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On earth as it is in heaven

Our Pastor, Craig Carter, preached a pretty powerful sermon this morning. He took the well-worn theme, “God calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things,” and breathed new life into it.

Here’s how.

Craig placed us with the crowd in Acts 3:11-12 who saw the miracles Peter performed. The crowd was surprised and amazed.

We modern day Christians are more like the crowd than we are like Peter and John. Rather than expecting the mighty power of God to be present in our lives, rather than expecting His will to be done, we are surprised by even ordinary miracles—people calling us when we are down, a child’s surprise hug when we most need it.

But we are made for miracles. God yearns to work in and through our lives to bring the kingdom of heaven here on earth.

How can we help make this happen?

The answer is simple: to see God, we must first repent. (Acts 3:19, Mark 1:15, Revelations 2-3)

Those of us raised in the church are as familiar with the notion of repentance as we are with the fact that God is Love.

But what, exactly, does it mean to need to repent?

Isn’t repentance for folks who are thieves, adulterers and liars?

Something Craig said made me rethink this notion of repentance.

He said that the onlookers who were amazed at Peter’s miracles were in strong need of repentance. They had, after all, killed Jesus.

And I wondered. Have I killed Jesus, too?

After some thought, it became painfully clear.

I kill Jesus when I am in a hurry and don’t have time to pay attention to my husband.

I kill Jesus when I am so busy on a project that I don’t take time to visit my mother.

I kill Jesus when I talk more than I listen.

I kill Jesus when I dwell on the wrongs done to me rather than giving thanks for the blessings that came my way in the midst of bad times.

I kill Jesus when I think about what my dog needs more than those in need.

I kill Jesus when I am driven by my need to be recognized for the good I do rather than simply doing good because that is what God calls me to do.

I kill Jesus when I am impatient with anyone for not doing something the way I think it needs to be done.

I kill Jesus when I confuse self-righteous anger with righteous anger.

I kill Jesus when I hate the person rather than the evil.

I kill Jesus when I think I am always right.

I kill Jesus when I am blind to my own wrongdoing.

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I pray for the courage to repent of my sins, to so yearn for the face of God that I can turn around.

If I can do this about-face–so that God rather than sin is what my heart yearns for– God’s power for healing and making good out of bad will flow through me, will allow me to stand calmly in the presence of the miracle that is God in me.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.

I pray that God will use the ordinary vessel that is my life to do extraordinary things for His kingdom here on earth.

 

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Journal of a Georgia Woman, 1870-1872 by Eliza F. Andrews

My Crazy Woman Trilogy begins in 1861 and spans the ten-year period from then until 1871. I’m writing in the first person, and was having some trouble getting the verbiage right.

I also wanted to get the sewing, embroidery and quilting right, and so I Googled “southern embroidery 1870.” Some pretty interesting books came up. One A Descriptive Catalogue of the Lace and Embroidery in the South Kensington Museum by Fanny Burry Palliser has fabulous pictures and descriptions of laces created before and during the 1870s.

But my favorite find was Eliza Andrews’s diary, which I previewed on GoogleBooks. She is keen witted, her language is delightfully “modern,” and the insights she offers on daily life in 1870 is priceless.  I especially love her comparison of Southern and “Yankee” culture on her trip to see her northern cousins in 1870.

She is saddened that her Yankee cousins are bothered by drop-in guests at dinner—she feels the southern acceptance of things not always going according to schedule much more pleasant. She also rues the Yankee need for order (sweeping on Mondays, washing on Tuesdays, etc.) but is chagrined by the fact that they only change out their towels once a week. “At home,” she says, “we change towels as soon as we use them, and clean when things get dirty.”

She is bothered by the fact that the people in the north are always in a  hurry. There are no front porches for folks to just sit and enjoy the weather. Taking children to the park, she says, is regimented. The children, she says are forced to be in such a hurry that they have no time to play.

I ordered both this book and her Civil War diaries from Amazon. Can’t wait for them to come in!