Pennies at the Pump - Homily for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Homily for Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Third Draft: The changes are subtle but you’ll find, in this version, a sharper interplay between God’s Kingdom and the contemporary situation. –JMS
Every now and then, something stops you in your tracks,
or at least, slows you down a bit.
As you all know,
this past week, news reports were packed with stories
about escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Some commentators speculated that we are on the edge of
World War Three, if not there already.
The use of that phrase “WWIII”
certainly gave me pause.
I made me realize that,
in light of the hatred, the bombing and the killing,
the dollars we pay at the gas pump are trivial.
The tension in the Middle East
goes a lot deeper than the price of gas at home.
That’s because rumors of war
and the reality of war
leaves us all feeling insecure.
We wonder where things are headed.
All we can do, it seems,
is count the pennies per gallon of gas
and keep going on with our lives.
What else can we do?
Well, today’s gospel offers an alternative plan of action
on how to get through life.
***
Today’s passage starts off with Jesus telling his disciples
to head off on down the road
but to leave their wallets at home.
No credit cards.
No gas cards.
No coupons.
“You don’t need a suitcase,” he says.
You don’t need to pack a thing.”
That’s right.
When you decide to obey the Lord and follow his call,
you don’t much,
just a good pair of sandals
or maybe a pair of Goretex hiking boots.
Today’s gospel passage, you see,
is about an alternate way to travel,
another way to get through life.
Not in a truck or a car or an SUV.
Not with a lot of speed, either.
But with steps,
slow steps,
“one-foot-in-front-of-another” steps.
There are advantages to this type of travel.
For one,
when you set off on foot,
you don’t need to count extra pennies per gallon.
For two,
when you do what the Lord suggests,
that is, walk two-by-two as the disciples did,
you have time to talk.
And in your talking,
you get a sense not only of where you’re headed,
but also where the world is headed or should be headed.
That’s because,
when you walk with a friend,
you talk.
You’re not listening to the radio
or plugged into an ipod.
You’re talking, just talking.
And that talking together
it’s more important than you know.
_________
A woman by the name of Margaret Wheatley
recently wrote a book called
“Turning to One Another.”
It’s a book about the importance of conversation.
In the book she points out that,
whenever you hear about something good taking place,
good things like someone getting the Nobel Peace Prize…
all the way down to a local school
collecting used pencils for a school in Africa…
whenever you hear a story about something good
getting accomplished,
the story always comes down to a conversation
somewhere along the way.
The person who “got the ball rolling,”
will say something like,
“Well, some friends and I started talking and we thought,
wouldn’t it be good if our kids could help other kids?”
It’s always like this.
Change begins when people start talking about
things that they care about:
In the book, this author
tells the story of a woman
who planned to returned to Viet Nam
to adopt a second child from an orphanage in that country.
She vowed to take some medical supplies along this time.
She told a friend,
“They need Tylenol, not t-shirts.”
Her friend, a nurse, suggested that the orphanage
could probably use an incubator as well.
The woman going to Viet Nam
was surprised by the idea.
(She’d been thinking pills and band-aids,
not medical equipment.)
So she started making phone calls.
One conversation led to another.
When the day came for her to leave for Viet Nam,
she’d been offered enough pedicatric medical supplies
to fill four 40-foot shipping containers…
including 12 incubators.
All from a conversation between two friends.
***
Change happens when a few people
respond to a dream of what’s possible.
That’s what happened here at St. Al’s last spring,
Instead of counting dollars at the gas pump.
this parish decided to pull together
and contribute $18,000 so Fr. Christian
could have a car to bring the Good News of Christ
and the Sacraments of the Church to the outlying areas
of the Jasikan Diocese in Ghana.
That’s what happens when people start talking
and feet start walking…
things get done and dreams come true.
It’s especially true when it comes to “God’s dream.”
That’s what the Kingdom of God is about:
sharing God’s dream of healing,
building God’s dream of compassion.
That’s why Jesus sent his disciples out
two by two,
not one by one…
so they could talk the Dream over along the way,
then work together to get something of God’s dream
accomplished.
That talking together
and walking together
allowed the Holy Spirit to equipped those disciples
to work wonders in the villages they visited.
* * *
Centuries have passed
since those disciples took set off down the road,
yet you and I are Christians today because of them.
And it all started with disciples
taking a walk and sharing their thoughts.
Ant that’s where it starts.
