Monthly Archives: January 2014

Surprise Surprise

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Last Sunday, the first of 2014, our pastor established a new tradition. For many years the kids in our congregation have been treated to their own child-appropriate sermon as part of the morning service. Afterwards they’ve headed for their Sunday school program while the rest of us have listened to the adult sermon.

The children’s sermons have been delivered by a variety of volunteers in past years, but our new pastor has decided to take them on himself. So last Sunday he launched a creative new way to deliver each sermon to our small fry. He’s calling it, “Pastor on the Hot Seat.”

Bag of surprisesPastor Jay introduced a canvas bag into which a mystery item had been placed (the first week, by his own daughters). He explained that each Sunday he’ll pull out the item inside and structure a children’s sermon around it on the spot, connecting it to the adult sermon if possible. Afterwards, he’ll hand the bag to one of the other children and ask them to bring it back the following Sunday with another surprise item inside for the next sermon.

I love his idea and the bravery behind it, even though he might occasionally pull something from the bag and go blank. But of course that, too, could develop into an effective sermon:

  • Blank sin-slate after forgiveness?
  • Blanking out on problem-solving and needing God’s advice?
  • Giving God a blank check to tell us how much to donate?

What to say...Regardless of what’s in the bag each week, Pastor Jay will probably come up with something to say, and I’m sure in his early morning Sunday preparations, he’ll ask the Lord to supply it. God will know what’s in the bag ahead of time and will have the children’s sermon all prepared for the pastor by the time he sits on the hot seat (the platform floor) in front of our youngsters.

Amazingly, the rest of us can take advantage of that same remarkable characteristic of God, since we sometimes find ourselves on hot seats of our own. Every day is like a bag with surprises in it. Maybe a dozen of them. And God sees them long before we do. He knows the best way to respond to each one and will order our thoughts to “create the proper storyline” around them. He’ll also supply whatever resources we need. All we have to do is ask him.

I have a hunch our whole congregation will be eager for the children’s sermon each Sunday, not necessarily to watch our “Pastor on the Hot Seat” but to see: (1) what a child has put in the bag, and (2) what God has put in our pastor’s head.

And if Sunday’s first “surprise sermon” was any indication, this new tradition will be satisfying for all ages alike.

“Wisdom shouts…. come and listen to my counsel. I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise.” (Proverbs 1:23)

Getting Into It

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Living in southwest Michigan as we do, we’re often the benefactors of “lake-effect storms.” Weather systems rolling across the country from west to east fly over Lake Michigan, picking up water as they go and then dropping it when they hit land on our side of the lake.

The creekToday is one of those days. We all thought January wouldn’t be snowy, since December had more than its fair share. But after 11” of accumulation in 5 days, we’re in the process of receiving 12 more. This time, though, it’s impossible to measure, since wild winds are swirling it like cake batter in a Kitchen Aid mixer.

I walked Jack to the lake today, hoping for a few dramatic pictures. But powerful winds swept me into a snow drift before I even got there, camera and old lady going down together. Though a foot of snow makes a soft landing, the eye-sting of high speed snowflakes made us turn back.

???????????????????????????????This was a crushing disap- pointment to Jack, who lives for winter weather. He does his happy dance in the middle of  snowy roads and snoofs his whole face into drifts looking for interesting scents. Bounding over snow banks like a young pup, he behaves nothing like the 77 year old guy he really is, and heading home today was his last choice.

But back we went, with me trying to stay upright and him racing around me in circles. Once back inside the house, I had to agree with Jack that the storm was beautiful. But looking at it through a window and walking outside in it were two vastly different experiences. One was just observing; the other was being engulfed by it.

A spiritual parallel might be to intellectually know about God’s love without actually experiencing it. To know the facts is to observe from a distance; to experience it is to be fully surrounded.

I know several people who’ve read the Bible repeatedly and can recite chapter and verse better than I can, but who’ve never embraced Jesus personally. That’s like standing at the window and commenting on how gorgeous the snow is without experiencing it firsthand.

Yes, there’s risk in going outside on a day like today, just like we sometimes view following Christ as a risk. We say, “What if he asks me to do what I can’t? Like reconcile with that person I don’t like? Or love someone who’s completely unlovable? Or give away money I can’t afford? Or take precious time to do things I’d rather not?”

Linda makes a snow angelHe might.

But if we’re willing to “get into it” with him the way Jack gets into snowy weather, we’ll find the risk is worth it…. much like my friend Linda learned that being in the snow is way better than just looking at it through a window.

All done!“The Lord alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.” (Psalm 91:2)

 

Linda's snow angel

The Cafeteria Line

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The cafeteria line.It’s the second day of a new year, and our resolutions may have already gone by the wayside. Most eventually do.

Part of the problem is that we reach too high. It’s like pushing a food tray along a cafeteria line and piling more on our trays than we could ever eat.

The temptation to over-resolve happens frequently in these categories, which are the most popular resolutions people make:

  • to lose weight
  • to stop smoking
  • to get out of debt
  • to exercise more
  • to eat better
  • to save money

It’s interesting that this list of six is really just two:

  • Improving health
  • Improving finances

Apparently these are the areas in which most people need the most change. And we can boil down these two even further, to only one: Giving God control of our lives. If we resolve to do this, he’ll help us with the other two… or six… or ten.

Becky TirabassiI remember reading the dramatic testimony of Becky Tirabassi. She’d been a “bad girl” for years before connecting with Jesus Christ, and after making a resolution to spend one hour each day seeking him, her life turned around. Years later an interviewer said, “How do you stay so trim and fit as you get older?”

 

Her response: “Have you forgotten I spend an hour a day with the Lord?”

In other words, regular time with God was what helped her succeed in the other areas of her life. Scripture corroborates that, telling us if we put him first, everything we need to live successfully will come to us, through him.

The trouble is, we resolve to submit to God but then do it the full-cafeteria-tray way. How big are our desires compared to the size of what we can actually do? We need to remember that progress is made using the same trick that works in keeping any resolution: doing it in bits and pieces.

A first step to letting God have control might be to spend 3 minutes breathing out a prayer as we sit on the edge of the bed each morning. If our first conscious thoughts are directed toward God, we’re off to a good start. By the end of the week we’ve spent 21 minutes in prayer, and by the end of the month, 1½ hours. That small resolve will yield big spiritual gains.

Or maybe submitting to God means reading the Bible in a year, but that might be too much spiritual food on our cafeteria tray. It would be better to tackle smaller amounts, say reading from an open Bible on the bathroom sink while getting ready for the day. It might be just a few minutes, but it would be regular and would amount to a growing appetite for God’s ways.

ResolutionsPollsters tell us fewer and fewer people make resolutions each year; last year 68% made none. And of the 32% who tried, more than half failed.

But why line up with those negative statistics? Spiritual resolutions, no matter how small, can ultimately lead to life-changing results.

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:33)