Gospeling Your Life Part 3

 

As we prepare the soil of our souls to engage the four gospels, it is good to shine a light on what could be called, “Main Character Kerfuffle”.  MCK for short.  I want to be clear that the church has contributed to this condition.  Basically, it means we always want to identify with the main character in the story.  This causes us to go off the edge because one week I am supposed to be like Abram gazing at the stars believing the promises of God, even when it takes 13 years.  Next week, I am supposed to be Moses standing before the burning bush listening for God’s call and being ready to go right now.  Wait, which is it?  Is God calling me to wait or to push forward?  Is God saying, “Patience, Young Jedi” or “Leap now!”?  Too often in church we boil the messy message of Scripture down to a bummer sticker phrase you can carry in your pocket.  MCK shines a light that sometimes I don’t feel like waiting and I leap regardless of what God is saying.  MCK says that sometimes I dismiss and discount a story because it contradicts the story I want to tell.  MCK tells me that not every passage of Scripture will strangely warm my heart all the time.  It is important to notice, as you read Scripture, where/with whom you identify and what words feel like sandpaper to your soul, but you don’t need to stop there.  As a practice read Jonah 2, the passage for this coming Sunday.  I personally have never been swallowed by a fish or covered in kelp and whale saliva.  In some ways I have tried to be the anti-Jonah, I want to earn the badge for my Christian sash to show off what a good boy I am and how bright my halo shines.  And there are times I can run and race with good intentions before listening fully to God.  Like a student so eager to take a test, he/she/they forget to put their name at the top of the page.  How am I like the main character?  How am I unlike the main character?  How does this story land in my head, heart, and life?  All great stories are a mirror, not only to our lives, but to all those who share the stage with us.  Remember, while I am the main character in my own story, I am but a bit player in your story.  My role in the drama/comedy of your life may only be these few moments we have each morning together or on Sundays.  I hope you will hear in this that as you encounter and engage Scripture it takes an openness, willingness, and curiosity to listen to how God is speaking to you.  Then, remember that it will be different at different times and places in your life and in the life of someone else.  I pray you will ponder this and that you are finding a spark that might be fanned to a flame for reading the Gospels with me.  Amen.