Tag Archives: care

Barns

barn

On a morning walk while I was in Iowa recently, I passed a large, old, rustic barn that has been preserved along what has become a more modern, suburban road. The stark contrast of this farming structure in the midst of new construction homes made me think more deeply about barns and what they have to say to us as modern-day Christians.

Surprisingly, barns are mentioned several times in Scripture to represent different things.

The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you undertake; he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you (Deuteronomy 28:8).

Barns are a sign of blessing from God. They store the bountiful harvests of plants that come from God’s creation, and they represent a thriving and established community, which God will give the Children of Israel in the Promised Land.

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:26).

Jesus describes barns in his Sermon on the Mount as places that birds of the air have no need of because the heavenly Father takes care of them without the birds worrying about where their food will come from. Barns in this case are symbols of buildings that we fret over filling, when we should trust that God will keep us filled, even if our barns may not be full.

Then he said, I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

In the parable of the rich fool, barns represent greed and amassing earthly wealth for our own personal gain. Jesus points out that we should store up treasures in heaven instead of riches here on earth. In the end, gifts of forgiveness, faith in Jesus and love for God and one another are more valuable than anything that can be stored in a barn, which will one day be destroyed.

Be on the lookout for barns on your travels this week, if you are able, and remember the lessons that can be learned from them for our walk with the Lord.

Swaying to the Music

swaying choir

At a concert by the St. Olaf Choir, I watched as choir members gently swayed back and forth to the melody of one particular song. I noticed how they were in sync with each other in their swaying and how the swaying seemed to bring extra energy and harmony to their voices. The swaying proved to be an effective way of expressing the style and message of the music.

This visual brought to mind for me the way we as members of the Church sway in sync with each other in our work for the Lord. When one near us goes one way, we all lean that way. When we get out of step in life, it is easy for us to get back into the rhythm of the life of faith in motion by so many around us.

The following verse comes to mind for me in Paul’s description of the body of Christ:

If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. 1 Corinthians 12:26

We sway in the way that one member is going so that we can be a help and support to him or her. We are never alone in the body of Christ. We always have people around us who are moved by the Spirit to care for us and love us and surround us, no matter what we are going through. The song of our salvation in Christ continues in and through us in every major and minor and dischordant key we are in. Our lives blend together when we have a common goal of serving others. Keep swaying with one another until that day when we join with the choirs of heaven in praise to the Great Conductor, our almighty God.

Follow Close

follow close

We say in Lent that we follow in the footsteps of Jesus on his way to the cross. But what does that mean exactly? In a sermon I heard a few weeks ago, the preacher talked about how disciples in Jesus’ day walked so close behind their masters that dust from their masters’ footsteps fell onto them. That’s how close we should follow Jesus this Lent. We should let his words, his life, his ways fall on us and become a part of us and who we are.

What is more, many disciples in the time of Jesus were spokespeople for their masters. They knew what he would say. They knew what he would do. They knew how he would respond. We who have read the gospels and know the trajectory of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection can speak with certainty that Jesus would say, “I love you.” We know that he would do the job of a servant to show his care. We know that he would respond with mercy to every confession of sin.

Our lives should be in lockstep with our Savior. Our walk should always mirror his. As St. Paul tells us, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but when it comes to our imitation of Christ, it is the sincerest form of faith. Be a faithful follower of Christ today.