🦁 Epiphany 6-1

Readings: Psalm 50:1-6; 1 Kings 11:26-40; 2 Corinthians 2:12-17

Reflection

Good morning. This is Tim Trimble broadcasting from Sacramento, California. Today's readings are some 50 verses, 1 to 6. First Kings Chapter 11, verses 26 to 40, and Second Corinthians chapter two, verses 12 to 17. 

In Psalm 50 today, we use the title God himself is Judge. And this is a very important lesson for us in the New Testament course in Matthew, we have judge, not less to be judged, things like that. So in the Psalms, even this is saying that God is the one who comes to judge. It's not our job. So we need something as human beings is very, very difficult for us. Everything that we learn from the time that we're old enough to be taught anything we have, all is judgments and qualifiers. And, you know, somebody should be like this and do that. And if you're not this, then you're not right and blah, blah, blah and all that stuff. So we didn't know God is the one who's the only one who judges us and first kings. 

We have the continuing story of the fall of Israel, and this is the split splitting of Israel. So solemn when we are delivered back up. The King David and his son, Solomon. Now we gone down and there was a man named Jeroboam. So Solomon did not please God, did things that they did God didn't want to do. So he took kin away from Solomon. Give to Jeroboam. Now Jeroboam doing the same thing as the false idols, false worshiping, not keeping the covenant that God had made with Abraham. So this time God says he's going to split. So ten the ten tribes, the northern tribes are going to be taken away, but he's going to leave the two tribes with them so that they have the lineage of David and the reminder of what they once had. 

So they have this thing so Jeroboam is going to take for yourself the ten tribes, and they're going to leave the two tribes with Solomon. And this is where we get into the splitting of the ten tribes and the two tribes splitting of Israel. And this is the part in the Kings, which the Book of Kings actually there was one book and they split into two because of length of. But this is the history of all the kings of Israel. Back in the day, they are reading today in Second Corinthians, as this is titled, The Triumphant Christ. 

This is Paul talking to the Church of Corinth. Again, this is his second letter to them. And so it starts out when they came to TROs. So Toros t r OAS is a city that now is in Asia. It's a Turkey is part of Asia. It's near the Aegean Sea on the northern tip of Turkey's western coast. 

So that's where it was. And the spirit did not rust and I did not find my brother Titus there. So even though he was welcome there, he the door was the door was open for him to go there, but the spirit was not there. So he took leave and went to Macedonia, which Macedonia is another city in the area. 

And it was a fair travel because it's in the northern part of Greece. They walked everywhere. So that's something else to consider. And these travelers, these were months and years of walking to get places. And so he went there, but he went on to Macedonia. But again, talks about the triumph of being in Christ and thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in a triumphal procession and to us spreads the fragments of the knowledge of him everywhere. So this is something things may look right sometimes in opportunity. A door opens for us, but it just doesn't turn out to be right. 

That's okay, 

because there's a path and this is a journey. And you know, in our lives, time and time again, I've had what I thought were great opportunities, you know? So all this is why I want to open up this available. And it didn't work out. And that's okay. I learned some lessons, got some experience there that helped me further down the way. It's the same thing in Christ when God wants what's best for us. So even though something may not work out to the Pacific Point or something, that's okay. Because we got some experience. We learned something there, we gained something and we moved on to something else. And because of that, this path opened for us. 

Over 30 years ago, my goal when getting out of the Army, I was a medic when I was stationed at Fort Meade, I got a chance to be a volunteer with the honor roll. The County Fire department got my EMT certain Marilyn and I was going to be a firefighter paramedic. That was my life goal. It didn't happen for a lot of reasons, and that's okay. I had a wonderful 37 year career between my time in the military working here in California, in Sacramento, California, where I'm from, work in the private animals business here. I was a volunteer firefighter, got into emergency management and homeland security, public safety, telecommunications, and had a just an outstanding career. Got to be involved in a lot of things that, you know, I was involved in response to 911. I was involved in response to Katrina, the Florida Hurricanes, the wildland fires here in California. And no, I didn't become a firefighter paramedic, and that's okay. God had something else in store for me. And I became because I had a very, very good career and still even in retirement now, I'm still involved in some things and working here with the Diocese of Northern California on a communications plan. So we have a group, we go out and do disaster assistance on the non-government organizations side, but we don't have any communication unless we have cell phones, which you don't always have cell phone service out in a scene of an emergency. So my expertise, my my training now I'm working with our Disaster Assistance Response team and building the communications plan. And we're buying the equipment so that when we go out with our our other faith partners in the NGOs and we put on local assistance centers and stuff, we'll be bringing a communications component via radio, because I have got experience now, God's leading me in helping. This is how we love our neighbor as ourselves, going out and helping people in disasters and things recover from them, getting them help and assistance that they need to move on. So just because something doesn't always work out the way we want it to. There's triumph in Christ because God's always leading us. He wants us to do this before we go to here. Or maybe sometimes as well. We're going to forces to happen with God's help. Okay, But you're going to come back over here and do this, and it's all good because it's all about where we wind up and being in Christ. And there's always triumph in Christ. Amen.