What a week, and it still isn’t over. So let me say first of all, we will have worship this Sunday! I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait. All other Sunday events are canceled (Sunday school and Youth). While the main roads are fine and the parking lot is now cleared of snow and ice, neighborhoods are still rough, and the temperature will make this condition persist. Our staff is in agreement that it is best to restart Sunday school and Youth the following week, when we can come out of the gate strong.
As I watched this week play out, I was reminded of what Lee Trevino, the great golfer, said when he was struck by lightning on the 13th hole of a golf tournament. When asked what he learned from the experience, he thought a minute and said, “If God wants to play through, you get out of the way.” That is about right. We witnessed that this week. No one, it seems, can stop the wheels of progress but the Almighty. And grind us to a halt, He did. Kids out of school all week? I thought the 1994 ice storm was bad, but it was followed by warm weather. This just goes on and on.
On Sunday, we are in Micah and contemplating perhaps the most gruesome and realistic picture of what is happening in certain types of sin. It is actually likened to a feast, not like you think, it is the people of God being devoured. I call this sermon Ninth Level, because what Micah pictures happening is where Dante puts the worst sort of sinners in The Inferno. The Inferno is not a theological work, but Micah will agree he got this one right. But as awful as the prophetic word is sometimes, it comes from Micah out of a heart that longs to see his people repent—with tears. His words are harsh on suburban ears, but are a severe mercy we might say. Sometimes it takes a lot to wake up the dead! That is what we see often in the prophets.
