Now Do It Again...

Fridays are my day off... the time when I try to think of something else besides the Church -- something that is not always very successful. Sometimes I wish to be at the Church instead of... high on a ladder painting the eves of my house... or bent over an appliance that refuses to do what it was created to do... or on my back staring up at a drain that will not let the water flow freely... or a thousand other things that have to do with home ownership and making things there work.

It occurs to me that most of my life consists of doing the same things over and over again. At work I prepare and preach sermons over and over again (perhaps too much for those who sit through them). I write newsletter articles and review bulletin notes again and again. I teach the same things in different classes to different people and as soon as I finish I begin again. I call folks on the phone and set up appointments and keep them, recruit people for various jobs, listen to their wounds, and encourage them in their sorrows... and then I do it some more. I read and respond to emails. I read books and articles in theological journals. I read Scripture (trying to read it devotionally but often have a sermon, class, or article in the back of my mind as I read)...

At home fixing things seems to be a magnet for more things that need fixing. From lawn mowing to painting to cleaning up the garage (oooh, now that is my favorite thing to do over and and over again)... It gets to the point where some fever sets in to do something different -- to go some place new, to do something out of the ordinary...

But it is the same for the rest of the members of my family. My wife the nurse does the same things over and over again to different patients... My kids in college go to class after class, do paper after paper, and read book after book -- the routine of college. My son in Nebraska works every day and then goes back to work, cleans his apartment and cleans it again, and fishes and fishes again...

It occurs to me that we are somehow conditioned to think of God being in the special things and yet God is fully determined to by-pass that expectation and show Himself in the ordinary and routine. He comes to us in the Word even though our world it filled with words... He comes to us in water though water accompanies the daily routine of our lives so much so that we hardly notice it anymore... He comes to us in bread that is ordinary bread and wine that is nothing special... It is the nature of His grace and His good will toward us that He reveals Himself in these ordinary things, the Means of Grace.

I keep looking for special things in my life to interrupt the ordinary routine of days at home and days at work... but God is there in the ordinary routine... perhaps I have been too focused on the unusual to see the face of God there in the regular things of my daily life. Perhaps my task and calling as a Pastor is to get folks to open their eyes to see Jesus there in their midst, where two or three are gathered around His Word, His Water, His Voice of Absolution, and His Meal... To get their eyes open enough to see that the places where God has called them to serve are the ordinary places of life... we serve the Lord in what we do at work, at home, among the family, with friends, to the stranger on the corner, and in the neighborhoods where we live.

We disdain the routines of our ordinary lives... God does not. These are the opportune moments in which to delight in the sufficient grace that supports us in every need. These are the divinely provided places where we serve the Lord and do His bidding. These are the mystery moments in which heaven and earth touch. These are the surprises of grace that the Spirit teaches us to see... Simple water with His Word is the miracle washing of new life! Simple bread and wine with His Word are the heavenly food and drink of His Body and Blood. Simple words with the Holy Spirit are the living voice of the Most High speaking into my earthly ears and heart.

Lord, keep me from gazing at the mountain with longing and show me Your face in the valley where I live, where I work, and where I serve...