It was a moment for me like none other. It was if our café had been bit by a large truck, without the impact, only the repercussions. 

I was having brunch with a friend in Pasadena earlier this month when the café shook. Typically the experience of an earthquake is one of a slow, sustained rumble which, in most circumstances, lasts a minute or less. The origin of an earthquake is typically some distance away. That is why you experience the waves of the quake like ripples in a pond, some distance from where the stone entered the water. But this quake was literally right under us. We felt a strong surge and then it left, rippling away from us.

It was only after that sudden seismic jolt that we reacted: some ducked under their tables, some moved quickly outdoors, and many of those eating outside moved away from the building—all appropriate responses. But many of us simply sat stunned. Thoughts from “Was that was an earthquake?” to “That was an earthquake” ran through our heads. But things went back to normal quite quickly, at least more quickly than normal.

It was a moment for me like none other. It was if our café had been bit by a large truck, without the impact, only the repercussions. 

I was having brunch with a friend in Pasadena earlier this month when the café shook. Typically the experience of an earthquake is one of a slow, sustained rumble which, in most occasions, lasts a minute or less. The origin of an earthquake is typically some distance away. That is why you experience the waves of the quake like ripples in a pond, some distance from where the stone entered the water. But this quake was literally right under us. We felt a strong surge and then it left, rippling away from us.

It was only after that sudden seismic jolt that we reacted: some ducked under their tables, some moved quickly outdoors, and many of those eating outside moved away from the building—all appropriate responses. But many of us simply sat stunned. Thoughts from “Was that was an earthquake?” to “That was an earthquake” ran through our heads. But things went back to normal quite quickly, at least more quickly than normal.

It seems to me in the past 12 months we have, as a church, as Americans, and as global citizens experienced life and its range of rumblings, from undulating waves of discomfort and disorientation, to sudden direct hits. Both may have lasting impact, though they are experienced quite differently.

My daily office of scripture readings and prayers currently has me reading through Judges, Acts, and John’s gospel. From the precursors to the Israelite kings, the Judges had significant impact on Israel and their wider world, but they each did so in very different ways. The apostles did likewise in Acts, from the major impact of Peter’s first two sermons which led about 8 thousand people to the realization that Jesus was the Christ, to the faithful witness of so many who took the gospel to the Roman empire and beyond in less explosive ways. God’s people have always created a stir, not leaving the status quo alone. And John’s gospel is clear, the life and death of Jesus leaves two options: either you are with Jesus or against Jesus. The three years of Jesus’ ministry recorded in John’s gospel was ground zero for that greatest earth-shaking experience ever. And the rumblings of the death and resurrection of Jesus continue to reverberate in our day. Ironically those reverberations offer an unshakeable truth that provides at the same time the bedrock for a faith that can change lives, and earth-shifting rumblings of the gospel that can change our world.

Let us pray that they might reverberate through us.

With audacious hope, Todd E. Johnson

Pastor Todd Johnson was born and raised in northwestern Pennsylvania’s Allegheny Mountains. Todd was also born, baptized, and confirmed into the Covenant Church. Throughout Todd’s years of ministry, he has participated in a variety of ministries, including campus ministry, urban youth work, pastoral ministry, chaplaincy, addictions and recovery ministries, and spiritual formation, to name some. Todd’s ministry career is a bit like an Oreo™ cookie, however, as he spent much of the last 30 years in the academic world, most recently holding the Brehm Chair in Worship, Theology, and the Arts at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Todd’s coming to First Covenant is the second cookie around the filling of his work in theological education. He is passionate about Christian formation, pastoral care and nurture, ministries of justice and mercy, integration of art into the life of faith, and reaching out to the world in Christ’s name with the promise of new life in Christ and the redemption of the world; then celebrating all of this in worship throughout the year.

A word of warning: don’t talk to Todd about the Buffalo Sabres, sports in general, music, running, biking, swimming, cross-country skiing, or theatre if you don’t have a lot of time!