work to do

Monday August 11^th, 1 Kings 19:  14 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." 15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus.  No matter how much the world seems to hate us from our point of view, God always sends us back out into it to do the work of the kingdom.  Walking in the ways of God are seldom the same as walking in the mountain tops experiences of our lives. Walking in the ways of the Lord are not religious highs any more than they are drug highs, for in the end the both simply end up as addictive behaviors that is more about self than other.  Having Jesus is not the latest designer drug, it is work, and the work is out there in the world from which we have often retreated.  The work of the Kingdom is often back to our roots, because who knows them better than we do.  God knows the danger we face.  God will be with us in the midst of that danger, pulling us up when we sink.  That does not mean we are invincible like some superhero come to save God’s reputation.  Instead, God is more interested in saving the lives of those God has created and called good which society has condemned and called bad.  They might not be people you like, but we are called to get over it and get into God.   I am reminded of Alice.  At 92 she would often lament the passing of her dear husband who 20 years after his passing, she loved deeply and thought about every day.  She would often break into tears and wonder why God would not answer her prayers to simply take her so she could be with her dear friend and husband.  She would go on and on for several minutes like this, tears streaming down her face.  Then, she would break, look up, wipe her tears and say, “but God hasn’t taken me yet so I guess there is still work for me to do, so let’s get at it!!”  Both the Gospel and reality were alive in her statement.