desperate awareness of need

Last week, during my reading of our study passage dealing with the sisters Mary and Martha, I was struck by the reality that Jesus is the whole point.  Probably not a great deal of wisdom coming from someone of my profession, but its worth noting all the same.  I have always thought that we as humanity have always made things more complicated than they needed to be.  We always strive for more than we need.  We constantly look for the next best thing.  Even within the realm of Christian community, it would be blasphemy for us to get rid of programs and instead simply invite people to take the time that they would have invested in setting up, pulling off, and soaking in these programs and just simply use it to "be" with Jesus.  Even the story of the fall of mankind is centered on not having enough of what God provided (a relational arrangement), and the felt need to have the next best thing (knowledge of good and evil). 
These few verses in Luke that look in on an otherwise less than interesting vignette of Jesus ministry are so profound though because its the one thing that we can't seem to get a grasp on ... simply time with Jesus.  That's why we began this Summer working on the disciplines of solitude and also the practice of Lectio Divina.  I would argue that these are the most difficult of all the disciplines.  I'd much rather fast than be silent and still for an extended period...and that's saying a great deal.  That's also why we will continue to focus on those two for as long as it takes for us to develop some sense of what I'll call "the desperate awareness of need".  When we long for these times to simply sit at the feet of Jesus, to soak it in, to dump our "to do" list of church stuff, only then will we really be ready for the journey.

Summer

Let's face it ... Summer is absolutely the most difficult time to encourage people to go to church.  It can be a monumental challenge to an established place of ministry with a building, an address, and a pastor waiting to proclaim Gods word to the masses.
Fortunately for us, we are not trying to encourage people to "go to church".  We have neither an address or a building for them to go to.   What we do have, regardless of the season, is the ability to "be the church"... to take Jesus where the people are.  Sharing Jesus, being Jesus, doesn't need a location or a season.  Need doesn't take a break for the Summer.  Brokenness doesn't wait for a more suitable season and neither should the church.

Here are a few opportunities that I believe we can take advantage of that are specific to Summer:

Loving God .... Enjoying some outdoor time in prayer/contemplation/silence
Living Well .... Celebrating with friends at a festival, a local park BBQ, the beach, a hike
Doing Good .... Yard work for a neighbor in need, feeding those who are hungry, a yard sale, a race, or a walk to benefit a local non-profit

Let's not wait until we have an address to invite someone to ... Let's just go and live as we were called