Sunday, February 5, 2012

A Day in the Life

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
Souper Bowl of Caring Sunday
Mark 1:29-39
1 Corinthians 9:16-23

• Today will be Super Bowl 46: the rematch. SB42 MVP Manning v. Brady (5thSB, 2sbmvps, 3rd would tie Montana’s record). A hundred players anxious to prove their worth. What motivates a player? Do best. Victory. Glory. Coach. A hundred players know that today is the day to do their best.

• Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, Today is a gift…

• I'm a fan of John Wesley, but it’s tough when you measure up to a workaholic… I read one resource that said JW thought little of the man who did not pray for 4 hrs a day… by the way, JW did not have any children and he married late, nevertheless…

• A day in the life of JW. Rise 4am for prayer. 5am preach the first sermon of the day. Expected fellow preachers and layfolk to be there. If not preaching then riding to next preaching engagement, or praying, or writing.
          If not engaged in one of these acts of piety, involved in acts of charity. Visiting sick and imprisoned, overseeing education of laborer’s children (& laborers), overseeing medical clinic for those who couldn’t afford it… Fasted twice a week, lived simply and gave away the bulk of his income. Traveled 4,500 miles a year by horseback, preached over 40,000 times, wrote 32 volumes of sermons and commentaries.
          An impressive man. A man driven by desire to save souls AND to better lives. Died at 87, did not know the meaning of “retirement”.

• A day in the life of Apostle Paul. Started to think about Paul and the passage from 1 Corinthians 9 about Paul wanting to relate to people of all walks of life so that he might reach them for Christ, and thought about my friend Billy, whose enthusiasm for evangelism rivals a sports fan’s enthusiasm for their team.  Billy (and I imagine Paul) hates to miss an opportunity to talk to someone about Jesus, why? That none may perish.

• A day in the life of Jesus. First chapter of Mark, Jesus has recently called four disciples to follow him, and they go to Peter’s home town. On the morning of the Sabbath Jesus teaches in the synagogue and casts a demon out of a man. After church they go back to Peter’s house, and after he heals Peter’s mom, the people of Capernaum bring the sick and possessed to him until after sunset.
          After a hard day’s work, get some rest, no? Some folks don’t even go to work tomorrow because of watching SB today! But no, Jesus, who was up until after dark, arises well before sunrise to pray. Jesus, the very Son of God, chooses to start his day on his knees before God, and then instead of taking it easy, heads off to the surrounding towns to do it all again.

• History, mystery, gift… only currency is present, spend it for the glory of God, guided by church’s mission to reach out to everyone with the love of Christ and to make living, growing disciples of JC… or personal mission, if you have one… or UMC’s if you don’t: make disciples of JC for the transformation of the world. Know mission, get to know people, that none may perish and that some may know God. This Is What You’ve Been Trained For…

• Margaret Clarkson, who was born in 1915, was a teacher in a gold-mining camp in northern Ontario, Canada. It was a lonely life for this woman, but she also knew that this is where God wanted her to serve Him. She had a great desire to be a missionary on a foreign field but because of her health was unable to go. One day she was reading again the verse John 20:21, "Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." While meditating on this verse she wrote the words to a hymn that has become a favorite during missionary conferences, "So Send I You." Maybe after reading the words to this hymn a person would fear the call to missions. But, what a person must understand is that when God calls, He gives such a great desire that all else is unsatisfying and empty.

• Hymn 310 So Send I You

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