[Mcgregorpage] McGregorPage 541, Epiphany 5, 2/4/07

[rmcgregoralbq at aol.com]

Epiphany 5, February 4, 2007

Psalm 138
Isaiah 6:1-13
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5:1-11

Transformed and Reformed

Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up.  Simon saw the Lord knee deep 
in flapping fish.  Paul saw the Lord from the end of the line.  But 
they all came away with a commission.  They all came away as people 
transformed by their encounter and reformed by their message.

The transforming encounter with God is not something we order up.  
Isaiah was just going about his business, so was Simon, so was Paul.  
Their business, though, put them at risk of an encounter with God.  
Isaiah was in the temple.  Simon was near Jesus.  Paul was defending 
his faith.  You can't command the encounter, but you can get close.  
You can pick up the Bible.  You can even read it.  You can attend 
worship.  You can enter the fray, do some of the hard work of the 
kingdom.  Teach the young.  Visit the old.  Look the dying in the eye, 
listen and pray.  God will choose the encounter, but it will come 
because you got close.

The encounter with God is always accompanied by a message.  It is not 
just experience.  It is also meaning.  There is a side of us that would 
just like to be transformed not reformed, transported by ecstasy not 
reformed by the mission.  The entertainment industry thrives on our 
appetite for experience, experience with no responsibility.  When we 
come to church, we come with that same appetite for entertainment.  God 
help us if the service is boring.  But if the experience doesn't 
transform us, if it only entertains us, tickles our spiritual fancy, 
how is it different from attending a basketball game?  How is it even a 
potential encounter with God?  God doesn't just move our emotions.  God 
transforms us and then moves us into the world as representatives of 
his saving purpose.


May these thoughts strengthen you.

An Open Letter to Fellow Pastors
>From Roland McGregor, United Methodist Pastor
(an e-mail service)

[See Web Page address below for a Children’s Message coordinated with 
these lections.]

http://www.webspawner.com/users/ChildPage/

Multiple Sermon Starter Essays are available at
http://www.webspawner.com/users/McGregorPage/

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  --Copyright 2007, Roland McGregor, all rights reserved—
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