The King and His Servants: a Parable

Once there was a great king.  He was powerful. The kingdom’s greatest nobles bowed their face to the ground in his presence.  The greatest rulers of his empire gratefully threw their crowns down in front of him.

The King was kind.  He gave generously of his wisdom and advice to all who asked, even the lowest servant.  He forgave even his most entrenched enemies when they begged mercy offering them places of honor in His kingdom. 

The King was a gentle master.  Many, who before had suffered under the cruel hand of another, found life in his service to be a true pleasure.  They would say to one another, “His yoke is easy and His burden is light!”

Baptism: An Appeal for Mercy

Baptism is one of many Bible topics that suffers from a particular kind of blindness. 

It happens most frequently to important topics.  Once long ago a teacher, an honest and dedicated person, summarized that important topic in one specific way.  He taught that to his followers.  It became a rallying cry, then a way of differentiating themselves from everyone else.  Was the teacher wrong? Not necessarily.  Perhaps not at all.  Yet these pithy ways of explaining complex topics are like a door-one that either opens up clarity into the text or one that closes the door to searching out the Word.     

I want open doors into the Word. I think you do too.  So the only thing is to lay aside what I think I know and go straight to the Bible and ask God some direct questions.  You may be as surprised by the answers as I was. 

Calling All Introverts: The Church Needs You!

Recently in an adult Sunday school class, we were discussing how people sometimes drift away from the church, and two different people pointed out that introverts often feel unneeded in their congregations, like they don’t have anything to offer.  It brought to mind this passage from Paul to the Romans: 

The Magic Teenager Pill

As the mom of a teenager I've earned some unexpected privileges.  Starting with the privilege of changing the radio station.  A lot.

See at our house we have something called, "The Moral Objection".  When the radio is on in the car, any family member who objects to the song on the radio due to its moral content (not its tune, style, etc) is allowed to call moral objection and the station will be immediately changed.  

My teenager is the reason for this family policy.  When we got back to the States and her listening repertoire grew larger than the music that her family members or adult Christians friends listened to (IE old rock, Sinatra, old country, classical), she quickly became uncomfortable.  One day in the car she quietly said, "Mom can I change the station?"  At my raised eyebrows she elaborated.  "I don't like the words to this song."  

The Dress

When you were a little girl, did you envision your wedding day? I know you thought of husbands, flowers, streamers and cakes. Yet nothing touches the dress for making a bride feel her most beautiful. Brides go all out for those dresses.  They try a hundred on looking for the perfect one.  They beg their dads to write checks for them.  They pick the perfect material, the perfect cut, in short the perfect dress.   Take a moment and remember (or if you're single imagine) your wedding dress.

Thanksgiving Reimagined

Take a moment and imagine what your Thanksgiving table might look like 3 weeks from now, if you took Jesus's words literally. 

Be What You Have Become

This summer, I had gotten out of the habit of listening to faith based talk radio, and had switched the dial to the more political stations.  It didn't take long for me to notice my outlook on life taking a downward spiral,  so I decided to go back to listening to more uplifting things.  Wouldn't you know it, the first day I did so I ended up hearing a repeat sermon! Thankfully, it was one that really made an impression on me, and the second time was just as encouraging as the first!

Heart of Stone

All the people of God were gathered in front of Joshua at Shechem.  He called all the elders and leaders of the people before God, and it was time to have a serious talk.  Joshua was ready to discuss the issue of covenant with them again.

Rewards

After two years, my favorite post on this blog is still one of the first.  When I thought about how different the fairy story of Cinderella is from the most romantic story in the Bible (Ruth), I learned so much about the kind of woman God wants me to be.  He wants workers.  When Ruth worked hard in the hot fields, gleaning grain so that she and her mother in law could eat, Boaz gave her this blessing:

May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.(Ruth 2:12)

Shining Your Light on Social Media

The modern world comes with modern challenges.  We talked recently about the issue of bullying, a modern "sin" hiding some very real Biblical sins.  It's hard for us to translate sometimes the simple principles that Jesus gave us into the gigabytes we live with.  Take social media for an example.

