Monday Message 05-14-2012

I read an interview with Chef Charlie Trotter who is leaving the culinary business of 25 years and his famous restaurant in Chicago. “I can do this forever, and it’s most gratifying…that said, there are so many other things to do in life. Twenty-five years in this line of work is fantastic. It’s just time to step back, breathe deeply and do something different…When’s the last time I sat on a beach and read The Brothers Karamazov?”

It’s been interesting reading the reactions to this bold move from such a pioneering career. Some call it quitting or giving up. Trotter calls it a sabbatical. He plans to travel the world with his wife, Rochelle, and go back to school to study philosophy and political theory.

Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2), may have felt a similar tension from those who wanted him to stay put. They had experienced his power to heal and wanted him to stick around.

“In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place and there he prayed. And, Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons” (Mark 1:35-39).

Jesus could have established quite a community right there in Capernaum. But instead he chose to go elsewhere; to keep moving and preaching and taking the message to other people who needed to hear it. Jesus was not interested in building one community in one place. He is interested in building a movement that will go to all places.

Maybe we need to reclaim a sense of being travelers. Maybe we need to remember that we are called, sometimes in various ways - to various places. Someone once said that we are to be roadies for the reign of God. I like that.

But, though he ventured out, he also kept returning to sacred places; to synagogues, to the homes of beloved friends, and to deserted places for prayer.

So, make sure you have places marked and ready for your return.

And, make sure you’re ready to tour, in the Kingdom of God……to crazy places!

It might be the beach with Dostoevsky, a coffee shop with a relative you recently yelled at, or maybe a soup kitchen in Cleveland to make a dish you picked up from Charlie Trotter.

tom

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