That's What It's All About

If you've never done the Hokey Pokey, you've been deprived.

I mean, really!  It's classic!  Other than singing "Father Abraham" in Bible Hour (or youth group...), what other song can make perfectly sane people shake their arms, legs, heads, and entire selves while turning in circles?  It's great!

And it simplifies life.  Because it ends with a declaration of certainty: "That's what it's all about!"

Then some comedian with too much time on their hands posts on facebook, "What if the Hokey Pokey really IS what it's all about?"

It's not, of course.  But it begs the question..."What IS it all about?"

Jesus Christ.

I know that.  You probably do, too.  If you don't, I hope you come to know it.

But what does that look like manifested in the everyday life of a human being?  How do we live in a way that shows it's all about Him?

I've come to a conclusion to which He's been leading me for a long time.  I've known it, even lived it, though most of the time not very well.  But this weekend, He emblazoned it on my mind.

Children.

You don't have to look very hard to see that children were clearly at the top of His priority list.

Matthew 25:40,45
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me...whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.'"

Matthew 18:1-6,
"At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?'
He called a little child and had him stand among them.  And He said: 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
'And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me.  But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.'"

Matthew 19:13-15,
"Then little children were brought to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'  When He had placed His hands on them, He went on from there." 

Mark 10:13-16,
"People were bringing little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.  When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.'  And He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them."

James 1:27,
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

As I've looked these up to post on here, I've noticed some things either for the first time or in a new light.

• Not only is what we do for them unto Him, what we don't do for them is unto Him, as well.
• When Jesus "went on from there", it wasn't until after "He had placed His hands on them".
• Jesus wasn't just mildly unhappy that the disciples were keeping the children from Him; He was indignant.  That's some seriously strong feeling.
• The word "religion" basically means our external expression of worship.  We worship by taking care of the children.

So what's it all about?  Is it about showing up every Sunday and Wednesday?  No.  Is it about showing up for every other activity, VBS, community outreach event, Bible study, and service opportunity?  No.  Is it about volunteering in any and every area you can find?  No.  Is it about going on every mission trip and attending every camp?  No.

What's it all about?  The children.

Maybe you think this is an extreme view.  Maybe you think I'm taking this whole caring-for-the-children thing too far.  Maybe you think I'm making light of whatever ministry you're currently involved in.

I'm not.

It's not an extreme view and I'm not taking it too far, because it's what He said.  You just read it in the italicized words up there.  Verse after verse of Him declaring, "The children are important to Me!!!"

And I'm not attacking your ministries, because I'm sure you're involved in some incredible ones.  That's not the point.  The point isn't the ministries that we are doing.  The point is the one we've left undone for far too long.  The children need Him.  And what are we?  We are His body on this earth.  They need Him.  In us.

He knocked me upside the head with that this weekend.  I was sitting on the floor of the shed that's being built in our backyard, but so far it's just a platform.  But I wasn't there alone.

My parents were there.
Three of my four siblings were there.
My three foster siblings were there.
My two exchange-student siblings were there.
Two of my former foster siblings, back for a visit, were there.
And our three weekend guests from the children's shelter were there.

As I sat with all fifteen of them, eating pizza and drinking grape koolaid, I felt the Lord saying it to me.  It was a whisper in my soul, and yet a shout through my entire being:

"This is what it's all about."

I don't do it well.  Most of the time I'm selfish, wanting to keep my time and space and stuff to myself.  But He keeps pushing me.  He keeps giving me moments of clarity like that when I realize it's not about me.  That's a really hard thing to live.  Because as my grandmother once said, "A sacrifice is not a sacrifice unless it's a sacrifice."  It requires the giving up of something treasured.

That's the thing about the Hokey Pokey.

You have to put your whole self in.

That's what it's all about.

Hungry

I ate three Reese's Pieces for breakfast this morning.
Not three of those big Reese's cups.
No, three of those little Reese's-flavored M&M looking things.
Why?
Metabolism.
I knew I wasn't going to be able to have lunch until 2:00. So if I got my metabolism going by eating breakfast at 7:00, I would've been starving by the time I got to eat lunch. Instead, I didn't eat breakfast, which didn't jump-start my metabolism, so I could survive until my late lunch without my stomach howling at me. It worked.

See, the thing about humans is, once we start eating, we're bound to want more before long. Have you ever noticed that the more often you eat, the sooner you get hungry again? It's true. And not just physically.