Blinded by Culture

Sometimes when we live in a new place, experience a new stage of life (like marriage or becoming a mother) or meet a new challenge, we gain insight into a Biblical truth.  My years of living abroad were rife with these.  Walking through the outdoor market, I could imagine Jesus's temple - smelly, bleating and filled with sly dealings.  Meeting in homes in secret, I could imagine the joy and terror of being a first century Christian.  More than these imaginings, I also learned a lot about eastern culture and its connection to the world of the Old Testament and the New. 

The Shoulds

I am a girl of discipline.  I don't mean I am a disciplined person; in fact if there is a category of sins I have struggled with more than any other, it is those related to self-control.  I mean that I count on my daily disciplines to help me stay on track.  I need those external railings to keep me on the road of self-control.  I read my Bible, do devotionals with my girls, pray, worship etc in a rhythm of days and weeks that sustains and steadies me.  Not because I am strong but because I am weak.  I do them for the joy and when the joy fails me I do them because I should. 

Having Enough Oil

Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, "Behold, the bridegroom ! Come out to meet him." Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out." But the prudent answered, "No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves." And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came, saying, "Lord, lord, open up for us." But he answered, "Truly I say to you, I do not know you." Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13)

There are two schools of thought on this parable.  One is that the five wise virgins are those who are believers, and the five foolish are not.  The other is that the five foolish virgins are believers, but are disqualified from the kingdom of heaven because they were unprepared.  I am willing to admit that I may be wrong, but I lean toward the latter interpretation, and I'll tell you why.

Vacations, Retirement and Self-Employment

Who doesn't love vacation time?  Although some do get bored if the break is too long, I certainly haven't met many who don't enjoy the occasional time off.  I sure have been enjoying my time away from work this summer.  How about retirement?  I know my mom loves hers. She likes having her time to do as she pleases or nothing if she so desires. Also, my husband along with many others dream of being their own boss.  

The Quick and the Bored

My youngest daughter is a sneaky little thing.  At two, she is smart enough and small enough to slide under the gate on our deck and escape the safety of our fenced-in back yard.  I try not to be a helicopter mama, so I let her go out alone, but I have to check every few minutes and make sure she hasn't pulled a Houdini.  

A Wasted Day

Have you ever had to spend a whole day taking care of the mundane matters of this world and then felt guilty about it?  I have.  Paydays are especially bad.  I have to drive 20 minutes to the bank to get our cash, then go to one or two or three stores to help stock the house back up with milk, toilet paper, yogurt, and coffee.  With two or three young children in tow, these errands take hours.  When I go to bed at night, sometimes I feel like I've wasted a whole day.  I apologize to God for not being more holy, and try to do better the next day.  

I've recently read a book that reminded me that a day is only wasted if I'm not following hard after my Savior, and that I can pursue him in every activity of my life.  I downloaded A.W. Tozer's The Pursuit of God because it was free, but I'm glad I read it.  It's a dense book, and I didn't agree with everything he says, but the final chapter, "The Sacrament of Living" really spoke to me.

Tozer speaks of the tendency that Christians have to divide our lives into two areas, the sacred and the secular.  We feel satisfied with ourselves when we are doing our spiritual disciplines like praying, attending church, and reading our bible.  When the ordinary activities of life like grocery shopping, working, and household chores intrude, we feel uneasy, as if we should apologize to God for not doing sacred activities 24 hours a day.  Tozer says this is a cause of Christians missing out on the peace God has promised to us. 

He also notes that the "sacred-secular antithesis" has no basis in Scripture, and he uses Jesus as a model.  Christ, he says, was completely pleasing to God in everything that he did, and yet he lived as a human. The gospels take no pains to hide Jesus's humanity.  He got hungry and tired, and he was never uneasy when doing human activities like eating or sleeping.  He even worked as a builder before he began his public ministry.  

