To be amidst evil, victims of power struggles, and thrown into political, economic, and cultural clashes is difficult. It is to those who suffer the most that God reminds us that God is in our midst. Through the prophet Zephaniah, God says, “I will deal with your oppressors…I will save the lame and gather the outcast…I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth…”

In the book of Ezekiel, the phrase “Then they will know that I am the Lord” is repeated at least 65 times.  Ezekiel wants those who hear his message to acknowledge that God’s initiative and control is over all creation. God is in control!

The difference we make in other people’s lives, or in the work of our community, and the joy that comes to us just for trying, is worth all the effort it takes.

So many of us are just like Jonah who knows God has a task for us to do and just don’t want to do it. In this case, it would interrupt Jonah’s life, so he takes off to a place where God won’t find him! That is where the storm at sea and the whale come into the story…

And why is this sensual love in the Bible? God intends that such love be a normal part of life in his good creation. God intends that when we find someone with whom to share our life, no matter who that person is, we see in them the hand of God’s creation, we honor them with commitment, and we lift them up as special.

We intended and planned a four-week road trip to Alaska.

Marty Haugen wrote the song that expresses this message. Called “All Are Welcome”, it is found in the ELW 641. The first verse:

Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live,
A place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;
Here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

Likewise, God will call us to do work for him at sometimes unlikely times. We may wish God would choose a different place or time or task. We might think it should be done by others: those more educated, those younger, or those less busy! Be flexible to hear God’s call to service or to try something new! God needs us! Thank God for leading us into new journeys guided by God.

This extremely short letter to “a lady” is worth a read. Obviously, this “elect lady” is the head of the Christian believers in the community. Perhaps she has reached out to John with the dilemma of how to deal with some folks in the neighborhood who are preaching a disturbing message. Perhaps some in the church community are being wooed away from some basic principles of the Gospel.

The picture here is of Jesus reaching down to rescue a lamb that is caught in the brambles, even at the risk of his own life. It is a painting, by Alford Usher Soord (1868-1915) of Britain, called the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7). It also recalls the passage from John 10:11 which says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”