Where have you been?

Here's this week's Bible study blog entry for i.ucc.org:

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? And doesn’t he have a best friend?

You’ve got the answer, right? It’s Spongebob and Patrick!

Not too long ago, after some controversial publicity, Spongebob received an extravagant welcome at the United Church of Christ headquarters in Cleveland. The whole event, while small and very silly, helped to share the theme: “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey; you’re welcome here.

However, in all the fun, I think we missed something important. Spongebob rarely goes anywhere without his pal, Patrick.

Where was Patrick when Spongebob visited the UCC headquarters? I wish someone would have gone to get him. Do you know where Patrick lives?

Under a rock.

Maybe that’s why he didn’t come to the UCC headquarters with Spongebob. He had no idea what was going on. Patrick was at home, under his rock, not knowing anything about any kind of controversy about Spongebob or trip that Spongebob took. (Incidentally, if Spongebob and Patrick live under the sea, how would they get to walk around in the UCC headquarters without ‘above water’ equipment? And for that matter, how do a sponge and a starfish talk in the first place? And have you given up reading this silly little aside – realizing it adds no value to the post?)

When Patrick crawled out from under his rock, I wonder what stories Spongebob had to tell him about God’s extravagant welcome?

In this week’s reading from Luke 24:13-35, Cleopas and his friend encountered Jesus as they were walking along the road. They didn’t recognize him. They even asked him something like, “What rock have you been living under that you haven’t heard about what’s happened to Jesus?” During their conversation with the person they thought was a stranger, Jesus said something similar to them. “What rock were you living under, that you didn’t understand what the prophets have been telling you? Let me tell you some more!”

What rock have we been living under? What have we missed? What will Jesus show us?