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Tuesday, February 07, 2012 |
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  1676 S.
Belcher Rd. 
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About the weekly message and its author: Tom Ehrich began writing daily "On a Journey" meditations in 1993, after a handful of friends worldwide had formed an online community seeking God in daily life. He is a priest and journalist for a nationally syndicated column that goes to more than 100 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. Tom Ehrich's idea is that God can be glimpsed in everyday life. In pieces of about 475 words, published six days a week, Tom looks at small incidents of daily life, connects them to the coming Sunday's Bible readings and seeks meanings that will touch every reader's life. Tom has given us permission to post something weekly from him on our web site. A person can subscribe to online daily meditations for $24/year. The web site is: www.onajourney.org Meditations on God in Daily Life January 9, 2012 Time for Better The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." (John 1.43) I doubt that professional football is a metaphor for anything except the futility of trench warfare. Ask the Atlanta Falcons about trying to run through the New York Giants on fourth and 1, and losing each time. There's one exception: the role of quarterback as leader. Last week, my Jets lost badly when QB Mark Sanchez failed to command the respect of his teammates. One openly dissed him in practice, then challenged him during the game, and finally went to the sidelines to sulk. The team was falling apart because the leader, for whatever reason, wasn't leading. Yesterday, the Giants won handily because their quarterback, Eli Manning, told them, “Follow me,” and they did. Manning doesn't have Sanchez' raw skills, but leadership isn't about skills. We don't know what made Jesus such a compelling leader. We hear some of his words, see some of his actions, but we don't see enough of how he cultivated disciples and guided them to the point where he could say, “Follow me,” and they would. My take: it wasn't magic, it wasn't brilliant argument, it wasn't clever charts, it wasn't authoritarian heft, it wasn't credentials or vestments or a title on the door. More likely, it was character, listening, teaching, loving, showing them a better vision, their better selves, and their place in the heart of God. As I reflect on the Christian enterprise, I wish we had fewer words being made into doctrines, and more signs of what enables disciples to follow. Two millennia into our adventure, Christianity has ended up looking like the Jets – constant friction, people acting out, a few trying hard, coaches blustering, owners making grandiose trades, occasional brilliance marked by self-sacrificial behavior, but just as much half-hearted follow-through marked by “not my fault, but if you throw the ball to me, maybe I will play try harder” -- and the vast majority deciding their only role is to watch, boo when displeased, cheer when pleased, and leave the stadium behind after 60 minutes. It isn't pretty. I think it's time we demanded better of ourselves, better of those who lead and better of the many who are called to follow. We will disagree about what the Christian enterprise is called to do. But surely it is more than merely survive, more than gather for 60 minutes on Sunday and hope that somehow – magic perhaps – that busy hour will accomplish everything we need to accomplish. Jesus didn't open a door, ring a bell, and say, “Dinner is served.” He was bound for another place, taking his ministry to the broken and oppressed, seeking people where they lived, and he said, “Follow me.”
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