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God Loves Mundane Details

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?”  He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters.   Luke 22:9-10 ESV

In our extended family which includes two grown sons, two daughters in law and seven grandchildren, the location of our family Thanksgiving dinner is a subject of delicate negotiation. In a way the Passover meal was the Jewish Thanksgiving of the first century. Lots of preparation went into planning where to hold it, who to invite and even how the table was to be set up. I confess that instead of enjoying

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a season of thankfulness sometimes I have to work overtime just get along with people. Many of my frustrations come from trying to figure out mundane details which I feel God could not possibly care about.

But after three and a half years of seeing bread multiplied, water changed to wine and storms calmed by a word the disciples decided to just ask Jesus about the details of the feast. No matter what you and I face today, we should take a tip from them and ask Jesus to become our event planner. The same God who formed the universe also counts every hair on our heads. It is not a problem to ask Him to take control of even the mundane details we struggle with. When we do we might be amazed at how delighted He will be to show us exactly what He has in store!

Master There’s Still More

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.          Mark 14:3 ESV

Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. John 12:3 NKJV

I had long been puzzled by the differences in the stories of the anointing of Jesus at Bethany. Then I began to re-imagine the scene at the banquet. I saw Lazarus seated next to Jesus, with Martha serving the tables as the people slowly filled the room. Then Mary appeared in the doorway, holding her alabaster jar of perfumed oil. Silently she slips through the crowd to come behind where Jesus reclined and she breaks the seal on her jar pouring some on the head of Jesus.

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The power of the fragrance immediately filled the room. A momentary silence ensued as the guests stopped and turned to see what had happened. But then just as quickly, the air was filled with complaints about such a waste of resources being made. Mary kneels unashamed looking up to Jesus’ face and seeing His acceptance of her gift, she pours the rest of the perfumed oil on His feet and wipes them clean with her hair. No matter how she looked to others Mary was focused on only one thing. She still had more for Jesus! As we are traveling together towards the Passion of Christ this month, we should also ask; “Am I all too worried about what everyone else will say?”, or can I say with Mary, “Master there’s still more!”

 

Hope at the Table

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And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Luke 22:19

This week millions of us will be remembering the Last Supper as one part of Holy Week. As Christians, some of us share communion once a month, some every week and others each time we meet. But whenever it is that we share in the bread and the cup, we are remembering again the hour on the cross when Jesus freely gave His life to pay for our sins.  Often I reflect on my own sins and ask Him to forgive me before I receive. When it is my privilege to serve communion, I sometimes look at each person as they come and think of how in a deep and holy way we are also remembering how we all belong to Christ. Nothing has been preserved of the songs the first believers sang. We have no pictures of what they looked like. There isn’t even a single plate from which they ate. But the common thread that our Lord Jesus has kept alive throughout more than 20 centuries is the Hope we have every time we come to His table.

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We have hope that our sins are forgiven. We have hope that we can learn to love one another. We are given a living demonstration of His love as the bread is broken and the cup is shared. We have new hope at the table that one day He will return for you and for me!