That’s where it always starts…
walking through life and talking with people
along the way.
That “disciple way of talking” is, in fact,
what parish life is all about.
That’s because
the kind of people you meet here at church,
are people of compassion,
people of conviction,
people of faith…
people who know that counting pennies at the pump
won’t get you too far…
but walking with Christ will.
________________
[Second Draft: The revision features a sharper clash in the introduction and a tighter focus on the way to the conclusion.]
Every now and then, something stops you in your tracks,
or at least, slows you down.
This past week, media reports were packed with news
about escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Some editorials speculated that we are on the edge of
World War Three…
if, indeed, it hasn’t already started.
These reports make us pause…
slow us down…
stop us in our tracks.
In light of the killing and the bombing,
the dollars we count at the pump are trivial.
The tension in the Middle East
goes a lot deeper than the price of gas.
Rumors of war
and the reality of war
leaves us feeling insecure
and without control.
We have no idea of where things are headed.
All we can do, it seems,
is count the pennies per gallon of gas
and keep going.
What else can we do?
Well, today’s gospel offers an alternative plan of action.
And it starts off with Jesus telling his disciples
to head off on down the road
but to leave their wallets at home.
No credit cards.
No gas cards.
No coupons.
You don’t need a suitcase, he says.
You don’t need to pack a thing.
When you decide to obey the Lord,
you don’t much,
just a good pair of sandals
or hiking boots if you prefer.
You see, today’s gospel passage
is about an alternate way to travel,
another way to travel through life.
Not behind a wheel of an SUV.
And not with speed, either,
but with steps,
slow steps,
“one-foot-in-front-of-another” steps.
There are advantages.
When you set off on foot,
you don’t need to count extra pennies per gallon.
And, better yet, when you so what the Lord suggests,
that is, walk two-by-two,
as did the disciples,
you have time to talk.
And in your talking,
you get a sense not only of where you’re headed,
but also where the world is headed or should be headed.
That’s because,
when you walk with a friend,
you talk.
You’re not listening to the radio
or plugged into an ipod.
You’re talking, just talking.
And that talking
it’s more important than you know.
_________
A woman by the name of Margaret Wheatley
recently wrote a book called
“Turning to One Another.”
It’s a book about the importance of conversation.
In the book she points out that,
whenever you hear about something great and wonderful
--from someone getting the Nobel Peace Prize
all the way down to a local school
collecting used pencils for a school in Africa—
whenever you hear a story about something good
getting accomplished,
the story always comes down to a conversation
somewhere along the way:
The person who “got the ball rolling,”
will say something like,
“Well, some friends and I started talking and we thought,
wouldn’t it be good if our kids could help other kids?”
It’s always like this.
Change begins when people start talking about
things that they care about:
The author, Margaret Wheatley,
tells the story of a woman
who planned to returned to Viet Nam
to adopt a second child from an orphanage.
She vowed to take some medical supplies along this time.
She told a friend,
“They need Tylenol, not t-shirts.”
Her friend, a nurse, suggested that the orphanage
could probably use an incubator as well.
The woman going to Viet Nam
was surprised by the idea.
(She’d been thinking pills and band-aids,
not medical equipment.)
But she started making phone calls
looking for an incubator.
One conversation led to another.
When the day came for her to leave for Viet Nam,
she’d been offered enough pedicatric medical supplies
to fill four 40-foot shipping containers…
including 12 incubators.
All from a conversation between two friends.
Change happens when a few people
respond to a dream of what’s possible.
That’s what happened here at St. Al’s last spring,
Instead of counting dollars at the gas pump.
this parish decided to pull together
and contribute $18,000 so Fr. Christian
could have a car to bring the Good News of Christ
and the Sacraments of the Church to the outlying areas
of the Jasikan Diocese in Ghana.
That’s what happens when people start talking
and feet start walking…
things get done and dreams come true.
That’s what the Kingdom of God is about:
sharing God’s dream of healing,
building God’s dream of compassion.
That’s why Jesus sent his disciples out
two by two,
not one by one…
so they could talk things over on the way.
That talking together
and walking together
allowed the Holy Spirit the opportunity
to equipped those disciples to work wonders
in the villages they visited.
____________
Centuries have passed
since those disciples took set off down the road,
yet you and I are Christians today because of them.
And it all started with two friends
taking a walk and sharing their thoughts.
Ant that’s where it starts.
