Ants Marching to Jesus

paul mussachio: so do i get a copy of your sermon this weekend, or what?
kevan penvose: no copy to give, i.e. no manuscript
paul mussachio: wow, from the heart then?
stillerz7: usually, unless i need to be particularly careful w/ my language on a sensitive issue
paul mussachio: well, that's impressive, i don't think i've seen you deliver something wihtout a manuscirpt
stillerz7: it went well, though
stillerz7: i started by telling the story of dave matthew's song "ants marching" and I played a few verses along the way
stillerz7: that set the image of "routines"
paul mussachio: ha
stillerz7: then i moved to Jeremiah and his prophetic routine of "speaking Israel into exile" for breaking the old covenant in Deut 6
stillerz7: from ants marching to armies marching
stillerz7: but that our text for the day about the new covenant is a break from the routine, a glimmer of hope as the final word...we can't keep the covenant; God does the work of keeping us in relationship.
stillerz7: Ultimately, Jesus through his death and resurrection sends Holy Spirit into our hearts to draw us into God's heart forever when we will all know the Lord face to face, hand in hand
paul mussachio: i ran across somethign in Jesus' prayer in John 17....eternal life is to know the one true God...eternal life is built around knowing the Lord
stillerz7: so what do we do in the in-between times, we who are ants that march to the beat of a different drummer?
stillerz7: on the one hand there's teaching, in our case expecting church professionals to do it for us
stillerz7: on the other, there is shalom w/ no teachers
paul mussachio: we'll be out of a job, yes!
stillerz7: in our in-between times, we are called to "faith formation" to learn how to follow Jesus, this happens primarily in the home. As Luther says, parents (I'd add all family members and friends) are called to be the primary apostles and bishops to our children.
stillerz7: then i told a couple stories ppl emailed me from my blog about their "new routines" that they do to form faith in their family: rituals of prayer, stories told and retold about healing and other signs of God's salvation, etc.
paul mussachio: cool
stillerz7: God is with us in our ants marching routines, and calls us out of our "chance boxes" to dare to see the holiness, sanctity of life that is God's reign holding us in relationship.
stillerz7: the end.
paul mussachio: not bad, good stuff... we're such a routine people...
paul mussachio: routine commute to work...routine banter at the water cooler...routine conversations with family...routine trips to 'church'....routine interaction with culture...
stillerz7: yep, and we're called to form different routines for faith formation
paul mussachio: hope doesn't necessarily abolish routines...just gives us a different calling in the midst...yes!