Visitors are often intrigued by our congregation. We are an interesting group of 150 or so who gather on Sunday mornings. We have kids of all colors who swarm around the pastor, and 90-year-olds who share pews with a few dozen people from the Sudan. We have a group of teens who love to act out the gospel lesson.
That’s the way it’s supposed to be. When God’s baptized people share pews and folding chairs, who knows who will show up!
It could be the very one who drove you nuts at the grocery store yesterday by parking her cart in the middle of the aisle, again and again. It might be the guy with the Jesus T-shirt that doesn’t quite reach over his more-than-ample belly.
Yes, they all show up when the gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly. After all, you showed up, didn’t you?
Today we remember John of Damascus, theologian and hymnwriter (circa 749). This message was adapted from “Tumbled Wet” written by Sue Gamelin that first appeared in the April 2008 issue of Lutheran Woman Today (now Gather) magazine.