Have a Seat

            Do you remember where your family ate meals when you were a child? For most of us it was a table. I think some modern families are missing out if they do not eat together, or when they do eat together it is in front of a television set on a couch. My family always ate around our kitchen table. With six children it was quite snug. We had no dining room, so breakfast, lunch and supper (we never called it dinner – that was reserved for what we ate on Sunday afternoons) were consumed where they were prepared. My parents worked hard to provide plenty to eat and my mom was a good cook. That kitchen table was the center of life in our home for many years – a place to eat, do homework, play games, build things, have company, and just about anything else you can think of.

            Tables bring people together. Seated around a table, we are all at the same level. Tables are places that we share things with one another. We do not typically sit and watch others eat. We all eat. We share the food. We also talk… and learn to listen, sharing the conversation. We learn manners and how to relate to others with politeness. Our tables typically have more than one chair around them. They are made for community. When I was in college there were times when I had to be late to the cafeteria for a meal. If I didn’t find anyone I knew, I would sometimes sit alone in a sea of tables and chairs. I don’t mind sitting alone, but when I did I would wonder if anyone was looking at me and thinking me strange, anti-social, lonely, or something else I might not want thought of me. Eating is very much a social thing.

            I’m thankful for the family I grew up in… the family I married into… and the family of our own that Joanne and I have been blessed with. In each one there has always been a table. The tables have been places we could share our greatest joys, deepest sorrows, and most troubling fears and frustrations. The table and the food on it warmed us up to each other. When, as a stranger I came into Joanne’s family, the table was the place we got to know each other. If I was accepted there I could make it anywhere. In our marriage, table fellowship has been enjoyed by the four of us and beyond. We’ve had guests of all kinds, sizes and shapes: family, friends, church folks, strangers, old folks, kids, and their friends. There is nothing unusual about this. I’m sure it has been the experience of many reading these words.

            Let us not take our tables for granted. They are one of the places Jesus sits among us as the honored guest, privy to every conversation. Our tables are places where we may extend love and grace. We can build one another up in the Lord and experience His joy. At them we can offer hospitality and kindness. Jesus does all these things for us when we gather around His table to share the Lord’s Supper. When we do, we experience union with Christ as we worship Him in the eating of bread and drinking of the cup: His body broken and blood shed for us. We also experience communion with each other in Christ. Around His table we are all in the same place: guests of/by grace, none of us better than the other: all of us sinners for whom Christ died.

            As we, during the month of March, invite one another to spend time around a table – at home, in a restaurant, or at the church building – may the Lord deepen our love for Him and for one another. May we become better acquainted and learn how to better pray for one another. May our fellowship strengthen our spirits like the food strengthens our bodies. And may the good things that happen around tables be multiplied many times over in our church body. AMEN!

Psalm 128:2-4 (NIV) -  ² You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. ³ Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. ⁴ Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the Lord.

Psalm 128:2-4 (NIV) -  ²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” ²⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying,“Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Romans 12:13 (NIV) - Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Hebrews 13:2 (NIV) - Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

1 Peter 4:9 (NIV) - Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

PRAYER:  Father, thank you for our tables and all they represent. May they be places for encouragement, fellowship, grace, and truth where we may build one another up, experience new depths of fellowship, and welcome and worship you. In Christ’s name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!  

Scott

Nothing Ever Surprises God

            Things do not always go the way you expect them to go. Things change. Things don’t always work out.

            Such sentiments are common to life. And whether we are prepared or not, we will face change, experience unmet expectations, and deal with disappointments of many kinds. But we never face these things alone. God’s grace is sufficient – even abundant - for every test and challenge. Joanne and I found that out this past weekend.

            The weather forecasts were ominous… a second blizzard in three weeks was on the way Saturday night through Monday morning. 20-25+ inches of snow, 60 mph wind gusts, and temperatures below zero were coming. The problem was that Joanne and I were supposed to be going. We had tickets to fly to South Carolina at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. But on Friday it looked like there might be no way we would even be able to get to Bangor. So I decided to ask Tim King to preach, so that we could stay with Joanne’s brother about 15 miles from the airport. It would be easier to get there from this distance than from Bar Harbor. So we were scrambling to get packed, finish getting the house ready, and making sure everything for church on Sunday was taken care of. I was anxious about leaving the house to the mercy of the weather and was grateful that Carroll was willing to check it while we were gone. But what if the power went out? The furnace wouldn’t be running. The pipes would freeze. Then the snow would pile up. I could think of plenty of questions of concern. So all this possible “bad stuff” was piling up in my mind. This was turning out very different than what we had planned on. On top of that, South Carolina was cold as well.

