Here’s the question for the week: do you take your faith to work? Do the values you profess on Sunday, have a bearing upon what you do on Monday – and the rest of the week?
It may be true that we’ve got to muster the courage to go out to John’s desert and visit the bug-eating wild man, to hear the Word for our lives (last week’s sermon theme, based on Luke 3:1-6). But in this part of the scene (Luke 3:7-18), John’s advice to the folks coming out to him is not, ‘join me in the revolution.’ Nor is he exhorting people to partake in the wilderness lifestyle with him (and the extreme cuisine that goes with it, for you foodies).
Surprisingly, he’s exhorting people to live the life befitting repentance – the Kingdom life of the transformed mind – right where you are. Don’t quit your job, even if you’re a despised tax collector working for “the man” (Caesar). Even if you’re a soldier in the goy army who is occupying you – John’s surprising answer to the people’s guilty question (“what shall we do?”) is this: for the time being, serve God right where you are.
I find that most interesting, and surprising – especially given the diatribe that John levels at those folk coming out to him, looking for a seat on the lifeboat (C’mon, read the text).
So – email me (which seems to be the most frequent way of responding, I’m finding). Or, gosh darn, use the Blogger system to weigh in here: What bearing does your faith have for the rest of your week?
To add a bit of nuance: I recently heard a friend talk about someone he was close with, who said, “the place I work is truly evil.” Are there folks out there in similar situations? And so, can one do “good” in such a place? Can one bloom where one’s planted with the goodness of one’s convictions, even in an evil environment?
And, who says you need a job, to serve God? It’s interesting that I’ve encountered a good number of folk in – and outside – the congregation who’ve used the occasion of a layoff to put more time into ministering to others, which I sense many feel is in a way their real calling and vocation.
Love to hear from ya.
Jeff
PS – I mentioned the movie Into the Wild in my sermon last week – someone made a very interesting comment on that, and I posted it here as a response to last week’s entry….