I've started my days with just three Reese's Pieces worth of Jesus before.
Not even enough to be three of those big Reese's cups.
And what happens?
Spiritual metabolism.
When I don't start out consuming Him, I forget to hunger for Him as my day goes on. I don't jump-start my spiritual metabolism, so I think I can survive longer without Him.

But if I start out consuming Him as the Bread of Life and the Living Water, I'm bound to want more before long. I've noticed that the more often I take Him in, the sooner I'm hungry for Him again.

Wait--how does that work? In John 6:35, Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty." So why do I find myself hungry for Him over and over? I think there are some key words in that verse that answer that question. "He who comes to Me." When we come, we're no longer hungry. But we must come. When we don't, we're hungry, which drives us back to Him for more.

...unless we go so long without consuming Him that our metabolism shuts down and we forget that He is vital to our existence. Then we don't want to come. So we're not filled. And we waste away. We cannot subsist on a Reese's Pieces diet of Jesus.

We must keep coming. When we come, we're filled, which makes us hunger for Him even more. So we come again, and we're filled again, which makes us hunger for Him still more. The more we hunger, the more we come, and the more we're filled.

Stay hungry, my friends. And somehow in the world of our God that is so upside down from our own, by staying hungry, we stay filled.

I Know

~
"I know, I know
that my Redeemer lives
I know, I know
eternal life He gives
I know...I know...
that my Redeemer lives"
~

We sang this song at church on Sunday. I knew we would. It was Easter, after all. You have to sing that song. That or "Up From the Grave He Arose." It's just one of those things you do.

Many of the songs we sing, especially the hymns, are musical renditions of Scripture passages. I often don't realize it until I come across a verse and think, "Hey! I know that song!" Most of the time it's a psalm. Not so with this song. This song, this lively, enthusiastic, resurrection song...is from the book of Job.

Yes. That Job. The Job who was righteous in God's sight. The Job that God gave Satan permission to test and torment. The Job whose children were killed, whose livelihood was stolen, whose very body was torn with sores. The Job whose friends, shall we say, lacked the spiritual gift of encouragement. That Job.

That was a shockingly beautiful revelation to me.

You see, we sing this song on Easter. Easter. The season of life. Everything is alive. It's spring. The trees are alive. The flowers are alive. The baby bunnies and chicks are alive. And, of course, Jesus is alive. We stand in a church amidst treasured friends, singing our hearts out in celebration of the resurrection, and we feel alive, too. In moments like that, it's easy to sing.

~
"I know, I know
that my Redeemer lives
I know, I know
eternal life He gives
I know...I know...
that my Redeemer lives"
~

But when these words were spoken for the first time, life was not the dominant theme. In fact, there was no life to be found. Everything dear to Job was dead. His wife told him to curse God and die. He himself lamented the day of his birth. His friends were spending hours telling him about the demise of the wicked and how God was punishing him and he had only misery and death to look forward to. Job is surrounded by death, yet he speaks confidently about the certainty of life. I want to be like that.

See, the Lord told us that there would be seasons in life. Seasons of birth...and death. Seasons of planting...and uprooting. Seasons of healing...and killing. Seasons of building...and tearing down. Seasons of laughing...and weeping. Seasons of dancing...and mourning. Seasons of gathering...and scattering. Seasons of embracing...and refraining. Seasons of searching...and giving up. Seasons of keeping...and throwing away. Seasons of mending...and tearing. Seasons of speaking...and silence. Seasons of love...and hate. Seasons of peace...and war.

It's easy to speak of life during half of those seasons. The birth, the planting, the healing, the building, the laughing, etc. We sing it, we live it, we shout it from the mountain tops.

"I know that my Redeemer lives!!!"

But what about the other half? The death, the uprooting, the killing, the tearing down, the weeping, etc. That's the true test. Do we believe it even then? Maybe we can't sing it. Maybe it's hard to live it. Maybe we don't have the strength (or the desire) to shout it from a mountain top. Maybe all we can do is whisper it, curled up in a ball of tears in the dark of night.

"I know that my Redeemer lives."

The point isn't how loud or confident the words sound. The point is the One in whom those words declare faith. Those words say, "I see my circumstances. I bear the weight of my surroundings. I'm aware of the hopelessness. I breathe the despair. I feel the desperation. I live in the pain. But that doesn't change what I know.