Then came the biggest change. Late Friday night I received a call from US Airways telling me our flights were cancelled. When I called Saturday morning there were no tickets available before Tuesday at the earliest. Our planned one-week trip would now be five – even possibly four days long. That was not news I wanted to hear. Everything was in flux and we had decisions to make. Should we still go or should we stay? If we don’t go, will we be out a lot of money? How disappointed would our kids be at not seeing us? Change raises all kinds of questions. Sometimes the answers are easy. Other times extremely difficult.

The biggest thing I need to learn in such times is all about God. The reminder that nothing ever surprises God was one I needed to hear again. Our lives – our days, our comings and goings – are in His hands every moment of every one of those days, with no exception. I can trust in God’s sovereign plan. I can experience His peace in the knowledge that He is in control. I can live with the understanding that His grace prevails in my life. I can know that His plan is perfect and that He will give strength for whatever His plan calls for. Every day… in every change I face… I am in the palm of His hand. And I know in the depths of my heart and experience that He knows what is best. He is an amazing and trustworthy God.

After choosing to receive a refund for our tickets (which I hadn’t been 100% certain of), getting a refund even for the trip insurance we had purchased, feeling relieved about being able to be at our house through the storm, and changing our vacation plans to a future month, I was happy to find some flights for a later date (with a better flight schedule). Those flights ended up costing 20% less than our cancelled ones had been. We had these and other reasons to be thankful. Again and again – in ways small and large – God showed Himself faithful. He always is… even when the flights are 20% more. The words of a very old children’s chorus sum up: Why worry when you can pray; Trust Jesus, He’ll be your stay; Don’t be a doubting Thomas; Trust fully in his promise; Why worry, worry, worry, worry; When you can pray? Really good question!

Isaiah 49:8-16 (NIV) ⁸  This is what the LORD says: "In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, ⁹  to say to the captives, 'Come out,' and to those in darkness, 'Be free!' "They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill. ¹⁰  They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. ¹¹  I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up. ¹²  See, they will come from afar-- some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan." ¹³  Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. ¹⁴  But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me." ¹⁵  "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! ¹⁶  See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.

1 Chronicles 29:10-13 (NIV) ¹⁰  David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, "Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. ¹¹  Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. ¹²  Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. ¹³  Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.

Psalm 31:1-5 (NIV) ¹ In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. ²  Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. ³  Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. ⁴  Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. ⁵  Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

PRAYER:  Father, I’d rather be in the palm of your hand, though rich or poor I may be. Give me faith to see through every circumstance to your plan for me. Unchanging God, lead me through the every change I face, and may I rest in your perfect will. In Christ’s name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!  

Scott

Love Without Condition

            I watched a replay of Super Bowl LIX last week. The NFL Network version was shortened (for airtime), but the result was still the same: sweet to a Patriots fan and bitter to a Seahawks fan. The NFL Network’s version was enhanced with many real-time sounds of the game, including words spoken by players and coaches. I expected some pretty raw conversation, and was glad that certain language was bleeped out. But I also heard some things I was not expecting. I was struck by the volume and sincerity of expressions of love between grown men. The Patriots’ players and coaches were freely and loudly – with no embarrassment or holding back – telling each other, “I love you.”, or “I love you, man!”… and other expressions of appreciation and affection. I guess I had never connected those kinds of expressions with football players or even the game of football, though I certainly understand how being close for a period of months and working together toward a common goal could bond a group of men to one another.

            Recently I read the blog of a former football player, Derwin Gray. He was writing about leadership and he wrote these words: “During my NFL days, after a win some of my coaches would hug me and tell me that they loved me. But after a loss, some of them wouldn’t even talk to me. I remember after a game that I didn’t play so well in, one of my coaches walked up to me and looked at me with disgust and disdain, then just walked off. This incident tightened my grip of faith in Jesus and loosened the grip of my idolatry of playing in the NFL.”

