Jon C. Swanson's Blog, page 13

While waiting, direction and presence.

Between the answers, we are not alone.

I want to suggest three promises from the readings this morning.

There’s a promise of direction. But until we get that, there’s a promise of presence. And while we are living in the presence, there’s a promise of future meaning.

Let’s unpack those for a moment.

In the story we’ve been looking at, we can find a promise of direction. Paul was stopped, perhaps through voices and visions, but perhaps through circumstances. Paul made plans, and d...

The waiting before the calling.

We read a story about Paul earlier. That was the cool part of the story. It’s the kind of story that we love to tell when it’s about us.

In the middle of the night we wake up with a vision. We have a dream that doesn’t seem like a dream. It seems like a message from God. “A man from Macedonia, from the area northeast of Greece.”

It was so real that Paul decided that it was from God. And the team headed out. Several days of walking later, they got to Phillipi. It was a Roman colony. Ther...

A prayer for the sixth Sunday of Easter

God.

We do not like to wait.

We do not like to wait in line. To wait for answers. To wait for medicine to work, to wait for the end to come, to wait for the beginning to start.
Which means that we do not like to be where we are most of the time.
We do not like to be out of control, to be at the mercy of others.

We confess.

We confess that we don’t like to be at your mercy.
We confess that we aren’t sure about your control.
We confess that our hearts are often troubled and our minds ar...

Nudges, a little more.

A few months ago, I wrote about nudges, the tiny thoughts that come to us. Nancy and I decided to go to that one last thrift shop. I happened to look at the shelf of books. I discovered several volumes of a commentary series I use. Including one I needed a couple days later. It was, I said, about nudges. (A little about nudges and timing. – 300 words a day)

There’s an update to the story.

What I didn’t tell you is that I recognized the name written on the flyleaf. Diane W. Howard. She’...

Loving the aggravating.

On Monday, I talked about the way Jesus told his disciples to love each other.

On Tuesday, I talked about how this meant that extrovert Peter and reflective Nathaniel were told to love each other. Simon the Zealot and Matthew the civil servant were told to love each other. Thomas the loyal pragmatist and John, one of the sons of thunder, were told to love each other.

The circle of the ones God loves is bigger than we think.

But, of course, the circle of the ones God wants us to lov...

Drafting

Rich Dixon is writing about interdependence.

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Cycling in groups often involves “drafting,” riding closely behind another rider.

When done correctly, the following rider can save as much as 30% of their energy. However, drafting can also be risky. Our FREEDOM TOUR 2018 team talked about this important relationship.

We read Matthew 5:13-16, focusing on this verse:

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father i...

No really. The one anothers you know.

We think of this command of Jesus to love one another, I think, as going out and loving everyone, loving the whole world, loving the unlovely. And we have these big sermons about loving.

But Jesus was sitting in a room with 11 guys around a table. They all knew each other. They were annoyed by each other.

We know that. At almost this same time, James and John had made a request of Jesus that made all the rest upset.

And we know that they were human beings. Humans who have all the ann...

Loving looked like keeping on.

The night before Jesus died, he spent time with his closest followers, the people that were like family to him. He had spent three years with them. They asked him questions. He had told stories. He did miracles and then they did miracles. They walked together all around Israel. They thought they were going to die on a boat. They thought they were going to starve a whole crowd. They knew him and he knew them even better.

And they knew each other.

Peter and Andrew were brothers. John and ...

A prayer for the fifth Sunday of Easter

God.

You invite us to love one another. Actually, it is less an invitation. It’s more like a command.

It’s really hard.

It’s not a command to love the whole world. You do that. It’s not a command to love our enemies. That’s a different command. This is a command to love each other.

You told Peter to love his brother James. You told thoughtful Nathaniel to love loud Peter. You told everyone to love John and James who were trying to get the best seats.

And then the circle expande...

Find your swing.