Taylor Mertins

Taylor Mertins

thirty something pastor, podcast host, and fan of parables

  1. May 25

    The Early Church

    The theologian Willie Jennings says, “This is the beginning of a community broken open by the sheer act of God, and we are still yet to comprehend the extent to which God acts and is acting to break us open.” This is important. It’s important because, despite all of our best efforts, we tend to consider Pentecost only in the past tense, something that happened way back when never to happen again. It’s all just a little too perfect isn't it? I mean, a whole group of individuals living together in harmony, and no one has any need? Have you ever met people before? This doesn’t work. Or what about thousands getting added from just one sermon. It’s impossible. And that’s not even mentioning the miracle of speaking new languages! This is such a beguiling image: twelve disciples, with no exceptional credentials, no advanced degrees, no capital resources to draw upon, all standing in front of the crowds, standing in front of the world, with nothing more than a message, nothing more than a story. Who would believe such a remarkable word coming from such unremarkable witnesses? Well, if it were up to them alone it would be impossible. But that’s the power of the Pentecost story because it’s not all up to them, and it’s not all up to us. The Spirit makes the impossible possible, giving life to the dead and bringing into existence the things that do not exist. The truth, the staggering out of the upper room truth of Pentecost, is that the fire that landed in Jerusalem is still blazing through the church today.

    18 min
  2. The Unexplored Virtue of Embarrassment

    Apr 12

    The Unexplored Virtue of Embarrassment

    Embarrassment is a unexplored virtue. The truth about the church is that we never really know what we’re walking into and we never really know who God is going to drag through the door. And sometimes the slides don’t work, or the microphone feeds back, or the sermon falls flat, but at least it’s real. Sometimes we sit next to someone who gets on our nerves, or the prayers hint at a reality we’re not entirely sure about, or we shake a sweaty hand during the passing of the peace, but at least we’re actually spending time with actual people. Sometimes we cry and we don’t know why, or we ache for something we can’t quite describe, or we feel weary about everything we’re carrying, but at least we have a God who refuses to be anything other than God with us. Be strange, Peter says, because God is strange. Only God would come up with an idea for something like the church, only God would give without ever expecting much of anything in return, only God would be willing to die so that we can live. Our faith gives us the courage to do embarrassing things because our faith isn’t in us, its in Jesus. When you know someone loves you no matter how bad your dancing turns out to be, or how much you cry at the weirdest things, or how much you laugh at jokes that aren’t really that funny, well then you know what it means to be free. That’s the love that God has for you, it’s more precious than gold and it’s imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. You are loved so much that you can go out there and make a fool of yourself. Feel that feeling of faithful embarrassment because everything that matters is on the other side of that.

    17 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

thirty something pastor, podcast host, and fan of parables

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