t happen every day.

To be sure, God is at work in the everyday - through people who walk with Jesus even on the ordinary paths and others who provide for the whole thing out of their resources.

God is at work at this moment. Maybe it won’t make the headlines or even testimony time at your little church tomorrow, but God is at work as you read this, sitting in your arm chair, kitchen table, or in bed.

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Luke 8:1-3

Soon afterward, Jesus traveled through the cities and villages, preaching and proclaiming the good news of God’s kingdom. The Twelve were with him, along with some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses. Among them were Mary Magdalene (from whom seven demons had been thrown out), Joanna (the wife of Herod’s servant Chuza), Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources.

Acts 11:27-30

About that time, some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, Agabus, stood up and, inspired by the Spirit, predicted that a severe famine would overtake the entire Roman world. (This occurred during Claudius’ rule.) The disciples decided they would send support to the brothers and sisters in Judea, with everyone contributing to this ministry according to each person’s abundance. They sent Barnabas and Saul to take this gift to the elders.

Prayer

God,

A lot has changed over the course of time, even in my lifetime. But it is still true of us humans that we look toward the big and the exciting happening. There are many ways we seek to be entertained.

But here I sit, praying to you in quite an ordinary setting. And yet, I choose to believe you are here. And I choose to believe that you are there - in Gaza with someone huddled in shiver and hunger; in downtown Boston with someone zombie-like from substance over-consumption; in rural Kentucky, with a little family living underneath a roof way too thin for safety and comfort; in Ukraine and Russia and Israel, with a soldier clasping a gun as he tries to get some sleep amongst the rats; with that captain overseeing a boat the size of my neighborhood, worried about piracy and the small crew he’s in charge of; with a mother sitting amongst three rambunctious children, exasperated because Saturday mornings are supposed to be relaxing; with a truck driver on I-90 in the middle of nowhere Montana, lonely and tired; with that young Honduran father and his daughter stuck in northern Mexico just hoping to get over the river; with the pastor and teacher in Malawi, headed toward a refugee camp, unsure for the safety of his wife, children, and newborn baby;

…and with me, sitting here at this kitchen table, feeling helpless for them all.

God, you work in the specific, even as we fret the general.

So help me, God.

By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.