Fermata Sept 10, 2021: Making Room for the Prophetic

Fermata is the weekly newsletter describing some of the past week’s highlights from Notes of Rest, which is my spiritual retreat ministry that interweaves text, music, and questions for the sake of cultivating stillness, introspection, and creativity in communities so that all may rest. I'd love to host a Notes of Rest for your church, seminary, or affinity group. Feel free to reply to this email to start the conversation!

Matthew 23:29-39

This week's Fermata is on Notes of Rest for Community Organizers, held in August. We spent time thinking with Jesus the Community Organizer, the one who saw the needs of the community and pursued justice ferociously at the local level. The Spirit drew our attention to the "woe to you" passages from Matthew 23, in which Jesus called out the religious leadership for their unjust practices and hypocrisy. The organizers shared how they related to Jesus' weariness on his journey with the Pharisees and teachers of the law. Further, they also related to how he was able to diagnose deep threatening division in his community that he saw would disrupt the future of biblical Israel. Notes gave a space for faith and hope for these people doing this deep work on the ground. There was room for the prophetic, to rest. 

As you pursue justice causes, who is The Lord calling you to be stern with and who is The Lord calling you to be tender with? And what space do you make for prophetic voices to speak in your local community of faith?

May the Lord who cares about our well-being better than we ever could equip you for your current pursuit of the kinds of relationships God wants for all of creation. To that end, here is a song for the journey: Give Us Your Heart.

abundantly,
Julian