When our church found out this fall that we would be hosting 60 homeless guests the week of Christmas (as part of the area "Winter Relief" project), we were unsure what to make of it. Christmas week, when we all of the church families would be so busy with their own holiday preparations and celebrations!?! How would we ever get enough people to sign up to prepare meals or chaperone the guests?
Well, as usual, the Woods Church family stepped up and I'm happy to report that many praise band members signed up to help out, throughout the week. My shift was this afternoon; I was to be a chaperone. "Chaperoning" consists mostly of just connecting with the guests and getting to know them a bit, letting them know they're loved.
Like a lot of chaperones, I wasn't quite sure how to start or what to expect. Happily, a gentleman approached me, near the bagel table. He introduced himself (John was his name) and he told me that he had enjoyed the music this morning, at the 11:00 service. It turns out, he had attended all three services, and he said that he could probably deliver Elizabeth's sermon by heart! ;)
Well, I spent the better part of the afternoon chatting with John, a guy who probably knows more Bible verses than I do! He spoke about having lost his way, but then having come to faith. He used to work at a Bible college and he would often stand in the hallway to listen to the professors, because he didn't think he was worthy to sit in the classroom since he didn't consider himself "a good person." He still hopes to become a preacher one day, he confided. And the one thing he didn't want was to come before the Lord, at the end of his life, with regrets. I appreciated his honesty and vulnerability, and even the raw edge to our conversation. (At one point, he said, "You can't 'B.S.' the Lord.")
Another fellow, Daryle, spoke to a group of us about also wanting to be a preacher someday. He spoke passionately to some young volunteers about not putting God on the back burner. I told Daryle that, as I saw it, he already was a preacher!
Lester joined us for a late lunch, following his afternoon nap. When we invited him into the conversation, he was like, "I just want to talk about Jesus." :)
I was moved by the earnest faith of all of these men. Despite their difficult circumstances, they were looking up. They were saved and wanted others to know their Savior.
Sometimes we make it far too complicated---this faith thing, I mean. It all comes down to a surrendered life. Whether we find ourselves in humble circumstances (like the shepherds) or exalted circumstances (like the kings), it's a matter of drawing near to Christ, and inviting others to do the same.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
unexpected and wonderful
The meteorologists were calling for the heavy snowfall, but I was too wrapped up in my Christmas preparations to watch the news. On Friday, I had my Body and Soul exercise class, followed by our annual Christmas potluck. It was sweet to connect with the ladies who we see week after week, but rarely get to chat with (we're too busy huffing and puffing to the music! ;) After class, Cristina and I headed to the mall and began to hear some rumors about snow, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to believe it was really going to happen. Too often in the past, we'd heard predictions with nary a flake on the ground the following morning. So, like Thomas, we doubted.But then Friday night, the evidence appeared---the flakes begin to fall and the inches began to accumulate. And the plans we had, well, they began to evaporate. It was all so inconvenient and disruptive! What about the plans I had----the party I was going to, the gifts I still had to purchase, the music I had to rehearse with the band!?!
Snow stopped us all in our tracks. By Saturday night, over 19" had fallen. Out the window went our plans and in their place came sledding, time with family, popcorn, a fire in the fireplace and board games.
I love it because it's all so Christmas-like! And I'm not referring to the Norman Rockwell image of a family inside their warm home, as the snow gently blankets the world outside. I'm referring to the divine interruption----the plans that God has that are not our own.
I'm sure Mary had other plans for her life, when the angel's news caught her by surprise. Perhaps she, too, disbelieved that something wonderful was about to happen. There were probably days of discomfort and times when she wished that her own plans were perfectly in place, rather than those of an unpredictable and sovereign God.
Still, what God has in mind for us is greater than anything we could come up with! Unexpected, spontaneous, scary---His plans are all of these things. And yet, also, so wonderful....
Friday, December 11, 2009
crap v. divinity
One speaker at the conference, well-known author and speaker Tony Campolo, made reference to the internal struggle that we all deal with----the tug between our feeling like crap, at times, and like divinity, at other times.
It breaks down like this: there are days and moments where we see all too clearly our human frailties and sins. It could strike us as we drive down the road when we realize that we want to curse at someone who cuts us off; or it could hit us when we feel a twinge of envy when someone has something we don't; it could be anger or lust that gets a hold of us in a way we don't expect. You get the idea----we all fall and when we do, we feel weighed down by our sin. To put it bluntly, we feel like crap. We ask ourselves---Why did I just yell at my kid? Why did I not stop to say a kind word to that person? Why am I so self-centered? We are dismayed by our thoughts and actions (or inaction).
At other times, we feel like we can do no wrong. We speak up at the meeting and our own bright idea turns everything around. We pack our kids some great lunches or send that coworker an encouraging ecard. We do just the thing that is needed at the right time and we're on cloud nine. Just as children resemble their parents, we are resembling our heavenly Father, in our loving thoughts and deeds.
The tension between these feelings and actions is present in all of us. Both are based in truth-----we are sinful people, even as at the same time we bear the imprint of the divine. The problem is that it is far too easy to paint ourselves in black and white. (I find this to be true of me----is it true of you?) In other words, when I do something wrong, I feel unlovely and unloveable. When I do something right, I feel good and in the center of God's will.