If Jesus was able to live as a human with such grace and confidence, how can we do the same?  Tozer gives us the answer.  We must "lift every act up into a living kingdom and turn the whole life into a sacrament."  Say what?  Thankfully, our author gives us a more specific answer: We have to practice living to the glory of God with every act we do.  He says we must offer all our acts to God and truly believe that he accepts them. We must meditate on this idea as we go throughout the day, and pray about it often. The "sacraments" like communion and baptism, are not the only ways to please God.  As we go through our day to day activities, we can send up short prayers to Him, dedicating the work to God and reminding ourselves that we are doing all to his glory (1 Corinthians 10:31).   

The way I see it, this will have three results.  The first is that it will help to steer me clear of sinful activities that cannot be pleasing to God.  If I'm thinking about following him all day, praying and dedicating all my endeavors to him, then I will be less likely to begin gossiping or reading impure books or yelling at my children.  

Second, if I am sending up these "thought-prayers," as he calls them, all day long, then I actually am involving myself in the spiritual discipline of prayer!  I can pray whilst in the middle of doing housework.  Even if I am helping my daughter with her homework, we can send a short prayer up to the Father, dedicating the work to him.  It isn't so much what I am doing, but how I am doing it that makes the difference.  "It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it.  The motive is everything.  Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act."  Sanctifying God in my heart with every action can only bring me closer to Him. 

Finally, I can let go of the burden of guilt.  If Jesus had to sleep, then I don't have to feel guilty about going to bed early when I'm tired.  Jesus had a job, I don't have to feel shame at spending hours of my day doing my job as long as I dedicate it to him.  

The only way I can have this unified kind of life, though, is if I desire to follow God with my whole heart and actively pursue him.  If I go through my entire day of errands without once thinking about God, then perhaps my day really is wasted.  However, if I pray before I head out the door, or as I'm driving to the bank, thanking God for his provision, and letting him know that I am dedicating my day to Him, then even a simple Wal-Mart run can be a spiritual activity.  

If I start to doubt, I need only remind myself that the disciples went into town to buy food (John 4:8), Paul was a tentmaker (Acts 18:3), and Jesus used ordinary activities to teach some of his most powerful parables (Luke 15:1-10).

Is today a day filled with ordinary activities for you?  Transform them.  Before you wash another dish, say a prayer dedicating your work to the Lord.  Going to work?  Remind yourself that you are working for someone far greater than an earthly employee. Do all your ordinary jobs to God's glory, and see if you don't feel less fractured.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), Copyright(c) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Hungry Bellies and Hungry Souls

When I am teaching I like to draw on the board.  So as I tried to work through this mental morass of questions  I drew some circles on the blackboard in my mind.  In the smallest circle was my family.  Inside that limited circle I am obliged to see to the physical and spiritual needs of the members. No questions here.

A larger circle encompasses my brothers and sisters.  Inside this circle the first Christians set the example of selling pieces of land and giving the money to the church leaders to alleviate the needs of the poor (Acts 2:41-47, Acts 4:32-37). In another early church example money was collected by the outer ring of mixed race churches to support the impoverished church in Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 16:1-4). Here I start to feel unsettled.  The examples from Acts are far more radical than I see played out in most congregations.  Usually when you start hearing sermons on sacrificial giving there's a new building in the works not a brother in want. 

Following Jesus: the Conclusion of the Matter

This week I was reading Mark and thinking about the many ways that we follow Jesus, the paths down which he leads us and the surprising twists and turns that path might take. Tripping along past his baptism  and temptation, I tumbled over this rather innocuous sentence: "As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him." (Mark 2:14).

Trees, Shrubs & Cacti

Wednesdays are a time when we are often reviewing some book we recently read.  Well the most recent book in my hot little hands was Trees, Shrubs & Cacti of South Texas by Everett, Drawe, and Lonard. Do you want to hear what I learned from it?

Jump the Roadblocks

I have seen a phenomenon many times in congregations I have attended that I just don't understand.  Maybe it is a product of Americans' "rugged individualism," but we just don't want to be served.  Some of the most selfless people I know, who would give you the shirt off their backs, won't take so much as a meal from their sisters in Christ when they are sick.  Most of the time, these sisters take "no" for an answer, then have a "bless her heart" attitude.  "Bless her heart, she'll gives so much to others and won't accept anything for herself."