            Gray’s remarks remind me of the glory of grace. If the Patriots had lost, I’m not so sure there would have been such a free flow of love. There probably would have been some anger, frustration, and even resentment toward any players or coaches who may have made mistakes that could have been seen as costing them the game. Perhaps a consoling kind of love would have been shared by some, but I’m quite sure that what I observed – an ebullient, vocalized outflow of enthusiastic affection – would have been highly unlikely. As I think about Gray’s experience I think about the beauty of God’s grace. When men turn away from us, Christ turns toward us. When men reject us, Christ reaches out to us. When men think we deserve scorn or punishment, Christ responds to our need with His forgiveness and mercy, and He makes us fellow-heirs with Himself. When our efforts fall short – which they always do – Christ steps in and grants us His righteousness. It isn’t about whether we are winners or losers in the world’s eyes. His love is powerfully and abundantly directed toward us, in spite of our weaknesses and failures.

            This kind of grace is awesome, and draws out from us a deep love for Him. He is worthy of our thanksgiving and praise. To God be the glory.

John 8:10-11 (NIV) ¹⁰  Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" ¹¹  "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

Romans 8:1 (NIV)  Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Romans 5:8-9 (NIV) ⁸  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹  Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!

John 6:37 (KJV)  All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

PRAYER:  Father, thank you that in my sin, failure, and weakness, Jesus has redeemed me. His words and actions of love have saved me and given me new life. Thank you for love that is not conditional on my performance. Thank you for receiving me. In Christ’s name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!  

Scott

Worship the Lord with Gladness

            I don’t know if it is S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) problem or not, but due to the heavy doses of snow, cold, and wind in the last week or so, I found myself in recent days dealing with a complaining, grumbling spirit. I quickly became sick and tired of shoveling and trying to blow the snow in the wind as it whipped back in my face and went where it wasn’t supposed to go. I was weary of cleaning off vehicles, scraping ice, and getting into cold cars. These things are all part of living in Maine in the winter. I expect them – as I have for most of my life. Having the sun come out on Sunday was a blessing and a big help. Nevertheless I was carrying an inner annoyance and aggravation about it all.

            A complaining spirit or attitude is something I often feel that I have a right to… when I have it. My tendency is to nurse it and if you get in the way – too bad for you! People around us are often the casualties of our attitudes and moods. I can think of a number of reasons why nursing a complaining spirit is a bad idea…

      1.      How I can treat people in negative ways. I might hurt someone.

      2.      It expresses ingratitude to God and shows lack of contentment with His will.

      3.      It is self-centered (all about me).

      4.      It doesn’t do anything to improve the situation.

      5.      It often leads to quarrels with those I love.

In the Bible God was often disappointed – even angry - with His people for their complaining ways.  Adam and Eve complained. Moses complained. The Israelites who came out of Egypt complained, as did David and Jonah and some of the prophets. When they did not get their way… when things were not comfortable or easy… when their expectations were not met… they began to grumble.

How much joy we miss out on when we complain… not to mention peace and satisfaction with God. How much blessing we keep from bestowing upon others. When I complain it’s like I erect a barrier all around me that makes it hard for people to approach me. No one enjoys being around “Mr. Negative”.

The good news is that in Christ I have every reason for joy. I can confess my complaining spirit, let God’s grace wash its effects from me, seek the filling of the Holy Spirit, and become an encourager and lifter of others. Complaining will bring others down, though I do it because somehow I expect it will make me feel better. It doesn’t. When I set my grumbling aside I can build people up, bless them, and give them hope and courage instead of infecting them.

May God’s grace lead us to joy, and may it lead us to by-pass the dead-end road of a complaining spirit.

Numbers 11:1-4 (NIV) ¹  Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. ²  When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the LORD and the fire died down. ³  So that place was called Taberah, because fire from the LORD had burned among them. ⁴  The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat!

Philippians 2:5 (NIV)  Your attitude should be the same as 
    that of Christ Jesus:…

Philippians 2:14-15 (NIV) ¹⁴  Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵  so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe

1 Peter 4:9 (NIV)  Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

James 4:1-3 (NIV) ¹  What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? ²  You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. ³  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

PRAYER:  Father, lead me to a true and deep contentment that will serve as a barrier to complaining. Deliver me from a spirit of grumbling and fill me with the joy of the Lord. In Christ’s name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!  

Scott