We are all connected...

As the storm raged, the captain realized his ship was sinking fast. He called out, "Anyone here knows how to pray?" A pastor stepped forward. "Captain, I know how to pray." "Good," said the captain, "you pray while the rest of us put on our life jackets - we're one short." https://www.ministryvoice.com/church-jokes-clean-and-hilarious-jokes-for-pastors/ Sometimes, it feels like I am that pastor, too honest to save my life. Other times, I have learned to lie like a serpent with a forked tongue. As Rev. Dr. Bonnie Bates and I dialogued about the service last week-we concluded that God works in the wilderness. Sometimes through us, because of us-or despite us. When God promises a blessing, God will keep Gods word. Abram and Sari were promised a son-an heir in their old age. Sari got impatient and took matters into her own hands and gave her Egyptian slave girl to Abram as a wife. The result was a pregnant Hagar and a jealous, and abusive Sari. In the wilderness, God met Hagar and promised to bless her and her Son. Blessings do not always come as we plan them. Sometimes we have the audacity to tell God how to bless us; that does not work well with God. I know I can get myself into a heap of trouble when I decide I know what is best for me and my family. I know nothing about what is best. Looking over my life choices, you will see a pattern of trying to do it my way. It is like a bricklayer building a wall without a plumb line. Either one of two things will happen: the wall will collapse or not be straight. Amos had a vision from the Lord. It is not pleasant but terrifying. This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord asked me, "What do you see, Amos?" "A plumb line," I replied. Then the Lord said, "Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. "The high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam." The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. Israel had become a liar-like a serpent with a forked tongue. They had covenanted to be in a fidelity relationship with God but lived in open rebellion. God in his love for Israel carried the nation into exile to help them understand what a fidelity relationship means. Discipline from the Lord is not always pleasant but brings new life to corrupt souls. After encountering God, Sari would now be called Sara and Abram-Abraham. The name change could not help Sarah's attitude toward Hagar and Ishmael. She is jealous and full of anger and commands Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael into the wilderness to die. It's in that wilderness that God reaffirmed his promise to Hagar and Ishmael and provided water as a way of salvation for both. Through Ishmael, a nation is born, and the blessing is fulfilled. Not even Sara's jealousy and hatred towards Hagar could stop God's blessing. It is impossible to mess up God's plan. God uses the same road we used when we were running from God to bless and bring us into a relationship with God. "We are ALL connected..." Neil Degras Tyson I want to leave you with the story of a monk who caught guidance from Basil of Caesarea. "Speak a word, Father," and Basil replied, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," and the monk went away at once. Twenty years later, he came back and said, "Father, I have struggled to keep your word; now speak another word to me," and he said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," and the monk returned in obedience to his cell to keep that also." **Desert Fathers and Mothers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings-Annotated & Explained 2012 First Digital Edition Rev. Daniel J. Bradley Faith Journey United Methodist Church 8396 Morgan Rd. Clay, NY 13041