I. Know. That. My. Redeemer. Lives."

Going 50 in a 65 World

The speed limit on my most-traveled highway is 65 mph.

Except in this one spot.

See, there's a bridge that crosses over the highway and they're doing some construction work on it. So naturally, there are cones and trucks and workers on the highway underneath the bridge. Thus, per construction zone code, the speed limit has been significantly decreased. (Because somebody thought it would be a good idea to not run over workers. Genius.)

So the speed limit drops to 55 mph...

...and then to 50.

Now if you've ever been in a construction zone on a highway, you know how hard it is to slow down to the new speed limit. When you lose 15 mph, all of a sudden it feels like you're crawling, regardless of the fact that you're still a good 10-15 mph faster than the average city street.

I was driving through that construction zone the other day when I realized that since they started the construction work, I hadn't ever actually slowed down to the new speed limit. I felt slightly torn as to what to do. I knew I ought to slow down. It's the law. It's what's right. But no one else was. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE else was still going 65.

Do you know how hard it is to go 50 when everyone else is going 65?!?!

Not only do you feel like you're traveling at a snail's pace, but people swerve around you and glare at you as they pass and make it abundantly clear that they're quite annoyed with your rule-following.

Some people stay behind you at first. They sit back, and who knows what they're thinking. Maybe they're hoping you'll speed up. Maybe they're feeling guilty for not following the speed limit themselves. Whatever the reason, they hang back behind you for a ways. But eventually they get impatient and they too jerk into the next lane and put the pedal to the metal.

Our culture has a "speed limit" at which people are used to traveling. It's a way of life to which we've all become accustomed.

But the Lord's "speed limit" is different. Way more than a 15 mph difference.

Isaiah 55:8-9,
"'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts."

The world says, "Have what you want, and have it now!"

The Lord says, "'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.' The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." (Lamentations 3:24-26)

The world says, "My life is about me!"

The Lord says, "It's not all about you. It's about Christ." (Rough paraphrase of Philippians 2:1-11)

The world says, "Spend your life and your money accumulating stuff to make yourself happy!"

The Lord says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven." (Matthew 6:19-20)

The world says, "Make yourself comfortable!"

The Lord says, "Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me." (Paraphrase, Luke 9:23)

That all sounds great when you're sitting in church on Sunday singing and smiling and shaking hands with people who agree with you. But what happens when the rubber meets the road? What happens when following Christ means doing something different from the world? Worse, what happens when following Christ means doing something different from the church?

Do you know how hard it is to go 50 when everyone else is going 65?!?!

It's hard. Really hard. Especially when you love the people who are going 65.

And it gets harder. Because people fly past you, making sure you know how annoyed they are that you're going 50. Some of them really do think it's dumb. Others are trying to bury their guilt because deep down, they know they ought to be going 50, too.

It's hard to stick to the speed limit under all that pressure. It's hard to follow Christ when it means going against the flow. And the more cars that fly by, the more tempting it becomes to speed up. Don't.

Galatians 6:8-9,
"The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

I think the Message version of that probably says something like, "If you speed, you're gonna crash. If you go the speed limit, you'll get there safely. Keep going the speed limit, even when everyone else is speeding. It'll be worth it when you get there."

So, if you're going 50...awesome job! I admire you! Be uplifted and don't give up!

If you're going 65...slow down! The Lord's speed is so much better! Be convicted and hit the brakes!

If your speedometer bounces between 50 and 65...welcome to the club! The Lord isn't finished with us! Be encouraged and keep slowing down!

Lord, teach me to go 50 in a 65 world...

Do You See?

I heard a lesson once that I liked a lot. I can't remember now who was speaking or I would give him credit for it, but instead I'll just give credit to God, which is where it belongs anyway.

The preacher read a story out of Luke 7 about a Pharisee and a sinner (have you noticed how many stories in the gospels have that theme??). To paraphrase, a Pharisee by the name of Simon invites Jesus to dinner. While He's at the Pharisee's house, a woman comes to Him who "had lived a sinful life" or "was a sinner", depending on your translation. That's all we know about her. She was a sinner. Which, as far as I can tell, translates into nothing more than, "She's just like us!"

So the woman comes to Jesus, washes His feet with her tears, dries them with her hair, kisses them, and pours perfume on them. Simon freaks out. In verse 39, he says to himself, "If this man were a prophet, He would know who is touching Him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner." In the following verse, Jesus answers Him.

