Like everyone else on this planet, I've screwed up a few times in my life.
My brief and unspectacular career in the theatre once involved a stint on the Theatre Arts faculty of a small west coast college. This was really a great job, and I truly enjoyed teaching acting and voice classes and directing plays. I even had the opportunity to perform with the college's professional resident theatre company. For a young man fresh out of grad school, this was a great gig to have. Unfortunately, I was also a very stupid young man, and I couldn't resist an urge to criticize the department chairperson at every chance that came my way.
Needless to say, I was quickly fired from this position.
In retrospect, getting canned from that safe college job was the best thing that ever happened to me. After I choked down my panic, I was forced to go out into the world and find a way to pay the rent and other bills. I was also forced to find different venues in which to do my art and other students to teach. My life experiences became so much richer as a result. Some years later, these new experiences led me into the ordained ministry of the Lutheran Church--and I have felt extremely fulfilled and useful ever since.
Sometimes what we see as failure, if looked at through the eyes of faith, is actually a blessing. In the First Lesson assigned for the Sixth Sunday of Easter in the revised Common Lectionary we see the apostle Paul and his missionary companions making no headway in Asia Minor (Acts 16:6-15). They pass through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia and attempt to cross into Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit is just not going along with their plans. Nothing is happening. One night, Paul has a dream in which he sees a man from Macedonia pleading with him for help. The evangelists change direction and sail across the Aegean. There they meet a savvy business woman named Lydia who hears their message and helps them start the first Christian church on the European continent.
My brief and unspectacular career in the theatre once involved a stint on the Theatre Arts faculty of a small west coast college. This was really a great job, and I truly enjoyed teaching acting and voice classes and directing plays. I even had the opportunity to perform with the college's professional resident theatre company. For a young man fresh out of grad school, this was a great gig to have. Unfortunately, I was also a very stupid young man, and I couldn't resist an urge to criticize the department chairperson at every chance that came my way.
Needless to say, I was quickly fired from this position.
In retrospect, getting canned from that safe college job was the best thing that ever happened to me. After I choked down my panic, I was forced to go out into the world and find a way to pay the rent and other bills. I was also forced to find different venues in which to do my art and other students to teach. My life experiences became so much richer as a result. Some years later, these new experiences led me into the ordained ministry of the Lutheran Church--and I have felt extremely fulfilled and useful ever since.
Sometimes what we see as failure, if looked at through the eyes of faith, is actually a blessing. In the First Lesson assigned for the Sixth Sunday of Easter in the revised Common Lectionary we see the apostle Paul and his missionary companions making no headway in Asia Minor (Acts 16:6-15). They pass through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia and attempt to cross into Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit is just not going along with their plans. Nothing is happening. One night, Paul has a dream in which he sees a man from Macedonia pleading with him for help. The evangelists change direction and sail across the Aegean. There they meet a savvy business woman named Lydia who hears their message and helps them start the first Christian church on the European continent.
That's kind of the way God does things sometimes. One plan fails so another can succeed. The challenge for those of us who live in a success and status driven society is to see our moments of disappointment as something natural to be embraced and not as some dark evil to be feared.
In the gospel lesson for this Sunday, Jesus makes a promise to his followers,
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives." (John 14:27)
This world, with its emphasis on position and riches, promises peace only through acquisition. And how will we ever know if we have acquired enough? Does the world ever offer true peace? Peace which is free from fear? The world gives with strings attached to the gift.
In Jesus, however, we are promised the peace of the Holy Spirit. That is, our friend Jesus is always with us and within us. Success is not measured by fame, wealth, or power. Rather, it is felt internally when we are obedient to God's Word--loving God and loving neighbor and believing in eternity. In this we are free of the world's shallow judgment, and we can change course where the Spirit directs us.
God bless you, friends! Thank you again for visiting.
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