October 14, 2024

I was stuck in a traffic jam in New Jersey when I saw the biggest rainbow I've ever seen.

Or was it Connecticut? 15 hours into a 19 hour drive through 9 states, they all looked the same to me.

It was the height of the pandemic (late summer 2020) and I was helping my son move to Boston for school. I was driving a big rental SUV so full of furniture that I couldn't see out the back windows.

It was not an easy trip.

Rainbow over the dumpster in the parking lot of my favorite nonprofit: The Caring Place, Cleveland, Tennessee

And just to keep me on my toes, my phone refused to connect with the SUV's sound system, so there was no soothing GPS voice to tell me which lane to be in, or which exit to take, or which bridge to cross if I wanted to avoid Manhattan traffic (and I desperately wanted to avoid that!).

I was tired. I was anxious. I was uncomfortable. I was sad, because I was moving my son 19 hours from home.

And then I saw the biggest, brightest rainbow I've ever seen....and I kept on seeing it for nearly an HOUR!

That evening, on a busy turnpike through a generic New England state, the rainbow did exactly what God intended it to do: it reminded me that God MAKES promises, and God KEEPS promises.

Instead of recounting a litany of all my woes, or obsessing about all the ways this trip had been (and would be) difficult, I spent that hour talking to myself (maybe preaching to myself?) as I named every promise of God that I could remember.

And something amazing happened: the more I "preached promises" to myself, the more grateful I became. 

I was still stuck in traffic, still tired, still eager to get where I was headed, but the rainbow shifted my attention from myself to God--and that made all the difference.

"Gratitude," Craig Barnes says in today's video, is a sign that we are actually "paying attention to to God's work in our lives."

Paying attention to God? That seems like "Christianity 101," doesn't it? We're ministers: paying attention to God is part of our job description!

Ah, but sometimes we ministers are so busy, or frustrated, or tired, or eager to finish the task at-hand that we lose sight of God's presence.

We see the growing to-do list.

We see the deadlines.

We see the obstacles, the pitfalls, the problems, and the frustrations.

But do we see God?

This is the Waffle House near my house in Tennessee. In case you were wondering, there are NO Waffle Houses in New Jersey, but there ARE rainbows--and there IS a God who makes promises and keeps them (even in New Jersey).

No matter how busy your week is (or how frustrated or tired you are), take extra time today (yes, today!) to pay attention to God. Once you catch a glimpse of what God is up to, the gratitude will flow.

Gratitude is a game-changer, even when you are stuck in traffic in New Jersey.

As you prepare this Sunday's sermon, I pray that you'll find something to be grateful for each step of the way...and that your sermon will help people pay attention to God in ways that make them grateful, too.

Grateful to Be Your Sister in Christ,

Jen

Gratitude "demonstrates that we are paying attention to God's work in our lives."

Rev. Dr. Craig Barnes' 1-minute video invites us to preach from a place of gratitude--and to encourage a grateful response from our listeners.

"What tends to flow out of you these days… grumbling or gratitude?"

Lance Witt's article "Pastoring from a Place of Gratitude" invites us to slow down...recognize God's grace at work in us, around us, and through us...and then let the gratitude flow!

Congratulations, Rev. Christian Smith!

Hope you're thirsty, because you won the 6-month coffee subscription from Land of a Thousand Hills!

Each week in October, we're giving away one gift to a CP preacher. Click here to register for a chance to win this week's gift: a three-month's subscription to The Art of Preaching's "Deep Dive."

With this subscription, you will receive an overview of three scripture texts for the coming week from the Revised Common Lectionary. You'll also have access to a weekly Zoom call where you can discuss the text with others preachers.

"The weekly resources are engaging, well-researched, and contextual to the moment. We understand that sermon writing is an art and, therefore, our goal is not to write your sermon for you but to provide you with resources to engage as the Spirit leads you."

We'll announce this week's winner on facebook Friday, October 18--and in this newsletter on Monday, October 21.

You can learn more about the Art of Preaching here.

The Louisa Woosley Preaching Initiative is a grant-funded program of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Our goal is to equip ministers and candidates for ministry to preach compelling sermons to today's diverse and often divided world. 

For more information about the initiative and our programs, visit our website.