I Have To Confess, Life Is A Sweet Gift!

November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!  And to my Jewish friends, Happy Hanukkah! It is my prayer that you are blessed in many special ways today and every day. 

As I sit here typing, my wife is working with her mother to fashion a feast that we can share at table later today.  The aromas have already started the “rumblies” in my tummy to churning.  The sound of joy filled conversation is mixed in with noises of mixers and oven timers and coffee pots percolating.  And I am reminded of the passage in Psalm 26:8, “O LORD, I love the house in which you dwell, and the place where your glory abides.”

Surely these moments, where the sweet song of life lived together is sung, are the place where the Lord’s glory abides.  It is these moments where loving as God does can become easier.  I suppose that we have managed to convince ourselves that loving like God does is hard… that it requires some Spiritual muscle that we don’t have.  But in giving thanks I am reminded that love isn’t a straining moral obligation, but a gift.  Love made the cross of Calvary salvific, not the torture and pain.  And in love you find the dwelling place of God.

I am thankful for each of you my friends and family who have shown me love and encouragement and guidance through the years.  I am thankful for the controlled chaos of Thanksgiving meals being prepared and shared.  And above all else, I am most thankful for a love that began before time, and that has no end…   

I Have to Confess, I Am A Glass Is Half Full Kind Of Person...

November 23, 2013

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”  --  John F Kennedy

This weekend we mark the 50^th anniversary of an event that shook American notions of stability and prominence.  The assassination of an American President.  And just like that fateful day, we are less than a week from a very American Holiday, Thanksgiving.  I wonder as I see and hear unrest on so many newscasts over this political opinion or that, “Have we come very far in this country?”  Dialogue seems to be drowned out by demagoguery on both sides, and there seems to be little interest in actually seeking for solutions to difference of viewpoints.  I don’t share these thoughts because of a sense that all is lost, but rather because I know that it isn’t.  Just as 50 years ago families and communities found renewed reason to be thankful for the good things in life as they were reminded of its fragile nature; we have good reason to identify and give thanks for that which is good in our lives… and that can be a catalyst for real renewal and change in our lives, communities, and nation.

When we begin to have thankful hearts we can realize that just like a magnet tied to a string and dragged through a yard begins to attract metallic objects that we might not notice with the naked eye, our hearts begin to find in every hour, some “new” blessing that we may have missed before.  From this surprising “wealth” of blessing then, we can find a reason to give into others’ needs from a place of abundance that we never knew we had.  And in the end, it isn’t what we say about our blessings that matters, but how we use them that becomes the measure of our thankfulness.  An ungrateful heart never feels that it has as much as it deserves… a grateful heart can’t contain the joy it feels in the knowledge that it has more than it will ever need. 

Galatians 6: 8-9 says, “If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit.  So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.”  Sow seeds of gratitude, and God’s word says you’ll reap an eternal harvest.  Now, what are you going to do with the yield?

I Must Confess, It IS a Wonderful Life...

Matthew 5: 14 – “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid”

In 1946 Frank Capra’s classic Christmas story “It’s A Wonderful Life” opened in theaters.  It has had such an impact on American culture that it has been copied and paid homage to many times over in the 67 years since its release.  It is required viewing for many people at Christmas time, and can generally be caught on television on an almost uninterrupted loop during the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  And why not?  It is a delightful tale, superbly brought to life by Jimmy Stewart at his “Jimmy Stewart-est” and Donna Reed who always lit up any screen her image was on.  This tale about how our lives are interwoven, and have impact on numerous people that we may not even be aware of, is a pointed encouragement to keep realizing that each life has purpose and value.  And who doesn’t need to be reminded that we have the power to make a difference in the lives of others and that we are valuable to someone?

With that in mind, I had a random thought today about Zuzu’s rose petals.  Zuzu Bailey, the youngest daughter was upset when the flower she brought home from school had lost a few petals.  George (Jimmy) pretended to reattach them while slipping them into his pocket.  This seemingly small action becomes a hinge that is crucial to the story as George knew something was amiss when he couldn’t find Zuzu’s petals in his pocket… and then he knew they were right again when he later found them, right where they were supposed to be.  The question that I was led to in that musing was this: 

“Are our churches like Zuzu’s petals?”

If our churches were suddenly absent from our communities, would anyone miss them?  If they were somehow moved out of the buildings they were in and dropped somewhere else, would people feel the same sense of dismay that George felt when he couldn’t feel the velvety, soft texture and reassuring presence of the petals?  Or would life largely continue as if nothing had changed?  Are we a city on a hill, or are we hidden in our isolation from “outsiders”?

If there wouldn’t be a sense of loss by anyone outside of the congregation, we may need to examine the ways in which we are living within the community.  The body of Christ is intended to be a comforting, supportive, encouraging, and heartening presence wherever it is found.  It is meant to be engaged in relationship no matter where it is located.  Even if it is placed in somebody’s “pocket” (set aside and forgotten about for a while), it should be there when they seek it out to remind them that God’s love is setting things right again.  For George, Zuzu’s petals were proof of God’s forgiveness and abundant gifts.  For the world, the church should be the same thing.  Maybe this Christmas the church can begin to be like Zuzu’s petals.  And when we can do that, maybe we’ll hear someone say (in my best Jimmy Stewart voice), “There they are!  Well what do you know about that?!  Merry Christmas!” 

Your servant in Christ,

Chris