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| ps from ps: Welcome back! I missed you this summer and glad you’re reading Devo’s again. Wait….that’s right. I’m the one that took a break. Well either way, let’s dive in and take another journey together this coming year week by week. How did your summer go? Was it amazing? Did everything go perfectly? Did all the parts and pieces line up correctly and nothing went wrong? Every relationship you are in was wonderful and peaceful and edifying? My guess is that it probably wasn’t perfect. And it probably had some missteps. And there was probably a tough relationship or two in there as well. Did you grumble about it? Our lesson from Luke 15 coming up on the weekend begins with the Pharisees grumbling AGAIN. This has been a summer with Biblical texts that include A LOT of grumbling from our Pharisee friends. This time they are grumbling because Jesus is welcoming sinners, outsiders, tax collectors and the great unwashed. They are trying to have what they perceive as the perfect summer vacation, and Jesus is instead reaching out to the margins and welcoming everyone who the current culture of the day is pushing away. Then, Jesus tells them parables about certain things being lost. He doesn’t emphasize just moving on or forgetting about them. In fact, his perfect summer involves reaching the exact people that are causing the Pharisees to grumble. He emphasizes the important search and the joy that comes with finding them. He emphasizes to them that this is how God works. God never tires of searching for, finding and welcoming back that which was lost. Like us. When we are lost. Or the tough part of the relationship. Or the thing that went imperfectly. Or the parts and pieces that didn’t line up quite right. And also maybe when we are grumbling over the wrong thing. That’s who God is. The Searcher. The Finder. The Celebrator. For Us. For Others. For All. For the One. As we move into fall as missionaries of this God, may our grumbling decrease and may our searching begin. Lord, thanks for searching for us all. Sorry when we sometimes grumble about it. Amen Be well, safe and blessed…and Go Bills, ps |
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