Hospitality

Yesterday I had the privilege of teaching in a Bible study class at church filled with people who are "more experienced" than myself. (It's the class my parents visit when they're in town.) The teachers graciously invited me to teach one of the lessons I'd written for BaptistWay published in this summer's curriculum. It was a lively discussion and very enjoyable for me. (I hope a majority of them felt the same!) The lesson was about Hospitality as a biblical mandate; and I'm happy to report the class showed me a great deal of it!

As I began the lesson, I showed Jerry two miniature pound cakes. One looked light and delicious; the other dark and unappetizing; both sprinkled with powdered sugar. I then asked him which one he'd like. Naturally, he pointed to the first. But my point was this: as the giver, I could choose to give him whichever I wanted, regardless of his preference. Hospitality, in the biblical sense, chooses to give the best, the preferred, to the other person, meeting his/her needs. We mentioned various examples of hospitality throughout Scripture: God's provision of everything they needed for Adam and Eve; God's offer to the Israelites of a land which flowed with milk and honey; God's law that provided for Ruth to glean in Boaz's field; Jesus' teachings and example of humble service; even God's provision for our eternity in heaven - everything we'll ever need in grand style! As I consider it now, the Gospel story itself and the act of sharing it with others are probably the two greatest hospitable demonstrations of all!

Writing that lesson, and now teaching it, have further challenged my perceptions of my own practices of hospitality. I've been "weighed in the balance and found wanting," to quote Daniel. I too often find excuses of finances, time or well-being to exert the energy and effort it takes to show hospitality - and I don't just mean throwing a party. Hospitality, first and foremost, is a state of mind - an attitude of welcome that communicates to those around you that they are valuable and desired. That's what God demonstrates through Jesus' sacrifice-his desire for us. It then manifests itself through action - striving to meet the greatest need of the person in your path: emotionally, physically or spiritually. When we express the message of saving hope to others, we express our desire for them to be with us for eternity! While I have moments of "success," in this area of hospitality, I still have so far to go.

The discussion branched off a couple of times into an examination of political law and practice, particularly regarding immigration issues, which, to be honest, I was totally unprepared for. In fact, in my naivete and general avoidance of politics, I didn't even see it coming. What I wish I'd said (you know, in those brilliant conversations you have on the way home in the car), to divert that road mine, was while political immigration issues are certainly of importance, our focus for the day was to be an examination of self - how I am practicing hospitality in daily life. Oh, well. Maybe someone, somewhere in the room grasped that concept!

The funniest moment of all came after the majority left the room. One sweet lady walked up to where I was standing with the mini-pound cakes and marveled at why Jerry had picked the one he did. After all, she'd "pick chocolate every time!" I laughed, and holding it up for her see, said, "It's not chocolate. It's burned." I think there may be a future devotional [or illustration] in that somewhere.

Convicted.

67 in a 55. That's how fast I was going yesterday when a police officer pulled me over. The change to 70 mph was literally less than 75 yards ahead of me. I could see the sign. I could almost smell it, I was so close.


But, I wasn't there. I was still in the 55 zone going 12 mph faster than permitted. (Turns out, those signs aren't suggestions. Who knew?!)

When his flashing lights came on, I pulled over, slid my license out of my wallet, dug my insurance card out of the glove compartment, and waited. And waited. And waited. I still have temporary tags on my car (I get the real ones today), so I guess it takes a while to look up a vehicle like that to make sure it hasn't been stolen. At least, that's what I'm supposing. Either that, or he just wanted to make me sweat a little longer!

When he finally arrived beside my door, I handed him the paperwork, we had a conversation about my erroneous ways, and he told me...to slow down. No ticket; not even a written warning. Mercy flooded over me in a very real and practical way, soothing my heart and mind.

A vivid reminder of grace. What it looks like, how it feels, what it means. Believers have each been rescued by God's grace from various sinful behaviors. Galatians 5:19-21 has a long list of some of them (sexual immorality, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, drunkenness), that tempt and call back His beloved to their death-grip. Satan uses these to gain a foothold of destruction in lives so they will be rendered useless for the Kingdom of God, and personal relationships with the Heavenly Father will grow stale and meaningless.