That’s where it always starts…
walking through life and talking with people
along the way,
the kind of people you tend to meet here at church,
people of compassion,
people of conviction,
people of faith…
people who know that counting pennies at the pump
won’t get you too far.
But walking with Christ
will take you where your heart longs to go.
______________________________
(First Draft)
Every now and then, something stops you in your tracks,
or at least, slows you down.
This past week, media reports were packed with news
about escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Some editorials speculated that we are on the edge of
World War Three…
if, indeed, it hasn’t already started.
These reports make us pause
slow us down
stop us in our tracks.
If nowhere else than at the gas pump
where we come face to face
with the most immediate impact of the
hatred and conflict flaring up
a half a world away.
In light of the killing and the bombing,
the pennies we count at the pump are trivial,
yet we keep looking for the best buy
and worry how high the cost will go.
We count the pennies per gallon of gas
but have no idea of where we’re headed.
We just keep going.
What else can we do?
Today’s gospel offers an alternative plan of action.
Jesus tells his disciples to hit the road
but instructs them to leave their wallets at home.
No credit cards.
No gas cards.
No coupons.
You don’t need a suitcase.
You don’t need to pack.
Just make sure you got a pair of sturdy sandals
or hiking boots if you prefer.
You see, he’s talking here about an alternate way to travel.
Not behind a wheel
not with speed, but with steps,
slow one-foot-in-front-of-another steps.
When you set off on foot,
you don’t need to count out extra pennies per gallon.
And, furthermore, when you walk, two-by-two,
as did the disciples,
you have time to talk
and, in your talking,
you get a sense not only of where you’re going,
but also where the world is headed or should be headed.
That’s because,
when you walk with a friend,
you talk.
You’re not listening to the radio
or plugged into an ipod.
You’re talking, just talking.
And it’s more important than you know.
A woman by the name of Margaret Wheatley
recently wrote a book called
“Turning to One Another.”
It’s a book about the importance of conversation.
In the book she points out that,
whenever you hear about something great and wonderful…
from a Nobel Peace Prize down to a local school
collecting used pencils for a school in Africa?
The story always comes down to a conversation
somewhere along the way:
“Some friends and I started talking and we thought,
wouldn’t it be good if our kids could help other kids?”
It’s always like this.
Real change begins with the simple act
of people talking about things that they care about:
Wheatley tells the story of a woman
who planned to returned to Viet Nam
to adopt a second child from an orphanage.
She vowed to take some medical supplies along this time.
“They need Tylenol, not t-shirts,” she told a friend.
Her friend, a nurse, suggested that another valuable thing
they could probably use was an incubator.
The woman was surprised by the idea.
(She’s been think pills and band-aids, not medical equipment.)
But she started making phone calls
looking for an incubator.
One conversation led to another
until she had been offered enough pedicatric medical supplies
to fill four 40-foot shipping containers…
including 12 incubators.
All from a conversation among two friends.
“Change doesn’t happen from a leader announcing a plan.
Change begins deep within a system,
when a few people notice something
the will no longer tolerate,
or respond to a dream of what’s possible." (p.25)
That’s what happened here at St. Al’s last spring,
when, instead of counting pennies at the gas pump,
this parish decided to pull their pennies
and contribute $18,000 so Fr. Christian
could have a car to bring the Good News of Christ
and the Holy Sacraments of the Church to the outlying areas
of the Jasikan Diocese in Ghana.
That’s what happens when people start talking
and feet start walking…
things get done and dreams come true.
That’s what the Kingdom of God is about:
sharing God’s dream of forgiveness
building God’s dream of compassion.
That’s why Jesus sent his disciples out two by two,
not one by one…
so they could talk things over on the way.
That talking together and walking together
gives the Holy Spirit as opportunity to work.
The their hashing things over
and their assessment of their mission,
the Holy Spirit equipped those disciples to work wonders
in the villages they visited
for those who were lame in body and sick in spirit.
Though centuries have passed
since those disciples took those first steps,
you and I are Christians today because of them…
Think about it.
Because of the courage they had to hit the road
and share the news of God’s salvation…
you and I have been given a dream to share.
It’s not about changing the world.
It’s about taking a walk through life
with the kind of people you meet here at church,
people of compassion,
people of conviction,
people of faith…
people who know that counting pennies at the pump
won’t get you too far,
but walking with Christ
will take you to that place
where your heart longs to go.
