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A Parker Parable: Life is like a glass of ice tea!
Devotional Thought of the Day:
31 What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. 32 People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. 33 Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. 34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. Matthew 6:31-34 (MSG)
797 You know that your way is not clear, and that by not following Jesus closely you remain with that clouded vision. Then, what are you waiting for to make up your mind?
Until a year ago, I was an avid tea drinker, and I would make ice tea by the gallon and drink it over the day. Earl Grey white was my favorite, and I would take my fancy tea maker and steep the tea, then drain it off and add ice.
in Peterson’s translation, he uses the same illustration for life, that we should steep out life in God,. We should let our lives be infused with His view of reality (that we are forgiven and adopted in Christ Jesus) We should soak our lives in the work of God, redeeming and sanctifying us, and depending on Him to provide all we need.
We need to do this, to soak in the love and mercy of God, to let it change and flavor our very lives. Tea is no longer simply water, no longer simply a bunch of dried and cured leaves, it is a new liquid. The same for us, infused with the Holy Spirit, we are a new creation. We are one with Him.
The challenge is letting other things in the process. the things that cause anxieties, heartaches, the resentment stored up, the sin hidden and harbored, These cloud our life, and seem to affect our relationship with Jesus, they blind us to His reality, to what He provides in our lives.
The challenge is, cleaning out all the other stuff, of learning to give all our attention to God, seeking Him and His reality, His kingdom. We need to depend on God to bring us to that point in life, to that point in our ministry.
My special tea-maker had a drain that filtered out all the leaves and the junk left over from the seeping. The micro-filter screens eliminated all but the liquid, allowing for the purest cup of tea. We need to let God do that with us, filtering out the sin and desires, the anxieties and resentments. We have ot let Him do it so that all that is left is the relationship we have with God, in Christ.
Then our vision and our mission will be clear, and it will motivate and empower us more than any beverage ever could! For we will not only know with our minds God is with us, we will experience it and be refreshed by it!
Lord help us this day realize how much You infuse our lives. Help us to trust You and let You filter out of our lives everything that pollutes, everything that clouds our vision of You! We thank You and Praise You! Amen!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Way (Kindle Locations 1837-1839). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Pastors, Christians and Enforcing “the” Law
Devotional Thought of the Day:
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. 14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” Matthew 5:13-16 (NLT)
15 This is a true saying, to be completely accepted and believed: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I am the worst of them, 16 but God was merciful to me in order that Christ Jesus might show his full patience in dealing with me, the worst of sinners, as an example for all those who would later believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 To the eternal King, immortal and invisible, the only God—to him be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen. 1 Timothy 1:15-17 (TEV)
Yesterday, on the way to church, I stopped by my usual fast food restaurant at 6 am. This has become, if not tradition, something close to it.
One of the reasons is the manager, who at 6 am always has a smile and a warm greeting for me, something I imagine is part of her – for who else is cheery and bright that early in the morning! ALthough I have noticed her staff is usually that way as well, perhaps because hers is contagious. About a year ago, I started to notice that she was discounting my large Ice Tea from on the ticket, and thanking me for serving others. You see, on Sundys, especially, I am wearing my clerical collar. It’s a nice thing – but the reason I return is their friendliness and attendtiveness – even when I am wearing a polo shirt with the church’s name on it, or even old raggedy clothes.
Yesterday, I actually looked at the receipt and noticed that the discounted Ice Tea was labelled. “Law Enforcement Discount” and I had to chuckle, actually laughed quite a bit. Because I know that is how some perceive pastors, and far too often, Christians in general. Matter of fact, people often ask me why I don’t slam those who regularly flaunt God’s law with their very public behavior. The Miley Cyrus’s, or the politicians, or those who would shut Christmas celebrations and signs, those who would justify killing, whether euthenasia, or abortion, or depriving the poor of food. I get the sense that many Christians are disappointed when I don’t single out one sin, and that non-Christians often expect me to condemn them.
My primary mission isn’t to condemn people, or to enforce the law. In fact, it is just the opposite. It is to comfort and free sinners from shame and guilt, carefully using the Bible and the sacraments, the ways in which God has promised His grace to be be delivered.
Neither is “law enforcement” the mission of Christians, it is not in our job description, for were we to do it well – all would stand condemned. That’s why Paul points out that he is the chief of sinners, so that others who have sinned (IOW all of us) can know the joy and peace of being freed from sin’s effects. That is the light we are called to be, the grace that is the “salt’s” flavor. Condemning others robs them, and us of the grace of God, which should be so predominant in our lives, that others know it, even before we begin to explain the reason we have this hope.
Yes, there are times, as a pastor, where I ahve to confront some specific sin, some problem that is on going and is wrekcing people’s lives. Yes there are times where it helps to identify the sins and temptations that overwhelm us, to warn of the dangers, to encourage people to come and confess them – so that they can hear those beautiful words, “your sins are forgiven”. So they can realize the need for Christ’s grace, at that point in their lives, allowing Him to bring healing, restoration, and enable them to peacefully rest in His presence. Perhaps then, as we understand that pastors are priests aren’t law enforcement officers, we will be less anxious when the guy in the black uniform with the little plastic “badge” at his throat shows up,
So that together, free in Christ Jesus, we can praise and glorify God
Law Enforcement is a good thing, and I thank God, and often those involved in it, for fulfilling their calling.
But mine is different, as is the church’s.
May we get this – and may Christ’s grace bring light whereever we go! AMEN