(Side note: In verse 39 it says Simon said it "to himself", which if I'm not mistaken, and I certainly could be, basically translates to mean he said it in his mind. So, Simon thought to himself, and Jesus answered. The definition of that word "answered" in the Greek is: "to give an answer to a question proposed, or to answer, but always where something has preceded (either said or done) to which the remarks refer." Jesus is very clearly answering Simon's unspoken comments. I love it when He does things like that. To other people. ;-) )

Okay, so Simon is throwing an internal fit. This woman is totally screwing up his dinner party. Not only that, she's probably humiliating him simply by being present in his home. Jesus answers him and tells him a parable about love and forgiveness. Then He asks Simon a question:

"Do you see this woman?"

....huh?!?! Doesn't that seem like a stupid question? Of course he sees her! Everyone sees her! She's making a scene. She's making Simon mad. Yes, we know he sees the woman.

But Jesus doesn't ask stupid questions, so let's look deeper. I don't think Jesus was asking if Simon's optic nerves were registering the light bouncing off the woman and sending the signals to his brain which created the image of the woman in the process we call seeing. I think Jesus' question was much more. I think He was asking:

"Do you SEE this WOMAN?"

Simon saw her sins. He saw her reputation. He saw the disturbance she was causing him. He saw the inconvenience she was. But he didn't see HER. He didn't see her as a person. He didn't see her like Jesus saw her: as a person He loved enough to die.

This is the point the preacher made in the lesson I heard.

We must be very careful what our next thoughts are. Because it would be easy to sit back and nod at our computers and say, "Oh, that preacher made a good point! In typical Pharisee fashion, Simon is seeing the sin and not the sinner. I'm so glad the Lord has helped me past that judgmental place in my life."

But you see, sinners aren't the only ones we don't see.

Have you ever seen a homeless person? No, read it right. Have you ever SEEN a homeless PERSON?

Or have you just seen the cardboard sign? Have you seen only the holey jacket? Seen nothing but the dirt? Nothing but a pitiable state in which to live?

We see the homeless. They're sprinkled all over our cities on street corners, under bridges, and down at the Salvation Army. But do we see them like Jesus sees them? Do we see them as people He loved enough to die?

What about the children? Do you see the children? Do you SEE the CHILDREN? For example, the children who have been removed from their families because they're not being taken care of and are now in the custody of the state. Do you see them?

Or do you see victims? Headlines? Misbehavior looking for a place to happen? Inconvenience? The risk of sacrifice? Do you just see numbers?

