Tag Archives: living

Delivery Living

delivery

One of the results of the COVID lockdown was the rise in delivery services. Groceries, fast-food, clothing, shoes, electronics and just about anything you want or need can still be delivered to your doorstep with the click of a few buttons on your phone or computer. No need to go out and travel to the grocery store, restaurant or shopping center to get what need. It can all be brought to you. I have noticed a lot more delivery trucks on the roads these days as a consequence.

What causes this desire for delivery living? My first thought is that it is driven by our quest for convenience. Another reason might be a want to keep away from people. I know I sort of enjoyed getting a “touchless delivery” of a pizza a few times so I did not have to interact with anyone, but just grabbed the pizza off my porch. Or it all might be an excuse to stay inside our homes and “cocoon” or “hibernate” in a safe space.

The idea of this makes me think of Elijah and a time when he was just done with people and his work and going out into the world anymore:

But [Elijah] himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. (1 Kings 19:4-5)

But guess what? God brought him delivery—food and drink to sustain him:

[Elijah] looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. (1 Kings 19:6)

But God did not want Elijah to stay in delivery living mode. God sent an angel who said to Elijah, “Arise!” So that is what Elijah did:

And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. (1 Kings 19:8)

Elijah got back out there and did the work of the prophet. Which is what God calls us to do as his messengers. There might be a time when it is good to have things delivered to us, but there comes a time when we must get back out there and deliver the Good News to others. It might not always be easy or convenient or safe, but be God’s delivery service today. And watch for other members of God’s Good News delivery service out on the roads as well.

Human Object Lesson

little child

Recently, I have been working on writing object lessons for each week of the school year which match the readings for the upcoming Sunday. I try to come up with some little trinket or picture to show the children to explain the point I am attempting to get across. Children are visual learners, after all, and are more likely to remember the message being shared if they recall the image they saw.

In one of the readings, I came across these verses:

An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest” (Luke 9:46-48).

What strikes me in this scene is that Jesus used the little child as a human object lesson, if you will. He added a visual to his point. He made his lesson real and personal. “You should be like this actual innocent young person here.” Biblical historians note that in Jesus’ day, little children were not regarded as very valuable or important or worthwhile to society. But here Jesus turns that thinking on its head, putting a child front and center in his discussion with his disciples. The lesson then becomes that only the ones who welcome those who are as “out of the loop” as this little child are called greatest in the kingdom of God.

It occurs to me that this teaching of Jesus would not have had the impact that it did were it not for the living, breathing child before them. Jesus continues to teach lessons to all the world through living, breathing you and me. We, too, are Jesus’ human object lessons. And what does he have to teach through us? We stand before the world as examples of sinners, for we have done what is evil in the sight of God. And we stand before the world as real-life illustrations of what it means to be loved and forgiven by Christ through his cross. We are called to live out our response to that grace through words and actions that are loving and caring, hopeful and helpful for all to see.

So think about it. What would you do if Jesus put you front and center before a crowd? It might be scary to consider at first, but in the end we know it is not about us but about what Christ has done through us. We are merely vessels that display his work in human lives. Now that’s a good object lesson to remember.

Gift Bags

gift bags

Have you noticed lately that most presents for birthdays and other special occasions are found in gift bags, not in wrapped presents? “Why is that so?” I pondered. Here is what I came up with:

  1. They are easier to wrap—no scissors, tape and measuring.
  2. They are easier for the recipient to unwrap—no picking at corners and straining to undo tape.
  3. They are easier for the recipient to carry home with the built-in handles.

What does this have to do with Christian living? It has to do with the Christian life because we often make sharing our God-given gifts with others more difficult. We bind up our love behind the tape of selfishness and hostility. We often make it hard to break through the barriers we put in place to block our kindness and care. That’s why we as Christians are drawn to the “gift bag” approach, if you will, of sharing with others. Our hearts should be open and easy to access. Our gift-giving should be something that comes naturally and without much trouble to receive. Our gifts should be something that the recipients can carry home with them to enjoy and even share with others. So often people re-use gift bags to give their own presents to others. So we are to share with others in the same way that others have shared with us. What a beautiful picture of the continuous spreading of God’s gifts of love to every one of us.

