April 3, 2008

The globe willows are in bloom as are many of the fruit trees in the area, but there is no apparent growth on our rose bushes. They still just look like sorry sticks poking out of the dry, hard ground. I know I'm just being impatient, but wasn't Jesus being a little impatient with the fig tree he cursed? I confess to being impatient with how slowly things seem to be going here on the mission complex too. We've said that Isaiah 61 is our mission statement, but the problem with "preaching good news to the poor", is that they can't put much cash in the offering plate, and restoration - even planting to display the LORD's splendor - costs money. My Bible almost automatically opens to Isaiah 61 but over the past few days I've been starting at Chapter 55 and reading to 62. There is a lot in these chapters about summoning the nations and gathering the nations, and people from all nations coming to the place of promise. Have I mentioned lately how living in the Four Corners is like living in the midst of a gathering of nations? Within 100 miles of Farmington there are 5 Native American reservations. As in the rest of the southwest, the Hispanic population is high, and of course the "Anglos" are still here trying to claim, in an area where they are often the minority, that they are still the dominate culture. So what are the Brokops? We are of course seen as white - Anglo, though Pastor Art is actually Spanish/Navajo/Russian - no Anglo (English) blood there. . .But I digress. I hear music when I read Isaiah 55. And a call to seek God. A call to the nations and a promise that they will come. Isaiah 56 talks about how no one will be excluded. It also warns against getting drunk. Alcohol has such a grip on the people we are called to rescue from the darkness. So many people are being held captive by the chains of drink and drugs, especially meth. So many spiritual - emotional prisoners. And how do we proclaim freedom to people who don't want to hear, or who are so full of hostility and despair that they can not hear…I began this essay at work, during my lunch break. Now it is early in the morning. A crescent moon and the morning star are shining. I grabbed one of my Bibles in the dark, it’s one I haven’t read from in a long time, The Message, not the most reliable translation to be sure. But it opened right up to Isaiah 55 where I had written these words in July 2003, “looks like we will need to buy the mission without money.” And in the margin between Isaiah 60 and 61, the words “the mission”. It’s still amazing to me that we are actually, physically here in this place. There it is again, dated October 29, 2003 “the mission vision” next to these verses in Isaiah 58 “You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past…restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again..”
But, as I write this, I am avoiding 58 and 59. Perhaps these chapters contain the reason why things seem to be moving so slowly. I remember “preaching” from Isaiah 59 at the other Free Methodist Church in Farmington (which is now closed) one year when the “men” were at men’s retreat. As a church, we had been praying that the Rocky Mountain Conference wouldn’t close us down, but we were doomed. I wonder which one of my Bibles has the notes from that “sermon”. Well, I’m going to bring this to a close. I need to go to work. The sun has nearly risen above the trees, a few little birds are yelling at our kitty in the courtyard. The courtyard doesn’t look too bad, we did the best we could over spring break, with the tools we had. And the place one of my sons works donated a sign yesterday. Like the one we wanted. All we need now are letters, light bulbs, and an extension cord. Blessings on you all. Yes, God bless u s everyone…Next snail mail news letter will be going out soon with pictures from Easter and the Passion Play. If you want to receive it, email me your snail mail address. My email is “artandme@juno.com.