Not listed in this passage, but in more than 60 other passages throughout the Bible is pride. Among many others, it's my greatest struggle. I get comfortable in doing the "right" things, or not doing the "wrong" things, comparing my actions or behaviors to other people, developing some kind of self-righteous attitude. And then something like yesterday occurs to shake me up. A reminder that I have done nothing worthy of praise. In fact, my righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). No, I haven't murdered anyone, haven't used drugs as an addiction to fill empty places in my life, but none of the things that I do "right" are to my credit, either. They are because the Holy Spirit has been at work. As a human being, this side of Heaven, I am called to strive for perfection (1 Peter 1:15-16), but I will never achieve it with my own volition or effort. I may even be less than 75 yards away; able to see it, able to smell it, I may be so close. But I am still, nonetheless, guilty and convicted. And it is only grace that has spared me.

After Jonah preached to the Ninevites and they repented he had some serious self-righteousness issues. He even accused God of being too "gracious and compassionate...slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity" (Jonah 4:1-2). And after God asked him a question, Jonah gave Him the silent treatment!! (Which is typical of us self-righteous types, by-the-way: too holy to talk to or be seen talking to others, fooling no one but ourselves.) As it turns out, God let him sit in silence, and even provided a vine to grow up and give Jonah shade in the heat of the day. Jonah, naturally, received this act of mercy for himself. (After all, didn't he deserve it for being such a good person, especially since he acted in obedience even when he didn't agree with God?)

But Jonah broke his silence to complain - self-righteous folks are good at complaining - when God allowed a worm to eat that vine of shade. And it's a good picture of what happens inside prideful individuals. Self-righteousness eats them up within, leaving manure of bitterness that decomposes into the soul, rotting it rather than fertilizing it, rendering them (me) useless, and relationships with God, stagnant.

So I'm grateful to that officer for getting me out of my self-righteous, self-absorbed funk yesterday. God used him (and my lead foot) to remind me that I'm convicted, but covered with His amazing grace. And, oh boy, did I slow down.

Running Water

I'm grateful for running water. Until it's running from under the sink.

After I'd showered and dressed this morning, I went to the kitchen in my bare feet to fix myself a bowl of cereal. As I poured the milk, I noticed the rug in front of the sink was a little damp. "Huh," I thought to myself, "I wonder what that's about; I'll need to keep an eye on that." Shrugging it off for the moment, I took a few bites and realized my Honey Smacks tasted more like their cardboard box container than cereal should, so I returned to the sink to pour the staleness down the disposal. As I ran the water, I felt a tickling sensation on my foot. At first, I pulled back as though a bug had been running on it. Then, I saw the falls. Water pouring out from under the cabinet doors.

Panic set in immediately. Thoughts of plumbing bills began mentally ringing up in my head. Being the do-it-yourself-er I tend to think I can be, I figured I ought to at least examine the situation. Moving the rug and all the stuff under the sink so I could dry the area with towels, I then realized, quite simply, that the curvy-down part of the pipe had come disconnected from the straight-down part (those are the technical terms).

So, I fixed it. I hoisted the curvy-down part up on top of an old apple juice jar, which now holds it in place beautifully. The picture above shows my masterful handiwork. At least we can use the sink for now. I think a little glue and plumber's putty will be the necessary solutions, but I'll let Darin work on that while I'm at Super Summer next week. (Hee Hee!)

If someone can come up with a great spiritual truth in this experience, I'm open for suggestions. I'm just relieved the flood has stopped!

Little Miss Fussy Pants

I've sat down to write. What about, I'm not really sure. I just have this sense of urgency that I must write, or be disobedient.

I've delayed and deliberated for an hour or so, trying to think of something meaningful, clever or at the least, informative, but I've drawn a blank. So, I'll write about my morning:

Tracci arrived with Rylee (10 mo.) just after 7 AM. Thankfully, I'd set the alarm, so I was at least prepared for her arrival. Ok, "prepared" might be a little strong. I was "somewhat awake and decently dressed."

