Signposts for Renewal
March 11 – In-Formation
Anchor: Signposts
Frame: Scripture can be a signpost directing us to home, to life, to renewal
Frame: Scripture can be a signpost directing us to home, to life, to renewal
Thread: New signs (I may not know where I am, but I know
I’m not lost)
I am
told that in years past, those who knew how to survive in the desert kept a
look out for a tiny sign of hope: the dragonfly. Dragonflies are
water-dependent creatures, and when a dragonfly was seen it could be followed
and it would eventually (and assuredly) lead you to water. Dragonflies mean
that there is water nearby, good news indeed in the desert.
Scripture
(the Bible) has been like dragonflies for a lot of people. Many of us do not
know the grand sweep of the biblical narratives, nor have memorized the
genealogies of the forebears of the faith. But lots of people know a verse here
or there, something that has carried them through a difficult time or given
them words of joy and thanks in times of celebration. On Facebook I asked what
pieces of scripture have acted like signposts in your life. I got three
responses so far:
Zephaniah 3:17 (Just always what tells me to go forward
in tough times.)
The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who
gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
he will renew
you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
I
Kings 19:11-12 (a reminder not to look or listen to wrong things.)
God said, ‘Go out
and stand on the mountain before Yhwh, for Yhwh is about to pass by.’ Now there
was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks
in pieces before Yhwh, but Yhwh was not in the wind; and after the wind an
earthquake, but Yhwh was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a
fire, but Yhwh was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
Esther
4:14 (I am here -- "for such a time as this...")
For if you keep quiet at such a time as this, help and
protection will come to the Jews from another quarter, but you and your
father’s family will perish. Yet, who knows whether it was not for such a time
as this that you were made queen?’
I am hoping we can find ways of lifting up the little
signposts, the dragonflies, that help us
correct our course, or change direction, or head us toward home or life or
hope. I’m thinking we could hand out blank cards as everyone comes in, asking
them to reference a verse or passage that has been a signpost for them. Then we
gather these up and read them throughout the service.
I
find it fascinating that even with only 3 responses we see quite varied examples
of how scripture functions in our lives. (I also find it interesting that the 1st
3 responses are all Old Testament!) I
know from asking similar questions that often the 23rd Psalm is
mentioned, especially in difficult or mournful times. We could bring back Bobby
McFerrin’s beautiful version for his mother (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgbvHM03dMs&feature=related).
I think this would be an apt time to hear from individuals for whom a passage
or verse has had real meaning, and how that has affected the direction of their
lives.
If
we have a “driver” skit again this week, we might have the driver seeing those
kind of “Burma Shave” signs where each sign gives you just a word or two and to
get the whole message you have to see all of them. We could get people to carry
each sign across the front. I haven’t figured out what those signs might say
yet!
There
are a couple of bible ideas I would like to confront. There is a saying that
“BIBLE” means “basic instruction before leaving earth.” I believe the bible has
much more to say about to how we live life here on earth than it does about the
afterlife. The bible is not an escape hatch from life; it is a doorway into
life in all its fullness.
So,
as far as scripture goes for Sunday, I think those signpost passages should be
our focus. Therefore, I do not have a single passage to propose. Let’s ask each
other what our signpost passages are.
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