"Lord I was Born a Ramblin Man"

This is a Sneak Peak at my communion meditation for this morning.

Today we are going to talk about travelling.
In the 70's the Allman Brothers had a song about a Ramblin' man. It told the story of a young man who's entire life was spent on the road because that's all he ever knew. I spent a good amount of time growing up moving around because my Dad was in the Navy. I'm not so much a rambler these days, married life and a job at Publix has me pretty well established, but I still make time to stretch my legs on a trail every now and again, just so that I remember that life still goes on outside of Polk county. I've faced a mild amount of danger on my trips, voodoo witch doctors in Haiti, Palestinian ne'er do wells dressed in designer jeans, my own sleepiness behind the wheel of a pickup truck, and this one crazy bedouin who seemed bent on making the ruins of an ancient glass factory fall on my head. You don't have to travel far to experience danger though. Jesus, in his recorded travels, stayed in an area roughly the size the Florida peninsula, and 3 years into his ministry his enemies killed him. It was up to his followers to spread the word that His death was not in vain, and they did spread! Look at the record of Paul in today's scripture reading. He's coming from Asian Minor going to Jerusalem, and plans on going from Jerusalem to Tarshish. That would be like going from North Carolina to Lakeland, and from Lakeland to Los Angeles! Paul did that because the message of Christ is good news for everybody. Because Paul and the other disciples took that message with them where ever he went, we are gathered celebrating the redemption God has paid for man. Let us remember to obey Jesus' command in the book of Matthew:

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.  17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.  18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

and to also remember to teach everyone to remember the covenant purchased with Christ's broken body, and sealed in his blood, as we do at communion every week.