Monthly Archives: December 2011

To an Extreme

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Our society is fixated on extremes. Extreme sports, extreme home makeovers, extreme couponing. We Americans tend to believe more is always better, which translates to bigger restaurant portions, larger home sizes, and giant box stores.

Our family had a little bigger-is-better experience the other day, too. We decided to make a fire from the large pile of logs Nelson split last summer, a big fire. Before we knew it, flames were reaching all the way up the chimney and licking out the front of the fireplace. We left ambiance behind as we watched the thermostat move through the 70’s and head for the 90’s. Not long after that we opened the windows, welcoming 33 degree air inside the house.

Now that’s extreme.

When Jesus walked the earth, he was a collection of extremes. His message, especially, was radical, but he never once wavered from it. His sinless life was also extreme, something no one before or since has been able to duplicate. And what he offers mankind is extreme, too, a life sheltered by his perfection, not just for a day or a week but eternally.

His enemies, too, were extreme in their efforts to get rid of him. They stalked him, criticized him, ostracized him, beat him and eventually murdered him. But even with their excessive efforts, they ultimately failed. Today Jesus is alive and managing the universe with very little effort from a place of extreme honor.

What does Jesus think of our human tendency to take everything to extremes? Many of us commit with gusto to new God-related projects such as regular Bible reading, prayer times, tithing programs or service projects, but just like New Year’s resolutions, they’re usually short-lived. Some of us even get an urge to live exactly like Jesus, making passionate vows as proof of our sincerity. But even then, our extremes peter out with time.

This probably tells us something about ourselves, and something about God.

As for ourselves, we should probably attempt to walk a line somewhere between extremes. For example, reading Scripture daily is a worthy goal, but if we miss a day, it shouldn’t be cause for despair or quitting altogether.

As for God, he can shoot for any extreme he wants to… and pull it off perfectly, every time.

“Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise—why destroy yourself? Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool— why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.” (Ecclesiastes 7:16-18)

 

Rubbing the Right Way

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It doesn’t take much to entertain two preschoolers. Spending money is definitely not necessary, nor is traveling long distances to get there. Little ones are thoroughly happy with a quick trip to the local discount store, especially if it includes a few minutes in the toy aisle.

This week a group of us geared up for a shopping excursion, dividing up into 3 groups when we got to the store. Three carts allowed us to fan out and buy gifts for each other while still keeping Christmas secrets. After a while, Louisa, Skylar, Micah and I ended up in the toy aisle, “just to look,” but of course we also played.

Inspecting an array of balls, trucks, dolls and gizmos, we laughed and had more fun than if we’d been at Disneyland. The unending eagerness of two young children rubbed off on us adults, and Louisa and I started to act like kids, too.

Enthusiasm for almost anything can jump from one person to another in all kinds of circumstances. For example, if I watch a cooking show, by the end of it I want to head for the kitchen to make something. If I spend time with a physical fitness buff, I want to start an exercise program.

The same is true when I spend time with God. In reading a biography of D. L. Moody, I learned he had trouble loving others, even though he tried his best. Although he was a Christian, he said he didn’t have much compassion for the lost. So he made a decision to look up the word “love” in his Bible concordance and read every reference where it appeared. By the time he was finished, his heart was bursting with love for others, and he couldn’t reach out to them fast enough, eventually becoming a globally known evangelist.

Interestingly, he acknowledged it was God’s love not his own that enabled him to love others, especially strangers. It had rubbed off on him the same way Skylar and Micah’s playfulness had rubbed off on Louisa and me. Without their jumping-up-and-down-excitement in the toy aisle, we’d have  just been two calm adults walking through the store. Because of them, we were playing.

Moody found that the truth in God’s Word rubbed off on him to the point of empowering him to love others. In the same way, the Lord offers to rub off on all of us when we spend time alongside him. After we do, we’ll be able to accomplish all kinds of God-empowered things.

By the way, yesterday Lars asked me what I’d like for Christmas. I think I’ll ask for the Barbie Hairtastic Salon.

“God is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:27, 28)

Don’t forget.

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Yesterday Louisa and Birgitta were in reminiscing mode, harkening back to childhood and a certain Disney video they both remembered well. Since it had to do with Christmas, they decided to hunt for it in the basement, hoping to watch it.

They found it among the old VHS tapes: “A Walt Disney Christmas,” 6 classic cartoons from the 1930’s and 1940’s. I watched the girls as they watched the tape, enjoying their expressions and comments:

“Oh, I remember that skating couple when the ice cracked! Remember the poor children at the orphanage? And the stocking with the hole in it?”

As their favorite scenes appeared, they tried to recall how old they were when they’d memorized the details: the color of the ice, the lace on the pantaloons, the glow of a Christmas tree. All of it occurred for them more than half a lifetime ago.

Looking back at happy times is fun. It can also be instructive, and God wants us to make a practice of it. In the Old Testament he says, “Remember what the Lord did to Pharaoh and to Egypt. Remember how the Lord led you in the wilderness. Remember that the Lord redeemed you. Remember the days of old. Remember all the wonders he has done. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome. Remember the Lord’s great mercy and love.”

On and on his training-in-remembering goes as he coaxes us to look back. If he did great things for us “then,” he can do the great things “now.” His desire is for us to focus on his past capabilities rather than our circumstantial difficulties. When things aren’t going well, we tend to quickly slip into despair rather than count on him to come through, and reminding us of past victories is his way of lifting our sagging spirits.

Even better than our look back, though, is his: he never needs remembrance-prompting because he never forgets. When he makes a promise, he follows through. What he says he’ll do, he always does, without exception. God has never been into making excuses. Scripture says he “remembers his covenant, remembers us and blesses us, remembers us in our low estate” and many more. On and on his mindfulness goes, mindfulness of us.

If we were as mindful of him, our lives would be far less stressful and less cluttered with worry. Trusting God would be easier, and our faith in him would grow by leaps and bounds.

“Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.” (Isaiah 46:9)