Epiphany 6B (February 12, 2012) Mark 1:40-45

      After sternly warning him Jesus sent him away at once, saying to him, 

      “See that you say nothing to anyone;..." 

      ... But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread 

      the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, 

      but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from 

      every quarter.                                         Mark 1:43, 44a, 45

 One thing I have to give Jesus credit for -- he dealt with interruptions a lot better than I tend to. In the preceding verses (heard last week) Jesus has been healing folks, including Peter's mother-in-law, and rises early the next morning to go off to a deserted place to pray and be with God without distractions. Sure enough, the disciples manage to find him and that's the end of that quiet time. But maybe it was right though, God's timing, because it sent him off on his Galilean preaching tour. 

Which now looks to be all but ended before it began. After interrupting Jesus yet again, the leper couldn't do one simple thing: go home quietly, get his ritual bath, be inspected and be declared clean and just get on with the life he had been denied for so long. NOOOOO, he had to TELL EVERYONE! Which meant that everyone knew Jesus had touched him, and now the roles were reversed: Jesus was not welcome in the towns. He could not go directly TO the concentrated population areas, but had to do his preaching out in the country and WAIT for the people to COME TO HIM. 


+++What if our response to help others causes our life circumstances to be forever 
        changed, to abandon what we always thought was 'The Plan' for our life? 

+++Might God have several 'The Plan' strategies for different life stages?                                                                                                                                                              

After 6 years hard work on the piano, and some success in competitions, I knew I wouldn't be the concert pianist I had thought I was to be; so add the bassoon (and band and orchestra) and shift focus to preparing for a teaching career.

Playing cello duets with my sister (composers didn't give you a break anywhere to catch a breath !)

What can I say? It was the late (VERY late!) 60s -- a guitar was like a car ... in fact that Yamaha 12-string with a adjustable neck set me back more than a friend paid for an old junker he kept running almost a year.

And the music teacher only taught as a substitute in the school system ... but had a fulf schedule of private students and became a certified factory-trained bicycle mechanic to help in our shops. I also developed a pre-school music program for 3, 4, and 5 year old children and later directed children and youth choirs, and musical productions at our large church.

Eventually I added the adult choir and was music director; it was a true ministry. And then I had this strange situation that resulted in thoughts of a masters degree ... and I barely started seminary before it was confirmed clearly to me that my music stand was to be traded in for a pulpit. Imagine my surprise at being ordained to an Interim call -- followed by 5 more. I was sure during that time I would retire having never been installed.

But lots of things change in life; and sometimes the circumstances are beyond your control. Widowed at 50, I slowly accepted the reality that lining up back-to-back interim calls for another 15+ years was asking a lot of God. 

So I am almost 1/4 through my 7th year as the installed pastor of a small congregation. What is the next 'Plan' God has in store for me? And when will it be arriving? Could be in 5 years, or 10, or tomorrow. That's just the way it is with our God of surprises and interruptions!

+++What is the story of YOUR set of 'Plans' so far? 

+++How do you see God's hand at work in guiding, leading and shaping it?