The Upload
Posted on Feb 19, 2016 by
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week.
As we heard in our gospel text last week (Luke 4:1-13), life is filled with temptations; temptations that entice us to turn from God and God’s ways. And this week, our gospel text (Luke 13:31-35) continues this same theme. Jesus had been going about his ministry and talking about the coming of God’s kingdom. Everywhere he went, he not only talked about the kingdom, but he offered glimpses of what the kingdom would be like. He offered healing to those who were sick, he cast out demons and set those who had been possessed free. He offered food to those who were hungry and he challenged the leadership, both the political and religious leaders, to not seek more power by trampling on the poor. Jesus was on a mission. He knew what his purpose on this earth was and he was not about to let any one stop him. But we are told that while he was doing his mission, some Pharisees came to him to warn him that Herod was planning to kill him.
Now I can honestly say, if I found out someone, especially if that someone had the ability, power and means, was out to kill me, I would most likely find a way to prevent that. I would probably seek to hide, or get protection. The fear of my death would most likely sidetrack me from whatever I was working on.
But, Jesus was different. Instead of running away, he told those Pharisees that he was not about to stop doing God’s work. He was not about to stop bringing about God’s healing and life-giving kingdom. No, instead of running away, Jesus was going to keep doing what he came to do. He knew what his mission was and he was not going to be tempted away from it.
As I read this story for this week, I thought about how often in my life, I have been tempted by fear to stop doing God’s work. As I shared last week, there were times in my life that I was tempted into believing that I was not good enough. There have been times in my life where I was tempted into thinking that in order to “succeed,” I needed to rely only on myself. Even now, as we face issues here at Salem, it is tempting at times to think maybe we need to change what we are doing, so that we can focus on getting more money, more people, more… Well, you get it! It is tempting to think that if times are tough that maybe we need to stop doing what we are doing.
But, the truth is, usually when things get tough, it is a sign that we are doing what we have been called to do. For the past six years, Salem has been feeding the hungry through our Pantry Pack Program and through our ministry with Children’s Memorial. We have invested in youth and family programming and our children’s and teen ministries are growing. We have invested in adult ministries and outreach and now we are seeing more and more visitors, but because our finances don’t always meet our needs and our facilities continue to offer many challenges for us, we can be tempted into thinking well, we just need to cut some of things. When the truth is, we can’t. God has called us into this ministry to keep doing God’s will and as we do that we will experience tough times, and instead of running the other way, Jesus says, no, stay true to your mission, God’s mission even in the face of danger.
My prayer this week is that as a faith community Salem can continue to stay true to our mission and that even in our struggles, we may find joy in serving our Lord.
Have a blessed week!
Shalom,
Pr. Dave