Wisdom of a Mother

One of my all time favorite quotes was from Mother Theresa. She was fond of saying, "I can do no great things, only little things with great love." Within that simple quote are three major components for a life well lived.

1.) Humility: The story of the Tower of Babel is a story of humankind attempting to "make a name for themselves." It is the ongoing endeavor of self-exaltation. We love to try to be something big, be something important, and do something that will change the world. We want to be remembered! So, we set out to conquer the world and leave our legacy. But, much of that is motivated by pride and ambition...more so than the good of the world. What this Mother's wisdom speaks to is the reality that we are nothing more than blades of grass that shoot up one day and wither the next. We weren't designed to conquer, save, or fix the world. We were designed to live in the world, surrendered to the design of the One on whom the world rests and has its being. We are called to take up our often small and humble tasks of fulfilling our particular role within the overall framework of God's saving plan for the world. In an orchestra when any of the instruments attempt to compete for recognition, the music ends up sounding funky and off. But when each instrument fulfills its small role...that's when beauty happens.

2.) Responsibility: Though we have suggested our role to be small and humble, we still have a role! This Mother's wisdom reminds us that though what we do might not be great or large, it is still something. In fact, the life of faithfulness is filled with those day to day, sometimes seemingly insignificant, acts of responsible living that make the biggest difference. We have the responsibility to care for the the lonely, sick, and outcast. We have the small responsibility to extend love, mercy, and compassion. We are given the humble task of forgiveness and servanthood. Though our role may never make us a name...it still requires action.

and finally,

3.) Faith: We engage the world through humble responsibility by learning to trust that God can do with that action what we never thought possible. When we live humble lives of loving action, God moves in those small moments and makes big differences. In the end...it is God's name that is exalted and not ours.

That is some pretty powerful Mother's wisdom.

Gentlemen's Club

Kettle One Vodka and Cadillac. Sure, these are odd words to begin a spiritual devotional thought with, but they are relevant. As a young man in my thirties, these two companies have the most powerful advertising campaigns. Both of them show what it means to be a part of the Gentlemen's Club. Young good looking men, obviously financially successful, standing around in suits and sports coats-living the "good life." They carry around the air of significance and arrival. As a young man, their exterior forces an internal question in my life, "Have I arrived."

Isn't it amazing how apt the world is in marketing the exterior and appearance. If you own the right car, drink the right drink, and buy the right clothing, people will like you. You WILL have fun. You WILL be important. People WILL look to you.

We set out...many of us, on a journey for such external significance. If you think you are above it, check your credit card receipts. How often do you live above your means in order to maintain an air of success and arrival? We measure our lives by the outside. The one that looks like they are doing the best...gets the kudos. They are the blessed ones.

I guess that's why I love the verse in the Bible that says, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearence, but the Lord looks at the heart." For most of us, this is an encouraging word. Most of us haven't arrived. Most of us don't have the fancy toys. We live paycheck to paycheck. Any keeping up we do, places us further and further in debt, causing anxiety and stress as we work to figure out how to pay our bills. In the eyes of the world...the Kettle One/Cadillac world is a lofty dream most of us will never reach. But God does not look upon the outward appearance to find worth and significance.

The Lord realizes that most of the stuff we dress ourselves up with, most of the posturing for esteem, and most of the displays of "arrival" are nothing but cover-ups for deeper issues. The Lord's glance looks past the adornments of the world and right to the heart. It is the heart of man that God is most concerned with. It is the very core of human existence. It is the place in which God has hidden God's desires for each of us. It is the outflow of humility, righteousness, mercy, compassion, and love. It is in the heart that God peers for the possibility of fulfilling our divine calling.

Our worth and value is not wrapped up in our outward appearance but in the grand design of God for our lives. God doesn't only invite those that have arrived to take part in God's Kingdom of Grace, but those of us that are unimpressive, those that don't fit the World's vision of value. We are the "unlikely guests" called to take our places in dream of God for this world.

Special for Special Sake

The word "election" carries with it a lot of theological baggage. God has "elected" some to experience God's blessings. God has chosen. For Calvinists this means that God has chosen before the foundations of the earth-some for salvation and others for damnation. For other theological traditions, it simply means that God has looked down from Heaven and plucked those who He has determined to offer the gift of salvation. And still for others, election means that God has chosen all of humanity and it becomes our responsibility to choose if we will accept God's offer. So which one is right? Well...that's not the point of this devotional.

The point is that no theological tradition can escape the word "election." It is deeply rooted in the Scriptures and goes all the way back to Noah, the one God elected to save humanity. Then God "elects" Abraham, through whom all nations on earth shall be blessed. After that...God chooses Israel to be a chosen nation, a peculiar possession, a royal priesthood. God's election of Israel had with it the inherent mission of serving the rest of the world by being faithful to God. They were elected to be special...but their special calling was to serve as a blessing to the rest of the world.

The problem...the human tendency is to forget why we are special. Israel forgot that they had been chosen, elected, made special to serve others. Instead, they had often determined that they were special for special sake. They flaunted their election as though it was only for them and that it made them better than all other nations. They had forgotten the deep responsibility to steward their calling, their election to the glory of God.

