No Ordinary King

I caught up with a clergy friend who serves a United Methodist church which has a food pantry. The pastor said that right before she was to send around a list of items needed to restock their shelves (peanut butter, can goods, etc) a church member asked if she could included the list in her daughters' birthday invitation.
Would you believe that for this girl's party, she requested not to have any gifts?
The birthday girl instead wanted kids to replenish her churches churches food pantry.
It gives me a deep sense of awe when a child exhibits such a heart of giving.. I give thanks to God for children who can teach us simple truths.

A few weeks later, the mom and little girl showed up at the churches food pantry with 50 bags of groceries! 50 bags! A decision by one girl to use the opportunity of her own birthday party .. not as a chance to be lavished with gifts.. but instead to lavish the poor. She turned the notion of "birthday parties" upside down - seeing it not as a time to be blessed, but to be a blessing.

Today is Christ the King Sunday - A day when the notion of kingship is turned upside down. Our King Jesus (Matthew 25:31-46) tells us that to love him, we must love "the least."

In church today, some incredible musicians sang "How Many Kings" which really helped all of us understand how Christ is in the midst of the poor, the suffering, the sick, the imprisoned. For those of you who like to read the story behind the song and listen to online - visit the artist's blog at link.http://jeremythiessen.typepad.com/weblog/2007/12/new-christmas-s.html

Elijah's Rain Clouds

The Upper Room devotional from yesterday was based on 1 Kings, when Elijah expects God to bring the rain and he is so confident even as things look grim. The writer suggested that sometimes we need to rejoice in the small acts of God, just as Elijah noticed the small puff of a cloud on the horizon.

The odds are stacked against Olivet Church - our location is less than ideal, there are lots of appealling, effective churches people can choose from in Lusby and just look at the financial market.. the future is grim for everyone, it seems... How can we have hope now?

And yet, I have never felt so sure and anchored in hope than I do right now, as your Pastor. Jesus promised to abide with us as we abide in Him, and to keep us nourished with his Living Presence, the Holy Spirit. We have all things in Christ, after all.

I can relate to Elijah - standing in dry times and getting excited about the signs of percipitation.

I wonder if Elijah jumped up and down when he saw that cloud?

When I see signs of God, I certainly do.

Before typing this blog, I got a voice mail from Doug Hood regarding some new equipment for our worship together that had me jumping up and down like a kid at a birthday party when they finally cut the cake. I could hardly hit re-dial. Then, on Monday, I was jumping up and down when Alma Rita told me there were over 100 persons counted on Sunday for worship! Last night, I was too tired to actually jump up and down, but I wanted to when Julie Blair and I found the most perfect graphic for the youth music video.

For Olivet, we just need to keep declaring that Jesus is the one for whom we live, and He will keep caring for us, providing for us. He is responsible for all these "small things," stuff that a skeptic would say were nothing..For me, these are Elijah's rain clouds.

Practically Free Gasoline

After church on Sunday, I went up the road to the gas station in Lusby to fill up my tank. I stood there listening to the sound of the gasoline pour into my hollow, cavernous tank and gave thanks that gas prices are going down.

When I looked up at the pump, I noticed that the price hadn't moved. Was I in a time warp? I had been standing there for the usual amount of time it takes to fill my tank.. and yet, the pump was telling me I only had put in three dollars worth of gasoline. I was totally confused.

The digital numbers "per gallon" were flashing along quickly - but the dollar amount was moving at snail's pace.

The hose clicked and my tank was full. And the price was just around $3.45.

In that moment, I realized I had only been charged 22 cents per gallon. Part of me truly wanted to drive off with my amazingly cheap gas.. and maybe even bring another vehicle in for a fill up! But I couldn't do that. I would have to go into the cashier and tell them.

Author and pastor, Bill Hybels describes character and integrity as who you are when no one is looking. When no one is looking, the temptation is the strongest to cheat, steal, or dabble with sin.

I told the gas station manager and she couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe the mistake had been made.. or that anyone would come in and tell. (So although I didn't commit the sin of stealing, I now have to deal with the sin of pride for being honest. ) It's always something.

Emergency Room Visit

Every parent, I suppose, will have the unfortunate occasion of taking that first trip to the emergency room with a child. Ours finally came on Sunday night when JuliAnna rocked backwards on her chair and split open the back of her head. Thanks be to God it was not a life-threatening accident. After a shot of Novocain and a dozen staples, she was back home, safe and sound.
My husband is quite familiar with the process of cleaning out and preparing a wound for stitches. The shot of Novocain, he explained to me, is the problem. It hurt the most. He wanted to prepare her for what would come next.
‘The doctor is going to clean out the boo-boo. It will hurt a lot. But he has to do this to fix it.” he summarized.
“Fix it?”
“Yeah, you have a big boo-boo back there and they gotta fix it with the medicine. It will hurt really bad.. but you can squeeze my hand. Ok?” She nods. I wonder if she understands what we are saying.
I decide to chime in. I explain that when he fixes it, it will hurt but it is important to be very, very still. As I explain this, I can see the fear growing in her eyes so I offer some comedy relief
“When it hurts, you can cry “wahhh” or you can go ‘grrrrr’ whatever sound you wanna make.. but you got to be real still. Do you want to lay down with me while they do this or sit on Daddy?” I asked.
She decided that she would lay down on top of Mommy, with her head facing Daddy and squeezing his hand. The doctor said this would work, but warned me that I would get Novocain on my shirt. I said, “that’s okay with me.” After all the t-shirt was the least of my worries. I wondered if any parent, being told this, jumped up from the bed with objection saying “In that case, kid, you’re on your own, nobody’s staining this brand new shirt.”
As the preparations were being made, time seemed to slow down. I saw her grow more and more afraid. Her face flushed and her eyes were fearful.
She said, “I’m just sad ‘cause I wanna go home.”
We assured her we would go home, but that they had to fix the boo-boo.
“But why it gotta hurt?” she asked. Good question.
Doug explained that to fix it, it would have to hurt but then it would feel better.
“The doctor has to fix it by putting medicine on it,” he explained again.
“Put it on mommy,” she cried softly.
“Mommy doesn’t have the boo-boo, honey,” he replied.
Oh, how I wished I could not only wear a stained shirt for her, but also take on the painful medicine. But all of us in the room knew there was only one path through this situation.
In our lives, sometimes the only way through a situation is the most difficult route. Worse, it’s a route that no one can walk for you.
However, JuliAnna articulated the heavenly solution. What if someone else could walk it for us? What if we could benefit from the “fix” without having to endure the suffering in the process?
God demonstrates his love for us in that he took on our stains and our pains…he even died our death so that we can ‘be fixed’ – have eternal life! Jesus takes our painful medicine, but passes along to us the benefits. May we see anew, each day, the grace of the one who loves us and abides with us always.