I Play The Bongos

 Hello Church,

For those who missed the 10:30 worship service, you missed a lot.  It isn't on the 9:00 service because I didn't think about it.  But for the 2nd service I pulled out the bongos for our interlude song.  It was sort of goofy... and maybe not so good.  Don't worry.  There were reasons behind it.  Let me give a couple...

For one, I'm tired of being afraid and, more to the point, I'm tired of others being afraid.  I feel like the last year has been about being afraid or being anxious about others being afraid.  It isn't just Covid or social unrest.  I am coming to believe those two things just bring our our fears more readily.... maybe rightfully so or not.  Regardless, I'm tired.

I'm tired of how we are afraid about what other people think of us or how they'll react how we think about them or how they'll react to how we react about how they think about us.  I'm tired of being so afraid of snow that we act crazy in grocery stores.  I'm tired of the fear that drives over-priced medical bills, high insurance premiums and shortages on toilet paper.  I'm tired of the fear that locks us in our room or keeps us from talking to strangers or the biggest fear of all -- failing at whatever.

So I played the bongos..... while preaching about love.  Give me long hair and then manage to put me in a cross-legged sitting position on the corner of some northwestern city and there you have it.  But I didn't care.... well.... I did, but I stopped being afraid.

Jesus said 'fear not' more than any other phrase.  There were reasons behind that too.  He wasn't in a goofy mood.  He was serious... dead serious.. and then alive serious again.  

We won't stop being afraid anytime soon.  Some say it's a Darwin thing that keep our species alive.  Maybe.  I also thinks it keeps our species from loving like Jesus wants us to love.  Yes, it may have killed Jesus and it may kill us too.  But dying for such a reason is exactly how we should want to live.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe