Monday, July 27

Today’s Readings: Psalm 122; 2 Samuel 7:1-17; Mark 6:45-52; Acts 22:6-11; Psalm 84

Yesterday was truly one of the most difficult days of my life. I had to tell the congregation that I am currently serving (Mountain View United Church in Aurora, CO) that I was resigning my position there in order to accept the call to serve another congregation (Woodland Hills Community Church in Woodland Hills, CA). It was excruciatingly hard to resign my current position because I have such a deep love of - and profound respect for - the people of Mountain View. They have shown my partner Mike and I such amazing love and support over the years that the thought of leaving them nearly breaks my heart. “If you love them so much,” you might wonder, “why would you even think of leaving them?” “Well,” my answer would be, “the reason I’m leaving has to do with a four letter word: C-A-L-L.” You see when you decide to respond to God's call, you are making the decision to turn your life over to God and follow the leading of the Spirit – no matter where it takes you: and in my case, it was clear the Spirit was calling me to Woodland Hills. I was reminded of all this as I read today’s passage from Acts. In that passage, we heard the story of Saul’s arrival at the outskirts of Damascus. Now if Saul had his way, he would have entered the city in a traditional manner. Things didn’t unfold that way, though. After being struck blind by a brilliant light, Saul heard the voice of Jesus say: “Get to your feet and enter Damascus. There you’ll be told everything that’s been set out for you to do.” Those words remind me that faith often take us out of our comfort zone and challenges us to turn over our sense of control to the leading of the Spirit. My question for you today is this: “How willing are you to step outside your comfort zone? Do you see faith simply as an endorsement of the status quo, or as something that occasionally calls you to leave behind the status quo and go where God is calling you? Til next time…