Wednesday, August 7, 2024
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Surgery day for our pastor
To be lost in God can feel safe and secure,
loved and protected,
but when God is too big, being lost in God
can be as frightening as hell,
disoriented and unsure of everything,
trapped in a great expanse…
and the only way out is to surrender. – Clarence Heller
Today our pastor in Austin is having a second surgery to treat Mienière’s Disease. The symptoms include dizziness and vertigo at times when you least expect them, like when you’re preaching, for example.
A great prophet has arisen in our midst and God has visited his people.
And then there are the hearing issues, unpredictable moments when your hearing fades or disappears. Not just when you want it to, either.
I will restore you, and you will be rebuilt, carrying your festive tambourines, as you go forth dancing with the merrymakers. You will hear the watchman call out, “Rise up, let us go to Zion, to the Lord, or God.”
There have been many moments when Matt’s sermons overwhelmed me, with wisdom and beauty and humility. His humility isn’t skin deep; his 500 Miles of trials are not his secret. He loves God and he loves us, and his love includes sharing multitudes of weaknesses and mistakes. He like all Christians who have learned to confess their sins knows just how forgiven he is and will always be.
The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock. He who scattered Israel now gathers them together.
Our aim and motto is to “become like Christ in all of life.” This doesn’t exactly get accomplished, because it’s always there to strive for. I am surprised how “all” really means “ALL.” The trick is to move from being inspired by Matt’s sermon to Monday morning and the rest of the week, with its traffic, worries, and woes. Each of us, from the pastor to me, will be taking time in her own way to notice, journal, confess, receive God’s glory. This is a patient and personal journey, which involves late night silence as much as early morning music.
Somewhere we know that without silence words lose their meaning, that without listening speaking no longer heals, that without distance closeness cannot cure. Somewhere we know that without a lonely place our actions quickly become empty gestures. The careful balance between silence and words, withdrawal and involvement, distance and closeness, solitude and community forms the basis of the Christian life and should, therefore, be the subject of our most personal attention. – Henri Nouwen
Matt, who began his ministry alongside his wife attempting to plant a church, left his deeply Catholic commitments and has been exploring the Bible ever since. He shares insights and confesses failures, and he waits with us for Jesus to say “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for us as you wish.”
(Jeremiah 31, Luke 7, Matthew 15)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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