All Saints’
The Weekly WWW.ALLSAINTSCARMEL.ORG
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost • June 30, 2013
Following Jesus in the Power of the Spirit By The Rev. Rick Matters In today’s Gospel, we witness different responses of the first followers of Jesus Christ. Some resolutely followed, while others made excuses. Their ambivalence, like ours, derives from resisting the magnitude and purity of life Jesus embodied.
of these fruit-prints in Galatians. However tentatively or fearfully, we choose life in its richness and passion by following Jesus through the power of the Spirit.
People longed for healing, miraculous feeding, a sense of being truly known, and Jesus’s authoritative teaching, but they also resisted. Like them, we sometimes respond to God’s vibrancy by fulfilling T. S. Eliot’s observation that “humankind cannot bear very much reality.” Our society provides endless methods of being distracted and tranquilized into a half-life.
1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21 Psalm 77:1-2,11-20 Galatians 5:1, 13-25 Luke 9:51-62
Unlike those original disciples, we cannot see the literal footprints of Jesus, because he is now present to us through the invisible Holy Spirit. Though we cannot see his footprints, we know the consequences of his goodness and love, which we might call his fruit-prints. Paul lists some
Scripture Lessons Today
Scripture Lessons for Next Week Isaiah 66:10-14 Psalm 66:1-8 Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16 Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
Recommended Reading:
Hinds Feet on High Places By Robin Denney
This book is an allegory. The first time I read it, I found the character names like “Much Afraid” from the “Fearing” family, a bit strange. But as I dug into this story, I found it such a beautifully revealing way of describing and informing the journey of following Jesus. Much Afraid is true to her name, but steps out on a journey of following the Good Shepard to the high places. Along the way accompanied by Sorrow and Pain, she must pass through many challenges, which test and grow her faith, even when she feels that she has been abandoned by her Shepard. It is a deeply moving story because as we read it, we can see that we are the character Much Afraid, and her journey reveals much about our journey. I’ve read this book several times, and each time it brings me new insight and encouragement!