Campolo says that some people who become depressed are simply resolving the tension by disbelieving one side of the equation. They don't believe in their own inherent value, as creations of a Loving God. Narcissists do the same thing, only they take it in the other direction. They disbelieve their weaknesses and flaws, and choose only to see the good that they do, and so they become puffed up with pride to the extreme.
I don't think there are any easy answers. (If Campolo gave them out during his talk, I guess I forgot to take notes on that part. ;) But I do believe that accepting the "crap" about ourselves, helps us welcome the divinity. I've heard it put this way: we have to understand the bad news (we are sinful) to be able to receive the good news (God loves us and sent a Savior for us). This truth is reflected in the line of the advent hymn "O come, o come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel". That cry is answered in the chorus "Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel." It is just as the angel said, isn't it? This is good news of great joy for all people!
It breaks down like this: there are days and moments where we see all too clearly our human frailties and sins. It could strike us as we drive down the road when we realize that we want to curse at someone who cuts us off; or it could hit us when we feel a twinge of envy when someone has something we don't; it could be anger or lust that gets a hold of us in a way we don't expect. You get the idea----we all fall and when we do, we feel weighed down by our sin. To put it bluntly, we feel like crap. We ask ourselves---Why did I just yell at my kid? Why did I not stop to say a kind word to that person? Why am I so self-centered? We are dismayed by our thoughts and actions (or inaction).
At other times, we feel like we can do no wrong. We speak up at the meeting and our own bright idea turns everything around. We pack our kids some great lunches or send that coworker an encouraging ecard. We do just the thing that is needed at the right time and we're on cloud nine. Just as children resemble their parents, we are resembling our heavenly Father, in our loving thoughts and deeds.
The tension between these feelings and actions is present in all of us. Both are based in truth-----we are sinful people, even as at the same time we bear the imprint of the divine. The problem is that it is far too easy to paint ourselves in black and white. (I find this to be true of me----is it true of you?) In other words, when I do something wrong, I feel unlovely and unloveable. When I do something right, I feel good and in the center of God's will.
Campolo says that some people who become depressed are simply resolving the tension by disbelieving one side of the equation. They don't believe in their own inherent value, as creations of a Loving God. Narcissists do the same thing, only they take it in the other direction. They disbelieve their weaknesses and flaws, and choose only to see the good that they do, and so they become puffed up with pride to the extreme.
I don't think there are any easy answers. (If Campolo gave them out during his talk, I guess I forgot to take notes on that part. ;) But I do believe that accepting the "crap" about ourselves, helps us welcome the divinity. I've heard it put this way: we have to understand the bad news (we are sinful) to be able to receive the good news (God loves us and sent a Savior for us). This truth is reflected in the line of the advent hymn "O come, o come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel". That cry is answered in the chorus "Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel." It is just as the angel said, isn't it? This is good news of great joy for all people!
Friday, December 4, 2009
Presence
I'm still trying to soak in the message from the conference I attended a few week's ago and let it change my life. My heart's desire is to revel in God's presence, worshiping Him as He deserves and receiving the peace and joy and love He has for me, His child.
But, honestly, most days I spend much more time in front of the computer than I do at His feet. It's a challenge to discipline myself to be still and "watch and wait", as this Advent season calls me to do.
Throughout my life, I've noticed that it's so much easier to read the newspaper each day than it is to read the Bible. And I think this is why: the newspaper doesn't ask anything of me. In contrast, when I take in the Word of God, it's going to change me. I will be convicted of sin, and challenged to live differently, and think differently. Of course, the Bible would have this impact, since the Word is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). And, naturally, my flesh resists this. It doesn't want to change (or should I say I don't want to change!)
What happens spiritually has a physical counterpart. Which is easier---going to the gym or sitting at home and watching t.v.? But, which is better? Which is healthier? I need to continue to develop spiritual habits to overcome the inertia of my flesh. I want to learn what it means to be still, and to watch and wait....
This Advent and Christmas season, I want to be about presents----oops, not p-r-e-s-e-n-t-s, ;) ---but PRESENCE!!! That's where the real joy is found----not in the gifts under the tree, but the Gift that hung on a tree for the forgiveness of our sins.
But, honestly, most days I spend much more time in front of the computer than I do at His feet. It's a challenge to discipline myself to be still and "watch and wait", as this Advent season calls me to do.
Throughout my life, I've noticed that it's so much easier to read the newspaper each day than it is to read the Bible. And I think this is why: the newspaper doesn't ask anything of me. In contrast, when I take in the Word of God, it's going to change me. I will be convicted of sin, and challenged to live differently, and think differently. Of course, the Bible would have this impact, since the Word is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). And, naturally, my flesh resists this. It doesn't want to change (or should I say I don't want to change!)
What happens spiritually has a physical counterpart. Which is easier---going to the gym or sitting at home and watching t.v.? But, which is better? Which is healthier? I need to continue to develop spiritual habits to overcome the inertia of my flesh. I want to learn what it means to be still, and to watch and wait....
This Advent and Christmas season, I want to be about presents----oops, not p-r-e-s-e-n-t-s, ;) ---but PRESENCE!!! That's where the real joy is found----not in the gifts under the tree, but the Gift that hung on a tree for the forgiveness of our sins.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)