Interruptions

Listening to a couple of folks I respect this week -- John Perkins and Shane Claiborne.  For a number of reasons, they have both convinced me that they have an idea of what it means to follow Jesus in a post-Christian culture.  I remember hearing them speak together at the CCDA (Christian Community Development Association) conference in New Orleans in 2003.  Inspiring stuff.

Anyway, I've been listening to them on CD this week and they've been speaking about the importance of 'interruptions.'  They suggest, and my experience and instinct immediately agree, that quite often what we view as an interruption is actually an opportunity in a couple of ways.  Interruptions are opportunities for us to let go of the stranglehold we have on our schedules (or, ironically, the strangleholds our schedules have on us); and, interruptions are opportunities for us to welcome the appointments God has in mind for us to over-ride the importance of our own pre-planned appointments.  John and Shane point out that Jesus allowed the interruptions to dictate his schedule.  In fact, it was in the interruptions of Jesus' 'plan' that the ministry was done:  a trip to preach in the Gerasenes turns into an opportunity to drive out demons; a trip to a well for water is interrupted by a truly thirsty woman drawing water at noon; Nicodemus literally showing up at night when most preacher's office hours would be long done; inviting interrupting children onto his lap to tell the disciples that this is really whom the Kingdom is for.  Jesus demonstrated that our response to the 'interruptions' of life define what our true purpose is.

Which makes me think of my 'ventures' around Cambridge over the last month.  As I've been working on reenacting some of Paul's activities in Athens, I've been looking for people to talk to and I've had some success with that -- the guy at the auction who was building his 'dream house', the soccer parents we had over for pizza,  and the Hindu businessman who was working to make his workplace a heaven on earth, to name a few.  My guess though, and this goes for any Christian in any city, is that the 'ventures' we ALL have with the 'Dionysiuses and Damarises of the world' aren't so much the ones we look for as much as the ones who 'interrupt' us.