The Miserable Week

Saturday: By some standards it has been a pretty miserable week. This time last Saturday I was in an crowded plane, over the Atlantic on the second leg of my journey home from St. Petersburg, Russia. Although I was tired, my hip hurt and the movie dialogue was garbled, I was in a good place. The thirteenth Come before Winter renewal was complete; I had experienced God's work in me and seen his blessings poured over thirty-eight precious women who serve him in Russia and Europe. This time last Saturday pretty much everything was right in my world. Yet, at that very moment, I was breathing in pneumonia germs and the plane was bucking a headwind that would cause me to miss my connection in Chicago. Back in the states, promises were being broken, loved ones were struggling and United was overbooking every flight from Chicago to Austin. Needless to say, I did finally get home, my luggage was found, antibiotics have the demon pneumonia germs under control and I've had time this week in the book of 1Peter, a great reminder of the importance of perspective. Peter writes to Christians who are being insulted and ostracized because of their faith. They are viewed with suspicion, thought to be atheists, traitors and even cannibals. They have been shunned by family, friends and neighbors. Some may have lost jobs or inheritances because they have turned their backs on the worship of idols. Some are being beaten by their masters, others are being pressured by unbelieving spouses. Some may have been on the fringes of society before they heard the message, now they are even more marginalized. All of them have suffered a loss of identity in their society. So, Peter begins by reminding them of their new identity. They are God's elect, not just the Father's, but chosen by God in all his trinitarian fullness. They have a new identity that came with their new birth and their inheritance from God is waiting for them in heaven, ready to be revealed when Christ returns. This is cause to rejoice!! And the trials they are facing in their present life will make the praise and rejoicing when he comes again all the sweeter. What reminder of perspective! In all honesty, my life is easy and I am blessed far beyond anything I could ever deserve. The trials of my week have been minor in comparison to what Peter's audience endured, in comparison to what some of you have faced recently. Yet I am amazingly grateful for them, jetlag, hacking cough and all. They remind me that I am not meant to be comfortable in this world. I am a stranger here waiting for the final connection on my journey home. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sunday: As I awoke this morning and re-oriented my mind to date and time, my thoughts immediately went to worship and the vastness of Christ’s church. By vastness, I don’t mean just the fact that I am inextricably bound to the women I was with last week in Russia, or even the ones that I know from years past in Brazil, Greece, Albania, Germany, Thailand, Singapore, New Zealand and Fiji who also worship today. By vastness, I mean that I am just as bound to Euodia and Synteche and the jailer who worshipped in first century Philippi; I am just as bound to the original audience of 1 Peter. The vastness of the church embraces both space and time and I look forward to standing before the throne of the majestic Almighty, shoulder to shoulder with Christians from every time and every place, joined in praise forevermore. For now, I am anticipating a precious morning of worship shoulder to shoulder with my brothers and sisters at Westover Hills. May God be honored by our praise.