We arrived safe and sound in New Orleans yesterday. It had been a long day of travel, but when we wound our way to the baggage claim we had quite a surprise. A jazz group, whose tuba bore the logo of "Jesus, Justice, Jazz", gave us a performance, serenading us as we waited. I might never have received such an incredible greeting. I shared some reflections with our group that evening.
I searched through the bible (which took only moments with the electronic bible thankfully) for mention of trumpets... and there were many. Trumpets (which really mean the "shofar" or ram's horn, but I think we can extend the meaning in this case) are used for many purposes: consecration, warning, victory through unusual warfare (think Jericho), praise, God's voice, and even the resurrection. And in some ways, they all seem appropriate for our gathering. We are sent, consecrated, to be out in the world. Our group has seen some very worldly things while here in New Orleans, which bring about the warning for us to remember WHO and WHOSE WE ARE. We are here to engage in holy things and to BE holy; therefore not all the things we see, are available to us, and this we know might lead to some intentional conversation. We also carry God's voice in our own. We speak words of comfort, consolation, love, mercy to a place that is still hurting, years after the hurricane moved through. This gathering is the largest group to be here since Katrinal, which means that we are present to bring about a rebirth, a resurrection of sorts... hoping that as we labor here, we might make the love of Jesus known, speaking the gospel so faith might grow. Maybe being greeted like kings and queens, or even royal messengers, GOD'S royal messengers, was appropriate after all.
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