I did not get around to posting a blog on last weeks Plunge… so here it is… (This weeks Plunge is the next blog.)
As an introduction we copied David Letterman and played will it float. We placed all kinds of fruit, some I had never heard of, into a bowl of water. Some floated, some did not. The final fruit was bananas, which I was convinced would not float… of course I was wrong!
Last year during staff workshop Megan and I were mourning the loss of a baby with our miscarriage. But this year we return from staff meeting with the joy of Phoebe who should arrive next month! The pregnancy has shown no warning signs outside of Meg trying to puke Phoebe out… but really this was a good sign, since she was also very sick with Ivy!
When faced with trouble we often return home, just as the Pharisees did when faced with the question of Jesus. We return to ourselves. To our concerns. To the place we feel safe. Yet, while all others return home, the text says, “But Jesus”. While we turn inward, Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives. The place where he prays. There he intercedes on our behalf. While we wonder if the darkness will ever end, Jesus prays for our salvation…
And in the morning light we find Jesus, “all the people were coming to him”.
We have all faced events that seems insurmountable. Sometimes small: a bad grade or not making the team. Sometimes large: the death of a grandparent or our parent’s getting a divorce. It seems in these moments that there is no hope. That the sadness will never end. On this slippery slope we can forget Jesus. Truths we once convinced of can seem foolish. We can get lost in the darkness, blind to reality…
Yet, no matter our thoughts, bananas float. Even if we are convinced they do not. In the same way, even when we are lost in the darkness, blind to reality. Even then Jesus is preparing the way for us. Even in the bleakest moment, He is interceeding…
PRAYER: Mark Barlow’s daughter-in-law is still struggling with sickness. Though there has been some improvement, this is still a dark time. Please take time to pray for her, join with our Lord Jesus in interceding for her salvation!
** This passage is not in original texts. This means John probably did not write the story, but that does not take away from its validity. We do not cling to the bible because it was written by a certain person. Instead the church holds that the Holy Spirit worked through people to write the scripture. The Spirit drew these writings together. And today the Spirit inhabits the book, as its foremost tool, to bring forth the Word of God. So it does not matter if this passage took a little longer to join the canon. As long as the Spirit has chosen it, to use it.
PLUNGE47 