Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:29-30

Good Sunday morning, friends! Rise and shine and give God the glory! Not only that, but do it at your local church.

Today is a great day. It’s especially great because my friend Bruce McVey is not only being ordained as a minister of word and sacrament (that’s “Teaching Elder” if you’re into Presbyterian nomenclature), he’s being installed as pastor here at the First Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, Tennessee.

Rebekah and I will attend worship with Bruce’s congregation this morning, then we will gather for the service of ordination in the afternoon. Rebekah has been invited to preach and I can guarantee there will be no doubt that the Holy Spirit showed up and that the place will be charged with light and love and passion and enthusiasm, and that Bruce will feel not only the weight of his ordination but the lift that comes from knowing he and all his responsibilities are held in the Everlasting Arms.

“My yoke is easy and my burden is light…”

This is awesome in many ways, and I’ll likely get into more of that in tomorrow’s post, after all the ceremony is past, and after the dust has settled.

I love the metaphor that presented itself Saturday evening at the McVey’s new home in Fayetteville. The house is classic mid-century modern and Bruce and Jen are deep (up to their eyeballs) in renovation. The kitchen is next. But at the moment the space is completely blown out and “ready” for… something…

Here’s the thing. I took it almost as a word of prophecy from God. The house has great bones and a storied history. At the same time it is tabula rasa, kind of a blank slate. Take a look around, the Spirit seems to be saying, and watch what happens when I blow the wind of my breath through this space.

We shouldn’t be scared, but we are. We needn’t be nervous, but we’re a little shaky just the same. We know what joy the Lord takes in reforming us, in moving The Church into the future… and we also know what exception people take to Christ’s insistent calling and the work of renovation and renewal in their/our own lives.

God’s grace be with you, Bruce and Jen, both in the kitchen and in the Church. But remember, it may be your kitchen but it’s God’s Church. Not the elders’, not the deacons’, not the Presbytery’s… not Bruce McVey’s. But God’s.

• God’s church;
• Christ’s invitation;
• the Spirit’s breath.

Come builder and complete the kitchen; come Jesus and shine; come Breath of God….