Rylee was tired and cranky - not a morning person any more than I am - so I rubbed her back until she fell asleep. For a few minutes. By that time, Darin was showered and ready for breakfast, so the three of us sat down to banana muffins, oatmeal and Lucky Charms. I won't bore you with who ate what. Nor will I tell you about the really gross diaper that followed.

After Darin left for the church, I finished my time "alone" with God, cleaned up the kitchen and sat down to read and play with Rylee. It didn't last long. She wanted to be held, nothing else would do. But then even that became insufficient. So, I let little miss fussy pants crawl around on the floor and holler for a while. She didn't cry a single tear, so I knew she wasn't upset, hurting or needy, just mad or missing her mom. Before long, I watched her pull a blanket onto the floor and curl up. Aha! Finally, tired enough to do something about it! Scooping her into my arms, we sat down on the couch and she fell asleep almost immediately.

She's still resting in a sweet peace.

Huh.

I guess that's me sometimes, too. Wanting the comforting peace of God, yet unsettled in his arms. So, I crawl around and holler for a while - Little Miss Fussy Pants. Finally, I come to the end of my rope, emotionally exhausted, grab the nearest cozy blanket and curl up on a cold floor. And the gracious Comforter, who wanted to talk and play with me all along, scoops me into his arms, offering warmth, stillness and peace.

So far, I think that's what 2010 is going to be about for me. Learning to be content; receiving and welcoming the peace of God. Accepting life as it is, here and now, rolling with the punches (hopefully) a little better; I feel like I'm stiffening as I age rather than becoming more flexible.

Shakespeare's opening lines in Richard III read:

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York

His meaning (as I understand it - I wasn't a Lit major, ok?) is the time of unsettledness is soon to disappear; a new and glorious day is dawning. Unfortunately, Richard's planning a coup to take over the throne, destroy his brother and rule the nation with malevolence.

While that's not in my scheme (I don't have a brother!), I would like to think of any discontent or unsettledness in my life, heart and mind as the winter prologue to a glorious summer. Perhaps 2010's motto for me can read like this:

Then was the winter of my discontent
Now made glorious summer by this Son of God.

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12

For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Colossians 3:15

God Must Be Laughing

It's cold here in East Texas. And not just "Cold For East Texas" Cold. We're talking "Temperatures Expected To Dip Into The Teens, And Windchills In Single Digits" Cold.

Monday afternoon I spent several hours in the pasture behind the house collecting sticks and small branches to use for kindling fires in the fireplace. I can't seem to find enough clothing to keep warm. (Typing with gloves may create misspellings - my apologies!) And I should probably take everything out of the extra refrigerator in the garage, because it's colder in the garage than in the refrigerator in the garage. (Did that make sense?) Meanwhile, Western New York is facing its coldest winter in 20 years and the UK is facing its coldest winter in 30 years!

But for decades now, we've heard humanity is destroying the earth through a process called "Global Warming" (more recently altered to "Climate Change" in light of the arctic temperatures). Mankind, we've been told, through aerosols, soot, pollutants, carbon footprints, greenhouse gasses, and population growth has been systematically destroying the Universe as we know it. While I certainly and thoroughly endorse responsible stewardship of creation through recycling and conservation, I think many individuals and governments have placed Creation as an idol of worship in place of her Creator. How supercilious we are to believe we can throw completely out of whack all God Omnipotent put into motion!

It reminds me of Romans 1:19-25,28 (paraphrased from NLT):

God has made the truth about himself obvious. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. But though they knew God, they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.

I think this sentiment was behind God's words to Job (38:2-6, 19, 21-24), too:

"Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone? Where does light come from, and where does darkness go? But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced! Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail? (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.) Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind?"

Unanswerable questions for his arrogant creation. I suspicion he blew a little extra breath of cold this winter, just to remind us Who's in charge. Sitting on his throne in heaven, warmed by the roaring fire of his glory, God must be shaking his head and laughing.

Now, where's my earmuffs?