We see the children. They're sprinkled all over our cities in shelters that have three times as many children as they're supposed to and foster homes that are overfilled with children because there's nowhere else to put them. But are they just numbers, or do we see them like Jesus sees them? Do we see them as people He loved enough to die?

~~~~~

I don't expect this post to make a life-altering difference in the thoughts and actions of your life. If I had to guess, I'd say you'll probably post a comment or hit the "like" button and move on. At the most. Or maybe you'll just nod in agreement and move on. Or maybe you'll shut your computer down fuming in disagreement and move on. But could I make a request? Before you move on, take just a moment and say a prayer. Ask Jesus to help you see. Ask Him to help you see them like He sees them, as people He loved enough to die. It would only take 10 seconds or so. If 10 seconds is all you have, then skip the comment or the like or the nod or the fuming shutdown and pray instead.

Because what if we all saw as Jesus did? What if we all loved them? Enough to die? Jesus died to Himself because of what He saw. What do YOU see?

When Did You Fall in Love with Me?

I am a Chris Rice fan. He's got some hilarious lyrics (for example, "smell the color nine"), and his music just has a certain groove that I kinda like. But that's beside the point.

One of his songs is a love song called "When Did You Fall". (If you're wondering about the direction of this post, don't worry. It's still about Jesus. ;-) Seeing as how I have no "significant other" in my life at this point, whenever I hear a love song, I just sort of naturally think of it in terms of Christ, the only Love of my life at present. This particular song is about a guy who is rather slow and has just realized for the first time that his girl is in love with him, and he's asking her when it was that she fell for him.

"When did you fall in love with me?
Was it out of the blue?
'Cause I swear I never knew it.
When did you let your heart run free?
Have you been waiting long?
When did you fall in love with me?"

So I started thinking, "Lord, when did You fall in love with me?"

Later in the song, he starts trying to guess when it happened.

"Was it at the coffee shop?
Or was it that morning at the bus stop,
When you almost slipped and I caught your hand?
Or the time we built the snowman?
The day at the beach, sandy and warm?
Or the night with the scary thunderstorm?"

See, this guy assumes that, whenever it was that she fell in love with him, it was at one of their favorite moments, one of their best memories, one of the good times. And he's probably right.

But when I asked my Jesus when He fell in love with me, His answer was very different.

Romans 5:8,
"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

It wasn't one of our favorite moments. It wasn't during one of those mountain-top experiences. It wasn't at an intimate time of worship. It wasn't one of the good times. It was when I was wretched and vile and covered in sin. Of all times, He fell in love with me THEN. In my worst moment. In my dirtiest condition. In my hopeless, miserable, unlovable state. THAT'S when He fell in love with me.

Why? So that I would know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that He didn't love me because of anything that I had done. My deeds did not earn His love by their goodness, nor can they hinder it by their depravity. He loves me because He chooses to love me. Period.

How do I know? Because when I look back, I realize He's been showing me all along.

In the song, after the guy has realized she loves him, he says,

"Make your way over here, sit down by this fool, and let's rewind.
Come on, let's go back and replay all our scenes.
You can point out the hints, the clues, the twists, and the smiles this time,
All the ones that slipped by me.
...'Cause, baby, I missed it then, but I can surely see you now,
Right here before my eyes, you're my beautiful surprise."

He hadn't realized that she'd been hinting and cluing and smiling, trying to tell him how she felt. And I do the same thing with God.

Romans 1:19-20,
"...since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

From the creation of the world He's been showing me He loves me!! But it's only after I've realized His love that I can sit down with Him and smile at the "beautiful surprise" as He points back to all the ways that He's been demonstrating His love for me before I even knew it.

Which brings me to my response to this magnificent love, for which I have another Bible verse and another Chris Rice song:

1 John 4:19,
"We love because He first loved us."

"I just want to be with You!
I just want this waiting to be over.
I just want to be with You,
And it helps to know the day is getting closer.
Every minute takes an hour,
Every inch feels like a mile,
'Til I won't have to imagine
And I finally get to see You smile."

When did He fall in love with me? Just like any perfect Prince Charming: at exactly the right moment, way before I deserved it. When did I fall in love with Him? Just like any lovestruck damsel in distress: over and over and over...

Leave the Washer Empty

In our house, everyone who is old enough does their own laundry on their assigned day. This makes it pretty easy to keep it organized and get everyone's laundry done at least once a week. However, forgetfulness is one of the generational gifts that has been passed down through my family for countless generations, so laundry often gets left in the washer and dryer overnight and into the the next person's laundry day.

Usually, when someone comes downstairs with their overflowing laundry basket to find the washer still occupied with wet clothes needing to be moved, they obligingly switch their forgetful family member's laundry so they can start their own. The family member will later retrieve their laundry from the dryer and thank the one who moved it for them. This is a fairly typical, almost daily, occurrence.

Today, however, something different happened. It's happened before, but for some reason it made me stop and think.

I started my laundry early this morning, then left the house and was gone most of the day. When I returned in the late afternoon and remembered my laundry, I sighed, figuring it had nearly dried on its own in the washer by that time. However, when I opened the dryer to get it ready for my clothes, there they were--dry and ready to fold (which I still haven't done, but that's beside the point). I smiled, grateful to whoever had switched my laundry in my absence. I opened the washer to see which kind soul had dried my clothes to make room for their own in the washer and to return the favor by drying theirs. The washer was empty. Why is that significant? Because it meant someone did me a favor, not because it benefited them in any way, but simply because it was a blessing to me. They didn't dry my clothes because they needed the washer; they did it so I wouldn't have to.

That got me thinking: how often do we live like that? We bless only when the blessing will be returned to us. We serve only when it makes us feel good. We give only when we see the benefit. Why?

Because it's hard to give when you get nothing back. It's hard to serve when it hurts. It's hard to bless someone who isn't going to bless (or might even curse) you in return. It's hard to sacrifice. But it's what we're called to.

Luke 6:32-36,
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."

So try it this week. And not just with your "enemies". Try it with your family, your friends, your coworkers, the guy on the street, or that one person who really just gets on your nerves. Bless someone. Love someone. Sacrifice for someone. Without expecting anything in return.

Switch the laundry...and leave the washer empty.