Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 13, 2022           (today’s lectionary)
Turn your radio on
Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is the Lord.
On this Super Bowl Sunday I hope to be listening to church too, at 8 am while I’m driving through St. Louis, around 9:15 while I’m driving through Bourbon and St. James, Missouri, and then again about 10:30, as I’m approaching Springfield.
That last service comes from Cleveland, where my buddy Al is preaching for the first time in his life. Recently made an elder at Christ Culture Church, he’s getting thrown right into the fire. And he’s excited. He’ll be excited when he’s finished, too.
The Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.
For the umpteenth time I’ll be skipping the Sunday tour at the St. James Winery. And the St. James’ Infirmary, made famous in a New Orleans blues song, is far off over the ocean in London, part of the St. James Workhouse in Piccadilly. But the great worship music from Grace Covenant Church will fill my speakers while I drive by.
If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain, you are still in your sins.
No doubt I am still in my sins, anyway, even as Christ has been raised. Unlike Jeremiah, Paul in his Corinthian passage seems to underestimate the stick-to-me-like-glue nature of sin. Bourbon and St. James are redolent, I imagine, with Ozark spirit (and spirits) – their rollicking square dancing on Friday nights, country two step on Saturdays, and (at least here and there) the rattlesnake waltz on Sundays. This is the home of 24-hour bible belt radio, and it’s good to be here.
Jesus came down with the Twelve and stood on a stretch of level ground.
We’ll just climb up here on the hill, Jesus, so we can see you better. Sit down on the grass, get ready to listen. Thank you for healing our daughter, Jesus, and for bringing all of us into your confidence. We really can’t believe how lucky we are, way out here in the middle of Boomland, Missouri to see you and hear you and be healed by you. All of us are amazed to be here, Jesus.
Blessed are you who are poor. Blessed are you who are hungry. Blessed are you who are weeping, and blessed are you when people hate you, exclude you, call you names, look down on you and denounce your name as evil. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
What exactly are you driving at, Jesus? Is there something wrong with us? Didn’t you like our pancakes and sausage?
For yours is the kingdom of God. You WILL be satisfied … later but not now, you will laugh, your reward will be great in heaven.
Don’t be in such a rush to get to Springfield, or to Joplin, or to Dallas, or to Austin. Blessed are you right here right now down on the road, listening to Holy Spirit Radio shows from around the Ozarks, brought to you in humility and obedience by local feed companies and wineries, and of course by the Andy Williams Moon River Theater in Branson. There is no hurry. We’ll just mosey along the trail.
Rejoice and leap for joy on this day. There is no point in seeking ridiculous riches, fat food, skinny laughter and false praise. These bring the woe out of the woodwork, and then our future would be filled with the surprise and sadness of hunger and grief.
No, no point, Jesus. We’ll just sing and dance, go to sleep early, and we won’t forget to say thank you.
(Jeremiah 17, Psalm 1, 1 Corinthians 15, Luke 6)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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