Skip to main content

Upset

Upset.

Yeah, that’s one word I have for it. But I have more. 

Anger. Frustration. Tired. Over it. Fatigued. Disagreeable. Those are some more words I have.

Life’s narrative that we call 2020 has brought on quite a few opinions, but I’m not sure any of us should be surprised. There’s over seven billion people on the planet and if you bring up any topic, ANY TOPIC, you’re going to get about as many opinions. 

Corn or flour tortillas? Pepsi or Coke? Is a hot dog a sandwich? Should the words oatmealand raisinever be used in the same sentence as cookie.

The answer to that last question is yes. As long as the sentence is, please don’t ever put oatmeal and raisin into my cookie. 

Lots of opinions, but we haven’t even gotten to the more important questions. 

Should I be forced to wear a mask if I’m healthy? Should we send our kids back to school? Are there really only these two options for president? Are some of these officers murderers? 

Woah, woah, woah! Before you leave because you don’t want to hear any more about any of those topics, let me assure you. I don’t plan on helping solve any of those dilemmas today. 

So what am I here to accomplish today? 

I’m here to focus on the fact that I’m upset. About many things. About a lot of many things, actually.

I think I was today years old when the story of Jesus visiting Mary and Martha hit me where I least expected it to. You know, in a way that actually applies to me. How silly of me to consider applying scripture, right? 

For those that have not heard the story before, here is the really short version. Jesus shows up to visit these two sisters. Martha, likely an enneagram one, is busy with details and making sure Jesus’ visit is a good one, while Mary just sits around listening to Jesus tell stories and teach. 

Martha complains and Jesus tells her she is upset about many things and that Mary has actually chosen what is better. You can read the details for yourself In Luke 10:38-42. It ends with Jesus telling Martha there’s only one thing worth being concerned about. 

Here’s the thing. I’ve never hosted Jesus at a dinner party, so I never considered whether I would be like Martha, busy making sure napkins were folded the correct way and that we had enough food for everyone, or if I would be more like Mary and just sit with Jesus and not worry about anything else. 

You already know what your dinner party with Jesus looks like.

The simple fact is that I don’t need to be hosting a dinner party to actually be hosting Jesus in my life. If I’m being real, I think we realize that we have each already chosen whether or not to emulate Martha or Mary. 

We are faced every day with a series of choices on how to respond to any myriad of circumstances, even if we avoid social media. Every news story. Every conversation. Every surprise happening. Every update from our government. Every awareness of what other people are doing and how they choose to respond. 

It all gives us an opportunity for response. And whether we realize it or not, whether we choose to believe so or not, we’re hosting Jesus. He is with us, beside us, and if we have chosen to believe, His Spirit resides within us. 

We’re upset about many things. Are we choosing what is better? 

Comments

R Swaim said…
That is my desire, happens once in a while.
August 15, 2020 at 9:56 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Facebook Maybe

Granted, I'm a pastor. I have Type-A tendencies. Ok, my tendencies border on freakish OCD behavior patterns, but... Few things bother me more than the Facebook 'maybe'. I suppose I could go on and on about the grey areas of our society and the refusal of people to accept absolute standards. I could discuss the great need of people to accept that what is wrong for one person is likely wrong for everyone. I should certainly be concerned about mentioning that someone might have sin in their life. But I don't believe the Facebook 'maybe' is quite sin. Perhaps if I were coming up with new sins, I would add this to the list. But alas... Some might think the Facebook 'maybe' did not exist prior to the Internet, but they would be wrong. When I was in high school and asked a girl out on a date, I would normally be told that if they had no other plans, if nobody else called them, if there was nothing good on television and their hair did not need washing, then per...
5 comments
Read more

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mom

I will travel this weekend to Georgia to celebrate the life of my mom, who passed away just before Christmas.  A Celebration of Life service. That’s what we’re calling it. Because that’s what my mom wanted. She was quite clear on this matter. She didn’t want a funeral. She didn’t want people mourning for her.  As a Christian, she was very certain on her eternal destination and she wanted everything, in her life and death, to reflect that. There will be music, people sharing tributes, and a message given by her pastor.  If that sounds similar to a funeral, I agree. But semantics aside, let me share with you a few more things about my mom. Along the way, you might learn a few things about why I function the way that I do. As I’ve considered my mom’s legacy, a few words have come to mind. Steadfast My mom knew what she believed, lived what she knew to be true, and didn’t really care what anyone else thought about it. I have no inclination to remember my mom as some perfect p...
2 comments
Read more