Jesus Freaks and Monday Manna

By Reverend TJ Lucas

As we continue our summer sermon series of finding God in the secular, we ran into some heat this past week and I don't mean the weather! A well intentioned advertisement for a special communion service in August that we wanted to invite everyone rapidly was warped by the toxic cesspool that is social media on one of the local community pages we posted on. I don't give my spiritual energy to negativity online. For the most part, everyone likes to sound off into their own echo chambers on social media and I've found places like Facebook, because they are faceless, lend themselves to people embodying the worst versions of themselves. I offered a couple clarifying responses to very good questions and then stepped away from it entirely. I was alerted to how bad the conversation had gotten so I removed the post entirely to protect those being consumed in spirit by it. I did not read a bit of it. However, one wonderful thing did come forth and that was a couple people who reached out personally. I rejoice that even when the enemy wants to plant weeds among us, God provides fruit! That leads me to a brief recap of our Sunday sermon yesterday.

Our associate minister and music director, Nicole, preached on the Jesus Freak movement of the 60s. We listened to Jesus is Just Alright by the Doobie Brothers and Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum for our songs for seeking. Through which Pastor Nicole explored the perception of hippies both bad and good. We compared this to the scripture passage in Matthew where Jesus shares the story of the weeds and the wheat. The take away being that it is not our place as humans to judge who is in or out, right or wrong because the Master Gardener will sort things out in the harvest. Until then, we are to grow together.

The interesting thing about the Jesus Freak movement is that while people were challenging the institutions of society from government to religion, they did not reject Christ as much as they reframed Him as being a close friend that knows us well and could put in a good word for us to God. Jesus is someone that can lead us on our personal journeys in life and faith.

We drew it all together in the hymn "They Will Know You Are Christians By Your Love" which reflects Christ's teaching to us all in John 13:35 where he says, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

While the free love of the 60s perhaps took things too extreme, the love of Christ is one so much broader than what I tend to see among those who proclaim His name. At times I see that truth within myself and I have to reorient my heart in the way of Christ's love and at times I see it in other Christians. The goal is not moral superiority over one another or perfection. The goal is truly to grow in the way of love without concern to the weeds or wheat. What God does with the harvest is for God. We need to focus on our own growth in the way of God's love.

I preached at our neighboring church, Calvin Presbyterian, this past Sunday. My focus for the message was the childhood game of Snakes and Ladders as I felt like that was my experience of last week.

Long before it was the game we know, it was an Indian teaching tool built by ancient spiritual teachers on the soul's climb toward God. The climb we all share in reaching for the divine is never a straight line or predictable path nor is the journey the same for each of us.

The ladders were virtues, the snakes were vices, and the whole board was built to tell the truth — you will slide sometimes. Everybody does. The climb includes the fall. All of it is part of a bigger picture of us all trying to get to the end of the board, closest to God.

I set that image next to Jacob at Bethel, a man running scared with a brother's blood-threat at his back, guilty of lying to his own father just days before. He lays his head on a rock because it's all he has, and God meets him there — not later, not once he's cleaned himself up, but right there in the mess he made. A ladder is already standing. Angels are already ascending before Jacob ever opens his eyes. He builds none of it. He simply wakes up in the middle of something God had already set in motion.

We live in a world obsessed with ladders that we think we have to build ourselves — one more accomplishment, one more good deed, one more year of trying harder, hoping we'll finally climb high enough for God to notice us. That is Babel energy--the tower man built thinking they could reach God on their own. The truth of Bethel is so much better than that. The connection between you and your Maker was never yours to construct. It was standing before you ever arrived, fully staffed, just waiting for you to lift your head off the hard place you are in and see it.

And here is the other half of that same board, the half I think we resist even harder: landing on a snake was never meant to be a verdict. It was only ever meant to be a slide. But we don't live it that way, do we? One hard season, one relapse, one year we can't account for, and we stop saying "I slid" and start believing we are snakes or others are instead of just seeing the very real human frailty of us all. We hand our failures the power to name us. Jacob lied and stole in the very week he received this vision, and God still gave him the ladder — not after the next good roll, but on the snake itself. That's not permission to stay there. It is an invitation to trust God doesn't abandon any of us in those hard snake places.

That's the same ground Matthew's field stands on. The wheat and the weeds grow up tangled together, roots knit into the same soil, and the sorting doesn't belong to us — not to our timeline, not to our certainty about who's who. Our only calling is to keep growing next to whoever God has planted beside us, trusting the harvest to hands wiser than ours.

So wherever you find yourself this week — on a ladder, on a snake, somewhere in between with your head on a rock you didn't choose — hear this: the ground beneath you already belongs to God, and God is already standing in it with you.

I invite you personally to take on your growth this week with Dwelling in the Word (instructions below), Bible Study at 106 N. Chestnut Scottdale PA downstairs in the AC Wednesdays at 11 am. We are working through Ecclesiastes. And join us for worship Sundays at 9:30 in person or online via Facebook.

Kick off your week with the Word of God through our weekly spiritual practice of Dwelling in the Word:

The Four Movements of Lectio Divina AKA Dwelling in the Word

Taking time to slow down and simply dwell in the Word is one of the most life-giving rhythms we can cultivate. In a world that constantly demands we read for information or efficiency, this spiritual practice invites us to read for intimacy and transformation. It is about letting the text master us, rather than us trying to master the text.

Here is a simple, four-step guide to help you sit with the Scriptures, followed by brief, clear summaries of the passages you've selected to guide your reflection.

Before you begin, find a quiet space, take a few deep breaths, and invite the Holy Spirit to speak.

1. Lectio (Read): Read the passage slowly, gently, and preferably aloud. Don't rush to finish. Just listen for a single word, phrase, or image that seems to shimmer or catch your attention.

2. Meditatio (Reflect): Read the passage a second time. Take that specific word or phrase and chew on it. Why did the Spirit highlight this for you today? How does it intersect with your current joys, burdens, or questions?

3. Oratio (Respond): Read the passage a third time. Now, turn your reflections into an honest prayer. Talk to God as you would a trusted friend — pour out your gratitude, your doubts, your requests, or your repentance based on what the text stirred up.

4. Contemplatio (Rest): Read the passage one final time. Release all your thoughts and simply rest silently in God's presence, letting His love wash over you like a deep exhale.

Scripture Summaries for Reflection This Week

Use these one-line summaries of the text to pick which scripture you will dwell in each day of this week. I have found staying in one scripture for a longer period of time can draw out more than bouncing between several. These are from the Revised Common Lectionary. You can read them in full all together here

Genesis 29:15-28 — Jacob, the deceiver, gets deceived himself when Laban tricks him into marrying Leah before he can marry Rachel.

Psalm 105:1-11, 45b — A call to praise God while remembering the covenant promises God made to Abraham's family.

Psalm 128 — A blessing pronounced over the household of anyone who walks faithfully with God.

1 Kings 3:5-12 — Solomon asks God for a wise, discerning heart instead of riches or long life, and God grants it.

Psalm 119:129-136 — The psalmist longs for understanding of God's word and grieves over those who ignore it.

Romans 8:26-39 — Nothing in life or death can separate God's people from the love of Christ, because God is working all things together for good.

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 — Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to small, hidden, surprising things — a mustard seed, yeast, buried treasure — that grow or reveal themselves into something far greater than they first appeared.