Renewal

manger and tomb

Thank you, loving Father, for restoring our joy in you through the birth of your Son, Jesus. May his presence among us resurrect in us a new sense of peace and liveliness in living our lives refreshed by our Savior’s forgiveness and renewal. Amen.

The prayer above is something that I wrote recently for an Advent 2020 product, but was ultimately not used. So let’s enjoy a little Christmas in August by giving this prayer some thought.

For me, it’s nice to remember during any time of year that Jesus brings renewal and restoration. There is always a chance to start over again with Jesus. He is reborn in us each and every day. and any time we feel down and out, Jesus can lift us up and into his arms.

The concept of resurrection is a reminder that with Jesus alive in us, we have nothing to fear and we should be at peace. Living in him should be lively and active, something that moves us forward in our faith.

From manger to empty grave, our Jesus has moved forward for us. It’s our turn now to move forward for him with acts of forgiveness, love and service.

Pivotal Questions

pivotal questionsI was wondering recently about how pivotal questions are often asked at significant moments in the story of salvation. Why is that? Consider these:

At the empty tomb on Easter morning, the angels ask the women: ““Why do you look for the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:6).

When the risen Jesus appears to the disciple in the upper room, he asks, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?” (Luke 24:38)

After Jesus has ascended, two angels ask the disciples, “Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

These seem like basic questions, but they actually get to the heart of what is going on. Those to whom the questions are asked are experiencing confusion. But each question is designed to bring them comfort.

In the Easter quote, the women were sure that Jesus was dead, but the question reveals the good news that Jesus is alive.

In the upper room quote, the disciples were undoubtedly afraid by the sudden appearance of Jesus, but Christ’s question to them assures them that they do not need to be afraid at all.

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Living Stones

stonesAs you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4-5

I love the imagery that Peter uses here us each of us being like living stones. When you think about stones, you think of something solid, strong, but cold. But the picture here is one of stones filled with warmth, with energy, with vibrancy, along with being solid and strong.

To extend the metaphor, regular stones gathered together to build something strong, like a church building. When we as living stones come together to worship, we are building something strong, as well the Body of Christ, the Church at work, the active hands and feet of our Lord and Savior Jesus.

In my church where I worship, each child that is baptized receives a little stone as a memento and the parents are told that this stone can be placed on a child’s dresser and later in a backpack for the child to carry with him or her as a reminder that he or she is connected to the solid Rock of Jesus through Holy Baptism and that he or she is a living stone, called and blessed to work for Christ. Continue reading →

Living Temples

In Simply Jesus, N.T. Wright says, “Jesus was, as it were, a walking Temple. A living, breathing place-where-Israel’s-God-was-living” (p. 133)

I love that concept. Jesus, in his life here on earth, was the embodiment of heaven and earth, the location were God dwelt in all his holiness in and amongst humanity. And he spent his life explaining that to people who were not all that ready to hear it, perhaps. The Temple in Jerusalem was the only real place to be in touch with God, most people probably thought. But then Jesus said, “Follow me!” And he showed them “a more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31).

templeOf course, when we extend the metaphor, we encounter this:

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Each one of us is a walking temple as well, a place where God dwells. So what we do with that body needs to reflect the reality of the holiness that resides there because of Christ’s sacrifice for us.

As Christians, we cannot in good faith harm our bodies or show disrespect to them. Our bodies are a gift from God, so we should show glory to God through them.

That means using our bodies, as Jesus did his, going off by ourselves to fold our hands and pray to our heavenly Father, using our legs to walk into the house of God, using our eyes to read the Scripture, using our mouths to proclaim the Gospel to others.

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Choir Time

I was recently part of a Christmas choir cantata at my church. We met on Wednesday nights for 6 weeks and performed with a full orchestra on the Sunday before Christmas. While I was singing in the cantata on the actual day of the performance, I got the sense that I was not really being heard and/or seen since I was a bass in the very last row in the back, behind all the other singers and instrumentalists. I sang my part as well as I could but thought no one really noticed or cared.

Then the cover of my church newsletter came out and there I was, front and center, right in the middle for all to see singing my heart out!

choir picture

I am the one in the middle in the back row.

The photo reminds me that so much of what we do can be seen and heard and recognized by others even if we do not think any of that is happening. We need to always keep ourselves aware of how we Continue reading →