Third Draft: The changes are subtle but you’ll find, in this version, a sharper interplay between God’s Kingdom and the contemporary situation. –JMS
Every now and then, something stops you in your tracks,
or at least, slows you down a bit.
As you all know,
this past week, news reports were packed with stories
about escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Some commentators speculated that we are on the edge of
World War Three, if not there already.
The use of that phrase “WWIII”
certainly gave me pause.
I made me realize that,
in light of the hatred, the bombing and the killing,
the dollars we pay at the gas pump are trivial.
The tension in the Middle East
goes a lot deeper than the price of gas at home.
That’s because rumors of war
and the reality of war
leaves us all feeling insecure.
We wonder where things are headed.
All we can do, it seems,
is count the pennies per gallon of gas
and keep going on with our lives.
What else can we do?
Well, today’s gospel offers an alternative plan of action
on how to get through life.
***
Today’s passage starts off with Jesus telling his disciples
to head off on down the road
but to leave their wallets at home.
No credit cards.
No gas cards.
No coupons.
“You don’t need a suitcase,” he says.
You don’t need to pack a thing.”
That’s right.
When you decide to obey the Lord and follow his call,
you don’t much,
just a good pair of sandals
or maybe a pair of Goretex hiking boots.
Today’s gospel passage, you see,
is about an alternate way to travel,
another way to get through life.
Not in a truck or a car or an SUV.
Not with a lot of speed, either.
But with steps,
slow steps,
“one-foot-in-front-of-another” steps.
There are advantages to this type of travel.
For one,
when you set off on foot,
you don’t need to count extra pennies per gallon.
For two,
when you do what the Lord suggests,
that is, walk two-by-two as the disciples did,
you have time to talk.
And in your talking,
you get a sense not only of where you’re headed,
but also where the world is headed or should be headed.
That’s because,
when you walk with a friend,
you talk.
You’re not listening to the radio
or plugged into an ipod.
You’re talking, just talking.
And that talking together
it’s more important than you know.
_________
A woman by the name of Margaret Wheatley
recently wrote a book called
“Turning to One Another.”
It’s a book about the importance of conversation.
In the book she points out that,
whenever you hear about something good taking place,
good things like someone getting the Nobel Peace Prize…
all the way down to a local school
collecting used pencils for a school in Africa…
whenever you hear a story about something good
getting accomplished,
the story always comes down to a conversation
somewhere along the way.
The person who “got the ball rolling,”
will say something like,
“Well, some friends and I started talking and we thought,
wouldn’t it be good if our kids could help other kids?”
It’s always like this.
Change begins when people start talking about
things that they care about:
In the book, this author
tells the story of a woman
who planned to returned to Viet Nam
to adopt a second child from an orphanage in that country.
She vowed to take some medical supplies along this time.
She told a friend,
“They need Tylenol, not t-shirts.”
Her friend, a nurse, suggested that the orphanage
could probably use an incubator as well.
The woman going to Viet Nam
was surprised by the idea.
(She’d been thinking pills and band-aids,
not medical equipment.)
So she started making phone calls.
One conversation led to another.
When the day came for her to leave for Viet Nam,
she’d been offered enough pedicatric medical supplies
to fill four 40-foot shipping containers…
including 12 incubators.
All from a conversation between two friends.
***
Change happens when a few people
respond to a dream of what’s possible.
That’s what happened here at St. Al’s last spring,
Instead of counting dollars at the gas pump.
this parish decided to pull together
and contribute $18,000 so Fr. Christian
could have a car to bring the Good News of Christ
and the Sacraments of the Church to the outlying areas
of the Jasikan Diocese in Ghana.
That’s what happens when people start talking
and feet start walking…
things get done and dreams come true.
It’s especially true when it comes to “God’s dream.”
That’s what the Kingdom of God is about:
sharing God’s dream of healing,
building God’s dream of compassion.
That’s why Jesus sent his disciples out
two by two,
not one by one…
so they could talk the Dream over along the way,
then work together to get something of God’s dream
accomplished.
That talking together
and walking together
allowed the Holy Spirit to equipped those disciples
to work wonders in the villages they visited.
* * *
Centuries have passed
since those disciples took set off down the road,
yet you and I are Christians today because of them.
And it all started with disciples
taking a walk and sharing their thoughts.
Ant that’s where it starts.
That’s where it always starts…
walking through life and talking with people
along the way.
