We can understand neither God nor ourselves in any living, adequate, and mature way that is an impersonal, non-relational way. When God’s calling and our walking fit, we are growing up in Christ. God calls; we walk.

Eugene H. Peterson. Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ (Kindle Locations 392-393). Kindle Edition.

Peterson begins the second chapter by making it clear Ephesians is all about calling. I’ll get more detailed on Tuesday, but thought I would use Fridays to just highlight a thought from the chapter.

Again, it is easy to pick up just this one thought and sit with it for a few days. It is not earth-shakingly new. It is not a self-help formula.
It is a truth.

God calls us. He does not save us in some vapid, generic way…we are not numbers lined up or just a crowd of people. He has called me by name. And You. We are named.

Named people who come together to walk into maturity in following God.

We find out about that calling in the Bible….and the Bible, as Peterson says, is not just for information:

God speaks the decisive word that puts us on the way, the road, the path of life. The Hebrew word for Bible is Miqra, a noun formed from the verb “to call,” qara. The Bible is not a book to carry around and read for information on God, but a voice to listen to. I like that. This word of God that we name Bible, book, is not at root a word to be read and looked at and discussed. It is a word to be listened to and obeyed, a word that gets us going. Fundamentally, it is a call: God calls us.

Eugene H. Peterson. Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ (Kindle Locations 407-410). Kindle Edition.

Called.

That means there is purpose…there is something to put our hand to. Calling means moving somewhere…it means following. Obedience. Discipline…thinking of my post from earlier today.

The rest of the chapter will develop this thought and Peterson will expand on our understanding of calling…and of walking…and of maturing.  I’ll post thoughts on the rest of the chapter on Tuesday, and I hope you’ll jump in to the discussion.

For now…you are called. On purpose…with meaning…by name. Sit with that for awhile and know that God knows you by name and has purpose for you.

This is my kitchen table…built by a friend. Not a pedestal table, like the one we had for 16 years and loved…but found out is not so great when trying to do homework. Pedestal tables tend to bend and bounce when kids lean on them as they do their work. Plus, our last table only had four chairs. That means for the last five years one person had to sit in a folding chair. Sometimes it takes us awhile to update around here.

I love this new table. I love that it was made by someone we know, and I love that it is big enough for more than just us. There is room for friends…we have a bench with it that we can sit three more folks, or kiddos, on.

I actually did not really mean to just write about the table…but more about what it is on the table. I am ready for a day of school. The plans are set for the week. The books are readily at hand. Pencils are sharpened and paper is ready.

The plan has been made.

The sun is shining and the birds are chirping…and everything is in place for a great Monday morning. The coffee even tastes good.

What you cannot tell from this window is that every five minutes or so Little Miss is hollering at me from her crib. Nope…she is not supposed to be up. She does not normally wake up for another two hours. Last night I stayed up late getting everything ready for today…so I could awaken early and peacefully enjoy a cup of coffee and some time in prayer.

I am ignoring my almost 2 year old to have a few minutes. She is okay, trust me…I know her Dad checked on her at 5am when her diaper had leaked and changed her and gave her a clean sheet. She is okay to holler for a few more minutes.

My point?

I am attempting to follow through on the promptings of the Spirit to live a more intentional life. I tend to live a bit by the seat-of-my-pants. That means I tend to be frustrated because I have not put things in order to set up for a good day.

Even, however, when all is set and the birds are chirping and the sun is shining and the books look inviting….someone will pee themselves and make a mess and then not go back to sleep.

The dog will get sick on the carpet. Someone will wake up in a bad mood.

Someone will lose a job.

Someone will have a terrifying health scare and end up in the hospital.

Someone will die.

All of these things have happened to friends or ourselves in the last three days. Surprising, unexpected twists that throw our intentional approach askew.

Messy Mondays. Or Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays.

But you know what? Listen to what I heard in church yesterday….

¹ Truly my soul finds rest in God;
    my salvation comes from him.
² Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

God is the source of my salvation and He is my fortress. I will not be shaken…not because I am strong and have an answer for everything…but because He is my rock and salvation.

¹¹ One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
¹²     and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
according to what they have done.”

Power belongs to God. That speaks to my soul today.  He is unfailing in His love…needed to hear that as well. He is just and knows our hearts. Psalm 62…read the rest of it and think of the rest and confidence we can have in God.

Doesn’t matter what the twist is that has happened. God is able and He is our fortress. From the trivial interruptions of little ones who throw our plans askew, to the live changing, devastating challenges….God is power, He is unfailing in His love and He is aware of us.

The intentional approach is good…and a great foundation, but grace is needed for the interruptions and the unexpected. Resurrection life…knowing that Life comes from outside ourselves and does not depend on us. On Messy Mondays or Sundays filled with song.

We live our lives in the practice of what we do not originate and cannot anticipate. When we practice resurrection, we continuously enter into what is more than we are. When we practice resurrection, we keep company with Jesus, alive and present, who knows where we are going better than we do, which is always “from glory unto glory.”

(Eugene H. Peterson. Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ (Kindle Locations 138-140). Kindle Edition.)

The resurrection is not about us…it is not about our power to control our lives or to produce a change within ourselves. The resurrection is about God being beyond us and about us being transformed. The resurrection is about Jesus…alive and present.

I said the other day that I know I have not seen the impact of the resurrection in my life in ways tht I should. I know that the reality of God…come to humanity and redeeming us…and raising from the dead…has not sunk deep into my soul.  Not in the way that I would hope and like and desire.

I believe. I consent. I follow. I worship.

I have tasted the goodness of God. I have seen His wonders and I have been struck to worship and to pray as a result. I have sensed His presence and I have known the truth of His Word.

And yet…

I have not grown up in Christ in ways that I hope I can. I hope that He can work in me.

Apparently that reality is true for a few of us. I am going to begin reading through Eugene Peterson’s Practice Resurrection. I’ll post notes here once a week…maybe doing a chapter or two a week. The hope is that you will engage the conversation. We’ll have our own little virtual reading club.

You won’t have to read the book to participate…you can just engage and comment on what I post for the week. It would be great if you’ll read along though. I’ll post the first article on Friday…covering the introduction and the first chapter. Hope you’ll come along!!!

Something seems a little strange about the day after Easter being April Fool’s day.  I have friends who are not Christians who might find that very enticing for hokes.

The other night one of the kids asked us what would it mean if God wasn’t real. What would it mean if we died and He wasn’t there…if there really was nothing.

We asked him what he thought…would he think he had lived a wasted life? Paul says if the Resurrection is not true, then we are to be pitied:

 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith…If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.  1 Corinthians 15:14, 19

If Christ has not been raised, then our faith is just about living a good life. Golden Rule. That was what our son said…if we die and nothing is there, then at least we lived a good life. I have agreed with that statement, however, this morning it strikes me differently.

If Christ has not been raised…how much differently would I live?  I guess if I realized this when I was in my twenties I might become more ruthless in trying to achieve status or financial standing. I would be more aggressive and live more for the moment. I doubt it though, I think I would pretty much live as I have.

That bothers me.

I would live pretty much as I have whether or not Jesus rose from the dead? I mean…I believe and I pray and I count myself a Christian. I try to live in a way that brings glory to God…a way in which God is present in my life and evident.  I seek Him, I worship Him and I look at life through the lens of a Creator God who redeems His people.

Still….look at the comparison Paul makes to how he lives because of Jesus’ Resurrection:

 ³⁰ And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? ³¹ I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 ³² If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,