This is not an uncommon reality. Too often the Christian church does this very same thing. We get saved, realize God has chosen us, spend a little time in awe...and then we allow our new special status to set us apart, to make us better than others. We flaunt our salvation. We are the saints...they are the sinners. We are the "us" and they are the "them." We are condescending in our conversations with non-believers and arrogant about our faith. We have forgotten that central to our choosing is the responsibility to go out and be a blessing to others. We have forgotten that our election is part of God's bigger plan for all the earth. God has elected us and given us a voice before the throne that we might speak up (intercede)on behalf of the voiceless. We have been chosen to experience abundance that we might pour out that gift in the lives of those with nothing. We are not special for special sake. We have been made special for Christ's sake. We have been elected for the sake of others.

Let us not handle our election as if God had placed it "Into the Wrong Hands."

Looking Out for #1

Read Genesis 4:9

The common question when my children get in the car after a long day at school is, "Did you get your clip moved?" Let me explain...a clip is the identifier of good behavior. If your clip is on green, all is well. If it is on yellow, things are quickly moving in a bad direction. If it is on red, well, you can figure that out. Generally my kids always have green clips. But one time, my youngest got in the car and told us that he had his clip pulled. We were shocked. After telling us the story and the teacher confirming it, it turned out that during class one of the kids had tried to get him to give them an answer to a test. His response (loudly I might add) was, "Leave me alone." What do you do? He didn't do anything "wrong." So my words of instruction to him, "Just ignore them. You are only responsible for yourself."

Ooohhh...see how quickly that mentality slips in. From a very early age we tell our children that they are only responsible for themselves. Be independent. Look out for your own interests. Most of it is innocent, an attempt to keep our children out of trouble. But it becomes so deeply rooted in their lives, that they begin to always think about themselves first.

Few of us have really come to understand the depth of community for which we have been created. We have been replicating the statement of Cain ever since he made it..."Am I my Brother's Keeper." We have grown up looking out for #1, taking care of personal interests, establishing private agendas, and making the decisions that best affect "me."

Prisons fill up with men and women, locked away from society to keep them from getting into our way. Poor people are shuffled off to the slums so they don't mess up the beauty of our suburban neighborhoods and gated communities. The elderly and disabled are left to figure out the government support system..."I mean really, its their responsibility." Instead of celebrating one another's successes, we are riddled with envy and jealousy because it takes us out of the spotlight.

Few of us have really come to understand the depth of community for which we have been created. Few of us have really taken the risky step of deeply entering into someone's life and sharing the space of joy and sorrow, of hope and brokenness. Few of us have really been willing to do as Paul says and, "Consider others better than yourselves" or "Don't always think about your own priorities but the priorities of others." Instead...we have neglected the stewardship of our relationships and echo with Cain, "Am I my brother's keeper?"

God...you might have placed relationships, "Into the wrong hands."

A Sacred Task

Read Genesis 2:15 (For this Saturday's Sermon Into the Wrong Hands)

So get this...we were placed in the Garden, right in the heart of God’s good creation with a task, “work it and care for it.” From the very outset we were tied to the earth, tied to the physical creation that God had spoken into being and had declared it as good. God had placed into our hands the beauty, splendor, and abundance of the earth.

But the problem is...when we sinned, we ruined it. See, we have this weird belief that sin only really affects our relationship with God. However, that’s not true. Sin affects everything, our relationship with God, with others, and with the earth. Part of the punishment found in Genesis 3 is “toiling in a land filled with thorns and thistles.” That new enmity has blurred our vision. Now we no longer care for the earth. We make a commodity of it. We use it only for our pleasure and our profit. We have very little regard for sacred stewardship of the earth...a task—that remember—we have been created for.

Now we can split an atom and make a bomb that threatens all of what God once declared good. Now we can fill up our landfills with man made products that can take centuries to degrade. Now we can make fun of anyone that is environmentally aware and call them “tree huggers.” Now we can continue to treat the earth as an object to be used, exploited and manipulated with little regard for what God might think about such use. Now we can forget God’s intention for our lives...an intention that included “working” and “caring for” what God had created. But that’s because we know better. In fact, Genesis tells us that we took a bite from a tree that gave us a knowledge we should have never had. Ever since then...we have pretty much determined that we know better than God what needs to happen.

Well God...Could it be that you placed your earth “Into the Wrong Hands?”

This Coming Week

On Saturday we began our brand new series called Tossed Aside. It was a great beginning to a ten week series. For the next 9 weeks, we will specifically be dealing with 9 parables of Jesus. It is my hope that each day I will provide a scripture and a thought that will begin preparing us for the next Saturday Night.

This coming Saturday the sermon is entitled "Into the Wrong Hands." The question we are going to deal with is... "God, what were you thinking when you left creation, relationships, and your Kingdom in our hands? Haven't we proven that we are ill-qualified to do with these as you would have us do?"

Just a thought, "Have you ever driven a rent-a-car?" Most of us just aren't as careful with someone else's car as we are our own. Why is it that we steward what God has entrusted us with more like a rent-a-car than something to be valued above all else? What might God have us do with what God places in our hands?

More on that...later this week.