Extravagant Giving

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Margaret

I love the word “lavish”. Even the definition is fun to read: open-handed benevolence; giving in great amounts without limit; generosity occurring in profusion; abundance poured out.

The word originally comes from Latin, lavare, which means “to wash, as in a downpour of rain.”

Although “lavish” is used in Scripture only a handful of times, God’s lavishness threads through the Bible in his actions. That’s still true today, and I’ve kept a journal detailing the lavish blessings he’s rained down on our family over the years, an effective antidote for any ingratitude that might creep in.

The road-map to God’s lavish provision often looks something like this:

A need appears.
We attempt to meet it.
Our attempts fail, and the need increases.
We try harder to meet it.
The need escalates to crisis level.
We realize we can’t meet it and turn to God for rescue.
He meets the need lavishly.

A perfect example took place when Nate was battling his cancer and fading fast. Our 7+2+2 children had come from far and wide to be with their father, all except Hans who lived with his family in England. Visa problems and UK re-entry issues made a trip to the States impossible. The story of God’s lavish provision is written up in a blog from that time. (Then God stepped in!)

It seems God relishes opportunities to pour “a profusion of generosity” on his children and is watching us for two things: a willingness to (1) trust him, and a determination to (2) wait for him. We say, “Oh, that’s easy!” when in reality the opposite is true. Both are difficult and take repeated practice.

God knows we struggle to trust and then wait, so he details a variety of examples in his Word, showing how good it can be. One of these (taught in every Sunday School) is the feeding of the 5000. While growing up I viewed this as a nice miracle Jesus did so those he was teaching wouldn’t have to leave the meeting for dinner. Of course there was much more to it.

Just before that big picnic, Scripture tells us Jesus and the disciples had been so busy, they hadn’t even had time to eat. We don’t know how many meals they’d missed, but surely their stomachs were growling when Jesus suggested they separate themselves from the multitude so they could rest (and presumably eat). When the crowds continued to follow, their hope for rejuvenation evaporated.

But fast-forward to the other end of the miraculous feeding that satisfied every appetite, and we see 12 full baskets of extra food, one per disciple. Jesus caused it to work out exactly that way (another miracle) not just to provide for their next meal. He wanted to use the leftovers to make an important point:

“Trust me with your needs, men; then wait expectantly, and I guarantee you’ll see what ‘lavish’ looks like, every time.”

“They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish.” (Mark 6:42-43)

Eye Contact

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Margaret

Those of us who love Jesus Christ look forward to one day living in the place he’s preparing for us. The greatest perk of our hope is not that it’ll be a fabulous, beyond-imagination place, but that we’ll be able to look at and talk to Jesus himself.

Scripture includes several passages where eye-to-eye contact with Jesus changed everything for people. The most famous was when he locked eyes with Peter the night before he was crucified, but there were others. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell the story of another important look-see, this one between Jesus and a woman.

The Bible tells us she was a follower of Jesus, someone who believed he was who he said he was. She knew he had healing powers and since she was sick, she desperately wanted to connect with him. She’d been hemorrhaging for 12 years without a let-up, like a woman whose period just never ends.

This was a terrible state of affairs, because in biblical times she would have been considered unclean. Surely she wasn’t married, since no man would have been allowed to touch her, and my guess is she was anemic and weak from all that blood loss.

She made the bold decision to touch Jesus without him knowing it, and for some reason she was close to the ground. Maybe after losing so much blood, all she could do was crawl. Whatever the reason, the best she could do was finger the bottom of his robe. But that was all it took, and she was healed (though her encounter with him wasn’t over).

Jesus abruptly stopped walking, turned around, and looked for her. Of course he knew where she was, knew her name and health history, and had consciously acted to heal her. But he wanted to pursue the relationship a bit.

As he scanned the crowd, surely she was watching his face, and suddenly their eyes locked. Scripture says she began “trembling with fear,” probably wondering what Jesus might do to her for her sneaky scheme. Would he be angry? Or maybe curse her for such boldness?

She fell flat in front of him as the crowd made room, and the words of her story came tumbling out. Jesus responded with kindness and affirmation of her faith. “Take heart,” he said. In other words, “Cheer up! Don’t be afraid!” And then he let her know he’d healed her purposely as a reward for her faith in him. But that wasn’t all.

Before he left her, he gave this unclean, outcast woman a brand new label, one she badly needed: he called her his daughter.

So on that day she received 5 divine gifts: healing from her disease, words of encourage- ment, an affirmation of her faith, daughter-status, and that wonderful eye-to-eye look.

And now she’s enjoying that loving look, every single day!

“Jesus…. turned around in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched My garments?’ And He looked around to see the woman who had done this.” (Mark 5:30,32)

Perfect Paddling

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Margaret

In the last few years, one of the most popular beachfront pastimes has been kayaking. These little boats can be maneuvered nicely even by amateurs and are designed to hold one, two, or three passengers. They come in a variety of colors, price ranges, weights, and sizes, some even light enough for a child to drag across the sand.

As popular as kayaks have been, though, this year a new beach craze took over: paddle-boarding. (I first called it water-boarding and was quickly corrected.)

Paddle-boards resemble surfboards, though users tell me there are many differences: length, width, weight, rudders, materials. But on a calm-water day at our beach, we might see a dozen or more boards in action, looking every bit like those using them have learned to walk on water.

It’s no surprise that the younger the participants, the easier it is to watch them. As geriatrics climb aboard (like me), it’s not so appealing. “Wobble” is the operative word, and strange, staccato noises become part of the effort. “Oops! Yikes! Oh-oh!”

My son-in-law Adam brought his paddle board from Florida when his family visited this summer, and his command of the sport was impressive. He had a head start, though, having grown up on short and long skateboards, and mountain bikes. Now he’s passing along his skills to his children, who will probably grow into non-wobbly paddlers in short order.

Recently Linnea texted me a video of a paddler-wanna-be. Five year old Skylar was balancing perfectly on Adam’s wheeled long board, making her way down the road in front of their house with a paddle that looked suspiciously like a broom. Surely she was thinking, “Just like Daddy!” as she successfully moved along.

Children often follow the behavior of the adults in their lives, learning to love what they love. This works to their advantage when the object of their affection is positive, such as a love for water sports or any number of other good things. But the same modeling takes place with negative stuff, and if we’re not careful, children will adopt habits we’re actually trying to break. It’s devastating when they copy “our bad.”

Maybe that’s why God gives us unlimited opportunities to model good behavior in front of them. It’s much easier to clean up our lives when we know we might be copied, and God knew that. But he also wants adults to have models to copy, too.

His idea was to provide a perfect one for us, someone we could imitate without any negative consequences. So that’s what he did, and his name is Jesus.

* * * *

As for my learning to paddle-board by modeling my efforts after Adam’s example, it didn’t happen. I think for me it will be better to “master” the sport vicariously….