I am inspired.
Not in the way that the biblical writers were inspired by the Holy Spirit to pen the words of God on pieces of papyri (thankfully), but inspired in the way that an average dude gets inspired by a pow slash, or a good wave, or a pretty girl, or a good friend, or a smart writer, or a sick movie.
For me, the inspiration came from Keanu Reeves and Grant Stewart, both great and wildly talented men, in my humble opinion.
It is no mystery (anymore) that my Matrix fanboyishness is just slightly less sad than the mania of your average Babbage’s store manager during a Mystery Science Theater 3000 marathon on cable. I love the movie like it’s real. And our viewing of this masterpiece in high-def on Grant’s flatscreen brought a new level of clarity, both to the actors’ face and neck blemishes, and to the power of the movie’s message for Christians.
Grant solidified it after the viewing (and after all the normal people left last night) when he began saying a word over and over again during our conversation: mission. It is not a new word and not even new to our group, as we have discussed the theory of being “missional” and other such cool Jesus-stuff many times before. But Grant’s use of the word without the -al for some reason made an impact on me.
And as I thought about it today, I could not help but also think of Neo. Specifically, I thought of his conversation with Tank on the Neb, where Tank talks about Zion and then begins to get excited. He says, almost bursting with anticipation, “G**damn, I…I gotta tell you, I’m fairly excited to see what you’re capable of. If Morpheus is right and all…I’m not supposed to talk about this, but if you are…it is a very exciting time. We got a lot to do. We gotta get to it.” And the training ensues.
In short, the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar is a group on mission. Not a mission, like it’s something separate from life, but on mission, living lives that are pulsating with the blood-flow of mission and purpose. So this Sunday, we will end our jaunt through Luke by beginning to speak - and really, to LIVE - in more specificity, by God’s Holy Spirit, according to our mission in the world, as individuals, as a small group, as followers of Jesus and members of his historic and universal church.
It is a very exciting time. The fields - minds waiting to be freed - are white for harvest.
Read these passages this week:
Luke 4:16-22
Luke 10:1-18
Luke 20:9-19
