The Greatest Gift is Love

A few years ago, I was grieving over the loss of a child that God had placed in our lives for a short time. In my grief, I found myself sitting in the garden at the Cenacle Retreat house. God gently comforted me with the sound of the birds singing and the wind blowing through the trees and then He spoke to my soul. There is a plaque in that garden that says, “The greatest gift is love.” As I numbly stared at the plaque, my heart listened, “Jana, you have given the greatest gift. That is all I have asked of you. It is my turn now.” You see, the child I am speaking of didn’t die. She simply had lived with us for 8 months and it was time for her to return to the refugee camps in the Sahara Desert where she lives.

Prior to her coming, I had been naively excited by the fact that I was going to get to convert someone. The Spirit prompted beautiful conversations with time and her understanding of the English language. She asked what she had to do in this life to be smart. She wondered how I listened to God. She learned who Jesus was. She left us though and I don’t know if she accepted Him. I may never know. And yet, I do know that she felt loved. When I was picking lice from her hair, she felt accepted. When she had surgeries and needed to be nursed, she felt cared for. When we had her hair straightened because it was important to her, she felt beautiful. When we told her she was our daughter, she felt loved.

The beautiful thing is that God keeps His promises. I know from other people who have seen our refugee daughter in the camps that He is continuing to move her heart towards Him. And, I learned from the experience that nothing I do in this life will ever be as important as loving someone. I only have to look at the example of Christ to know this but, I am a slow learner. Recently, God has graciously reminded me that as I do church on Sunday and as I am the church throughout the week, I am to give the greatest gift – Love.

Keep It Simple Stupid

When Bill Clinton was running for President, his campaign crew used a popular catch phrase when strategizing, “Keep It Simple, Stupid” or KISS for short. The phrase implied that their campaign should stay basic in message to reach the most number of people. You start complicating the vision or muddying your speeches with too many messages and you’re going to lose voters.

As I was reading over the two-year-old bible study lesson for next week it was the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. It is written in the most simple message and it was like water to my dry bones. I was swept away by the simple thought that “Jesus can do anything” (the Treehouse theme for February). How simply comforting, refreshing and empowering to know Jesus can do anything!

I see myself in that story. Jesus and the disciples are actually trying to get away in a boat and have some solitary time but people catch sight of them and chase after them like groupies around a rock star. It says in Mark 6:34, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching…”

It was getting late in the day, the disciples mind was on food and what was this large crowd going to do when there were no concessions? They suggested dispersing the multitude but Jesus had another one of his crazy ideas. He suggested the disciples feed the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. Jesus really had to be out of his mind with this one, right? He had the crowds divide up into smaller groups (hmmm… the first small groups?). Looking to heaven, Jesus gave thanks and broke the loaves. Verse 42 says, “they were all satisfied”.

I’ve heard this story my whole life. I’ve related to the disciples and the crowd but never have I related to the loaves and fish! That’s what I am in this story. I’m the measly loaf of bread offering myself to the multitudes of Memorial and surrounding area. Pour me out, Jesus. Break me. Use me to satisfy the appetites of people hungry for You. Draw the crowds to yourself like you did that day at the lake. Don’t send them away but have them sit in community and partake of your goodness and compassion.

The crowds couldn’t help but chase after Jesus. They saw what they had been searching for. They left their shopping, working, arguing, worrying, everything for the one thing they knew would satisfy. I think Jesus is thankful for our willingness to be broken for his sake, just like he gave thanks that day by the lake. That we get to be part of the nourishing process is unbelievable. Only Jesus could take a loaf and satisfy the masses. Simply stated, if he can use me, Jesus really can do anything!

Enough Grace on Groundhog Day

Happy Groundhog Day! I know most of you are leaving work early to celebrate. Don't you wish God would provide us a groundhog? We need something from him that allows us to see what lies in the future. We want to know what will happen next. It's just too scary to trust him for tomorrow. Funny thing is, regardless of how much we can reflect on the past and see his providence, we still can't seem to leave tomorrow in his hands.

John Piper refers to something called "Future Grace." It's the concept that we can see his unmerited favor to us in the past and trust that this unmerited favor will persist in the future. Faith in this "future grace" is what we all need when we are scared, lonely, depressed, or disappointed. Not unlike the Israelites making their journey from Egypt, we must not forget his past provision. This is the basis of our belief in his future grace.

Here's where future grace meets us this week at The FOM. There are lots of things we cannot control. We can't control the sound board crashing, we can't control who comes, we can't control video bulbs going out, etc. Mostly we can't control God's Spirit. His meeting us there this week is the basis for everything we want to see happen in the lives of people who come to FOM environments - transformed lives. But as we look back on the last two years, we can depend on his future grace. There is no question that he has opened doors and led every step of this journey. Not because we were unwavering in our obedience, but because his grace is enough to cover our lack of faith and lead us in the paths of righteousness.

This week will will open elevation with a song that is timely. "Great is your faithfulness oh God. You use the weak to lead the strong. You lead us in the paths of your salvation.... Your grace is enough for me." Let's celebrate his faithfulness this weekend. Let's celebrate his past and future grace. Let's release the spirit of performance and make this Sunday an offering to him - this is our spiritual act of worship.