That “disciple way of talking” is, in fact,
what parish life is all about.
That’s because
the kind of people you meet here at church,
are people of compassion,
people of conviction,
people of faith…
people who know that counting pennies at the pump
won’t get you too far…
but walking with Christ will.
________________
[Second Draft: The revision features a sharper clash in the introduction and a tighter focus on the way to the conclusion.]
Every now and then, something stops you in your tracks,
or at least, slows you down.
This past week, media reports were packed with news
about escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Some editorials speculated that we are on the edge of
World War Three…
if, indeed, it hasn’t already started.
These reports make us pause…
slow us down…
stop us in our tracks.
In light of the killing and the bombing,
the dollars we count at the pump are trivial.
The tension in the Middle East
goes a lot deeper than the price of gas.
Rumors of war
and the reality of war
leaves us feeling insecure
and without control.
We have no idea of where things are headed.
All we can do, it seems,
is count the pennies per gallon of gas
and keep going.
What else can we do?
Well, today’s gospel offers an alternative plan of action.
And it starts off with Jesus telling his disciples
to head off on down the road
but to leave their wallets at home.
No credit cards.
No gas cards.
No coupons.
You don’t need a suitcase, he says.
You don’t need to pack a thing.
When you decide to obey the Lord,
you don’t much,
just a good pair of sandals
or hiking boots if you prefer.
You see, today’s gospel passage
is about an alternate way to travel,
another way to travel through life.
Not behind a wheel of an SUV.
And not with speed, either,
but with steps,
slow steps,
“one-foot-in-front-of-another” steps.
There are advantages.
When you set off on foot,
you don’t need to count extra pennies per gallon.
And, better yet, when you so what the Lord suggests,
that is, walk two-by-two,
as did the disciples,
you have time to talk.
And in your talking,
you get a sense not only of where you’re headed,
but also where the world is headed or should be headed.
That’s because,
when you walk with a friend,
you talk.
You’re not listening to the radio
or plugged into an ipod.
You’re talking, just talking.
And that talking
it’s more important than you know.
_________
A woman by the name of Margaret Wheatley
recently wrote a book called
“Turning to One Another.”
It’s a book about the importance of conversation.
In the book she points out that,
whenever you hear about something great and wonderful
--from someone getting the Nobel Peace Prize
all the way down to a local school
collecting used pencils for a school in Africa—
whenever you hear a story about something good
getting accomplished,
the story always comes down to a conversation
somewhere along the way:
The person who “got the ball rolling,”
will say something like,
“Well, some friends and I started talking and we thought,
wouldn’t it be good if our kids could help other kids?”
It’s always like this.
Change begins when people start talking about
things that they care about:
The author, Margaret Wheatley,
tells the story of a woman
who planned to returned to Viet Nam
to adopt a second child from an orphanage.
She vowed to take some medical supplies along this time.
She told a friend,
“They need Tylenol, not t-shirts.”
Her friend, a nurse, suggested that the orphanage
could probably use an incubator as well.
The woman going to Viet Nam
was surprised by the idea.
(She’d been thinking pills and band-aids,
not medical equipment.)
But she started making phone calls
looking for an incubator.
One conversation led to another.
When the day came for her to leave for Viet Nam,
she’d been offered enough pedicatric medical supplies
to fill four 40-foot shipping containers…
including 12 incubators.
All from a conversation between two friends.
Change happens when a few people
respond to a dream of what’s possible.
That’s what happened here at St. Al’s last spring,
Instead of counting dollars at the gas pump.
this parish decided to pull together
and contribute $18,000 so Fr. Christian
could have a car to bring the Good News of Christ
and the Sacraments of the Church to the outlying areas
of the Jasikan Diocese in Ghana.
That’s what happens when people start talking
and feet start walking…
things get done and dreams come true.
That’s what the Kingdom of God is about:
sharing God’s dream of healing,
building God’s dream of compassion.
That’s why Jesus sent his disciples out
two by two,
not one by one…
so they could talk things over on the way.
That talking together
and walking together
allowed the Holy Spirit the opportunity
to equipped those disciples to work wonders
in the villages they visited.
____________
Centuries have passed
since those disciples took set off down the road,
yet you and I are Christians today because of them.
And it all started with two friends
taking a walk and sharing their thoughts.
Ant that’s where it starts.
