August 26, 2011

8-26-11 Friday, 7:24 am Springfield, 60 cool, clear degrees!

It is an absolutely beautiful morning in the Ozarks. I think that the oppressively hot and humid summer with its unending streak of sweltering days will set the stage for an autumn to be remembered. My friend Jack Wipfler used to articulate the benefit of life’s contrasts, and the older I get, the more I appreciate the contrasts which illumine and illustrate God’s goodness.

Today up and down the eastern seaboard communities are bracing for hurricane Irene, which is predicted to make landfall tonight and tomorrow. It could make a direct hit in New York City as a category 2 hurricane. Here in the Midwest we are anticipating lovely weather. I have just now moved out onto our deck to continue this devotional time, and the humming birds are aggressively feeding from the sugar water as they migrate south (and engage in aerial combat with each other!)

Our leadership experience launched well last night with just a couple of hiccups. I also had the privilege of addressing the parents’ orientation of kids of creation. I am very aware that a church the size of Wesley has similarities with an aircraft carrier. It is a privilege to be entrusted with the role of lead pastor, and it is a weighty responsibility with multiple facets. Today we are preparing for tomorrow’s funeral, we have two people hospitalized with serious leg issues, and there are currents and undertows I am addressing. On Sunday we had 17 first time visitors and our system for tracking and responding has been much improved.

Esther 4- 10 (One Year Bible daily reading for August 18 and 19)

Esther is God’s agent of salvation for her people, encouraged and prompted by her relative Mordecai. The wicked Haman’s plot to have all Jews in the kingdom murdered is thwarted, and the king elevates Mordecai to a position of power and authority. As I am reading Bonhoeffer and contemplating the 1930’s in Germany, I see strong parallels with the period in the history of the Jewish people, God’s chosen ones. One difference is that Haman was not king, but Hitler seized ultimate power and authority in a beleaguered Germany. Could there have arisen one such as Esther or Mordecai in the 1930s or 40s who could have risked their own life to save the Jews? Many such people emerged, and sacrificed their own lives on behalf of those heading to the concentration camps, as well as leaders who plotted assassinations which were not successful.

In this current age, what are the opportunities that I have to follow God’s plan to the saving of His people? Currently we are experiencing relative domestic peace and an ordered culture, but that could change at any point. As a leader in the church, my calling today is to preach, serve and lead God’s people as a servant of Christ, sensitive to his Will, and always prepared to sacrifice. Guide me today Lord in so doing at each juncture until I retire tonight, to arise and serve you tomorrow.