Tuesday Tea Time!

Tuesday Tea Time with Julie Andrews!

Ok, only through photo, but still great.

Inspired by a friend, today a post from the past (even if it means funky alignment for this post).

“How can I stand up before God and show proper respect to the high God? Should I bring an armload of offerings topped off with yearling calves? Would God be impressed with thousands of rams, with buckets of barrels of olive oil? Would he be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child, my precious baby, to cancel my sin? But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously - take God seriously.” Micah 6:6-8 The Message *emphasis mine*

Last month I wrote that we had a few weeks of snow behind us and maybe we will by the time you receive this newsletter, but as I write it is quite rainy outside. So much for my prediction of the coming weeks! I say this in jest as we often set our personal expectations based on things that we have little control over. I know I often like to do some sort of organizing or cleaning when other things in life are not going as I had hoped or planned.

The trick is we have to a)communicate our plans clearly to others and b)let there be room for God’s Spirit to lead us. And something tells me that really we should allow for ‘b’ before ‘a.’ The Prophet Micah shares some really big ideas of how to please God. All we have to do is bring an armload of offerings, give all of your worldly possessions, and even your firstborn child to God and we’ll be good to go. Here we are 2015! But, wait, Micah doesn’t stop there. Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.

Just as I could not predict the snowfall, we cannot predict how each of us will interpret the prophet’s words to “Do what is fair and just for our neighbor” or what exactly we will be drawn to to be “compassionate and loyal in” because we love it. What we can predict though is that God is seriously all about this justice for our neighbors and living out of Jesus’ love through compassion & loyalty. We can predict that we are called to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God and that God is always right there in the thick of it all taking all of us in as seriously as we take all of God in.

So here we are 2015, learning to take ourselves a little less seriously & leaning into God’s seriousness for all of us!