That’s where it always starts…
walking through life and talking with people
along the way,
the kind of people you tend to meet here at church,
people of compassion,
people of conviction,
people of faith…
people who know that counting pennies at the pump
won’t get you too far.
But walking with Christ
will take you where your heart longs to go.
______________________________
(First Draft)
Every now and then, something stops you in your tracks,
or at least, slows you down.
This past week, media reports were packed with news
about escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Some editorials speculated that we are on the edge of
World War Three…
if, indeed, it hasn’t already started.
These reports make us pause
slow us down
stop us in our tracks.
If nowhere else than at the gas pump
where we come face to face
with the most immediate impact of the
hatred and conflict flaring up
a half a world away.
In light of the killing and the bombing,
the pennies we count at the pump are trivial,
yet we keep looking for the best buy
and worry how high the cost will go.
We count the pennies per gallon of gas
but have no idea of where we’re headed.
We just keep going.
What else can we do?
Today’s gospel offers an alternative plan of action.
Jesus tells his disciples to hit the road
but instructs them to leave their wallets at home.
No credit cards.
No gas cards.
No coupons.
You don’t need a suitcase.
You don’t need to pack.
Just make sure you got a pair of sturdy sandals
or hiking boots if you prefer.
You see, he’s talking here about an alternate way to travel.
Not behind a wheel
not with speed, but with steps,
slow one-foot-in-front-of-another steps.
When you set off on foot,
you don’t need to count out extra pennies per gallon.
And, furthermore, when you walk, two-by-two,
as did the disciples,
you have time to talk
and, in your talking,
you get a sense not only of where you’re going,
but also where the world is headed or should be headed.
That’s because,
when you walk with a friend,
you talk.
You’re not listening to the radio
or plugged into an ipod.
You’re talking, just talking.
And it’s more important than you know.
A woman by the name of Margaret Wheatley
recently wrote a book called
“Turning to One Another.”
It’s a book about the importance of conversation.
In the book she points out that,
whenever you hear about something great and wonderful…
from a Nobel Peace Prize down to a local school
collecting used pencils for a school in Africa?
The story always comes down to a conversation
somewhere along the way:
“Some friends and I started talking and we thought,
wouldn’t it be good if our kids could help other kids?”
It’s always like this.
Real change begins with the simple act
of people talking about things that they care about:
Wheatley tells the story of a woman
who planned to returned to Viet Nam
to adopt a second child from an orphanage.
She vowed to take some medical supplies along this time.
“They need Tylenol, not t-shirts,” she told a friend.
Her friend, a nurse, suggested that another valuable thing
they could probably use was an incubator.
The woman was surprised by the idea.
(She’s been think pills and band-aids, not medical equipment.)
But she started making phone calls
looking for an incubator.
One conversation led to another
until she had been offered enough pedicatric medical supplies
to fill four 40-foot shipping containers…
including 12 incubators.
All from a conversation among two friends.
“Change doesn’t happen from a leader announcing a plan.
Change begins deep within a system,
when a few people notice something
the will no longer tolerate,
or respond to a dream of what’s possible." (p.25)
That’s what happened here at St. Al’s last spring,
when, instead of counting pennies at the gas pump,
this parish decided to pull their pennies
and contribute $18,000 so Fr. Christian
could have a car to bring the Good News of Christ
and the Holy Sacraments of the Church to the outlying areas
of the Jasikan Diocese in Ghana.
That’s what happens when people start talking
and feet start walking…
things get done and dreams come true.
That’s what the Kingdom of God is about:
sharing God’s dream of forgiveness
building God’s dream of compassion.
That’s why Jesus sent his disciples out two by two,
not one by one…
so they could talk things over on the way.
That talking together and walking together
gives the Holy Spirit as opportunity to work.
The their hashing things over
and their assessment of their mission,
the Holy Spirit equipped those disciples to work wonders
in the villages they visited
for those who were lame in body and sick in spirit.
Though centuries have passed
since those disciples took those first steps,
you and I are Christians today because of them…
Think about it.
Because of the courage they had to hit the road
and share the news of God’s salvation…
you and I have been given a dream to share.
It’s not about changing the world.
It’s about taking a walk through life
with the kind of people you meet here at church,
people of compassion,
people of conviction,
people of faith…
people who know that counting pennies at the pump
won’t get you too far,
but walking with Christ
will take you to that place
where your heart longs to go.
posted by BlueCollarPreacher at 9:57 PM
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