"The Call of the Flawed"

Pastor Laura Guy

October 21, 2007

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

We heard Pastor Laura tell a story about her first week of seminary. She felt as though God had made a mistake to call her into ministry. A professor in one of her classes had everyone bend a disposable cup and then reflect on it. "How is a bent cup usually regarded? What is it able to do or not do?" Then the professor asked them to think of a time when they were a bent cup. And finally, she told them to think about people in the Bible who were bent cups. Pastor Laura immediately thought of Moses.
We read Exodus 2:11-15 and saw that Moses killed a man. Although he did it in reaction to the violence against a Hebrew slave, it still appears that he was guilty of murder. We also read Exodus 3:9-14 and saw that when God called Moses, the reluctant hero argues with God and gives excuses why he isn't the right one for the job. But God's response is, "I will be with you."
We rejoiced that God calls flawed and broken people into meaningful living. We also trembled in fear. That means that around any corner, we might confronted with our own burning bush.
We bent our own disposable cups and thought about how our lives seem inappropriate for God to want to use for anything important. But we prayed, cups in hand, offering God what we have.
During communion, we brought our bent cups with us, and after we received the bread and the cup of life, Pastor Laura smoothed out our cup and reminded us, "God has made you whole again."
We had a special time of prayer and blessing for the newest life in our congregation - Baby Justus!