Day 58 - "The Brain" Lapel Pin (Give) and how do we reply when God asks, "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

I found a lapel pin a few weeks ago as I cleaned out yet another box from the shed and decided it would be a good thing to give to a student. But I see over 100 students each day in class - and many more in the hallways, so it's difficult sometimes to determine who to give something to.

So I decided I needed to find a true fan of "Pinky and The Brain."  In my 7th grade class, I drew a picture of "The Brain" on my whiteboard and the first kid to spontaneously start singing the theme song ("Pinky and The Brain.  Pinky and The Brain.  One is a genius; the other's insane.") got my Brain lapel pin.

I once referenced Pinky and the Brain in a sermon I gave.  The writers of the cartoon had a running gag involving a bit of dialogue at some point in each episode which began with Brain asking, "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?" 

Now, Brain was looking to Pinky for confirmation and help in some new plot to "take over the world".  Pinky, however, tended to be a bit distracted by ... other things, and so he was not on the same page as Brain.  Some examples:

 Brain:  Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Pinky: I think so, Brain, but this time, you put the trousers on the chimp.

Brain:  Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Pinky: I think so, Brain, but if they called them "sad meals" no one would buy them.

Brain:  Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Pinky: I think so, Brain, but why would anyone want a depressed tongue?

In my sermon, I drew a comparison between Brain's goals and God's (trying to take over the world!) and between Pinky and the church ... which doesn't too often seem to be on the same page with the One who is calling the shots.

In my imagination, the dialogue runs something like this:

God:  Are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Us:  I think so, God, but wouldn't green carpet clash with the stained glass windows?

God:  Are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Us:  I think so, God, but is Facebook the only way to recruit people for the church bowling league?

I wonder how frustrated ... and angry ... God must get with us.  But He is patient, thankfully.

In his book, "The Hole in Our Gospel", Rich Stearns reminds believers that the key question of our lives is "What does God expect of us?"  Stearns points out that Jesus had a "mission statement", which he revealed when he got up in his hometown synagogue early in his ministry and cited this Old Testament passage:
 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
   because he has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
   and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4: 18-19

And if this was Jesus' mission statement, isn't it supposed to be ours too?  If not, what does it mean to "follow" Jesus?

We as Christ's church would do well to humbly remember Isaiah 55: 8 and 9:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts."