O Lord my God, you are very great....
You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,
you make the clouds your chariot,
you ride on the wings of the wind,
you make the winds your messengers,
fire and flame your ministers.
You set the earth on its foundations,
so that it shall never be shaken.

(from Psalm 104)

And Jesus came and said to them, ``All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.''

(Matthew 28:18-20)

When I read the Bible, I am often struck by the action. It is an active book; it is a book of verbs. Through its many pages there is much doing, going, building, following, making, breaking. Certainly, the ones engaged in or affected by the activity are important, vitally important. But they are identified by and understood through their actions. We know them not merely by their names but more importantly by their actions.

The same is true of God. Actually, this is most true of God. God is the one whose action gets things all started, in the creation of all thing. God is the one whose action we are supposed to acknowledge above all action, in our praise of this great active God.

We find that action continued in Jesus, God made flesh. Within the Gospels, Jesus is always at work, active in the mission he embraces. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus acts at an amazing pace, always, it seems, going from one thing to the next ``immediately.'' (The word occurs in Mark 41 times!)

It's gracious activity, to be sure, enacted by God's son for his glory and our salvation. And he passes that on to us. His example becomes gracious command, directing us to do certain things, to be engaged in particular activities. In short, Jesus tells us to act. Not just any old action does he command us, of course, but actions that fit the pattern of purposeful, holy acting he has modeled for us. Go. Make disciples. Baptize. Teach. Remember.

May God give us the grace to be active people, engaged in action that mirrors the action of Christ.

Christ's peace,

Pastor Dan