Charisa Stories

Author: Dave Burchett

  • One more gift idea for Jesus on His birthday…

    This series was well received last year. Some would call this a repeat but I prefer to think of it as environmentally friendly blog recycling with virtually no carbon footprint.

    Merry Christmas!  Dave

    As a public service I am providing a shopping guide for things you can give to Jesus on His upcoming birthday. For the internet hall monitors who love to send anonymous and snarky comments I understand that the celebrated date of Christ’s birth is likely off a bit. But since this is when we celebrate we will go with the date assigned by the church fathers and Hallmark.

    Let’s be honest…giving the King of Kings and Lord of Lords a unique gift is really tough. The last post examined the gifts brought to the young Christ child over 2,000 years by the wise men, I had hoped that examining what the Magi brought might jump start our gift giving ideas.  By the way, there is a plaque that is available with the title “What if They Had Been 3 Wise Women?” Here is the conclusion….

    Alert readers from the last article remember that the first gift was gold. That is always a lovely gift. But now it gets a little tougher.

    Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh. (Matthew 2:11, The Message)

    The second gift brought out of the luggage by the Magi was frankincense. Frankincense is a very costly and fragrant incense. It is a gum distilled from a tree found in the Middle East. It is a white resin or gum, and is obtained by slitting the bark of the “Arbor Thurisfrom”, allowing the gum to flow out (there will be a test). The word actually means “whiteness”, referring to the white colored juice which flows out of the wound in the tree. This gum hardens for three months, and is gathered at the end of the summer, and sold in the form of “tears”, or clumps of hardened resin. Frankincense is highly fragrant when burned, and was, therefore, used in worship, where it was burned as a pleasant offering to God. It is interesting to note that this sweet smelling resin comes as the result of the tree’s woundedness and pain. It is cut open and bleeds to give us the sweet smelling scent. The spiritual parallel is interesting. When we can worship God in the midst of our sorrow, our brokenness, then it is a sweet smelling offering to our Lord.

    King David wrote, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” (Psalms 51:17 )

    Much emphasis in worship today is on “celebration”. No time for agonizing and tears, only for shouts of joy and victory. While joyful praise is acceptable and pleasing to God, tears, like frankincense resin, oozing out of our hurts, broken hearts, and tears of repentance are especially pleasing – a sweet smelling sacrifice to the Lord. Anyone can dance and shout when blessings are flowing, and everything is going their way. But true worship happens when we must overcome feelings of self-pity, fear and doubt. So how can we offer a pleasing aroma to God?

    How about giving Jesus the gift of trust for His birthday? You believe that Jesus is the Son of God…that He came to earth as a little baby over 2,000 years ago. That he lived a Holy life and died on a cross as perfect sacrifice for my sin and your sin. I would guess that most of the people who stumble onto this blog believe that. But what I am talking about is really believing and trusting God in every circumstance.

    Think about giving the gift of really trusting in Jesus for every need this coming year. Completely trusting who God says He is and who God says you are when you put your faith in Christ. Completely believing that you are a new person and not the same old person reworked. Completely believing that this new identity in Christ gives you power to live and power to not sin.

    Believing that you are an amazing one of a kind creation whom God has placed where you are and with gifts that can be uniquely used where you are in your journey.

    “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are-no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought. (Matthew 5:5 The Message)

    Later in the gospel of Matthew we find this…If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty. (Matthew 23:12, The Message)

    I believe that comparison is one of Satan’s primary strategies to cause despair. You are wonderfully made by the Creator of the Universe and you are valuable. Michelangelo made a nearly perfect sculpture of David. The statue’s muscular tension is precisely rendered down to the muscle contraction on his forehead as David is poised to go into battle. It is perhaps the most important sculpture in the world and it was carved from one large block of marble. Why is that unique? Two other artists rejected the block of marble because of imperfections. Michelangelo saw the beauty in that block of marble that others did not. Jesus sees the beauty in you that others might not. Can you believe in a Jesus that can take you, even if you feel like a rejected block of marble, and then lovingly chip away until you become a beautiful work of art? Can you give Jesus the gift of believing that He is really there with you…as your Good Shepherd…ready to bind up your wounds and lead you to still waters.

    “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf. He’s only in it for the money. The sheep don’t matter to him. “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They’ll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father.” (John 10:11-18, The Message)

    The Good Shepherd had the choice and chose to give us the marvelous gift of laying down His life and then taking it up again. Believing Him and really trusting Him would make a lovely gift to Jesus on His birthday.

  • Having Trouble with Gift Ideas for Jesus on His Birthday?

    This series was well received last year. You may view this as a repeat. I prefer to think of it as re-gifting.

    Blessings and Merry Christmas!

    We are fast approaching the hardest day of the year for most men. Many of us men give gifts to our significant others with fear and trembling. Humor writer Dave Barry relates the confusion most men deal with when giving a gift to their wife.

    He could tell by her reaction to the gift that she had not been dreaming of getting an auto emergency kit, even though it was the deluxe model with booster cables and an air compressor. Clearly, this violated an important rule, but the man had idea what the rule was, and his wife was too upset to tell him.

    Barry continues his thoughtful treatise…

    So why is the Christmas season so difficult for men? There are many complex reasons, by which I mean: women. The problem goes back to the very first Christmas. We know from the Bible that the Wise Men showed up in Bethlehem and gave the baby Jesus gifts of gold,frankincense, and myrrh. Now Gold is always a nice gift, but frankincense and myrrh – at least according to my dictionary – are gum resins.

    Barry asks the vital question…

    Who gives gum resins to a baby? The answer is…Men. The three wise men…being men, didn’t even start shopping for gifts until the last minute, when most of the stores in the greater Bethlehem area were closed for Christmas Eve. The only place still open was Big Stu’s House of Myrrh.

    Even though Barry’s interpretation of the Gospels might be a little suspect…I do think he is correct about the difficulty in finding the right gift to give to Jesus on his birthday.

    On December 24th or 25th most of us will exchange gifts on Jesus’s birthday. Suppose you had a big party for me to celebrate my humble birthday this April. All of my close friends and acquaintances show up and you all start exchanging gifts on my birthday. But there is nothing for me. Oh, someone might mention my name now and then. But I just sit and I sit and I watch others open gifts. Then someone mentions how grateful they are for Dave’s birthday so we could all be together. I become hopeful. But then someone else yells that the refreshments are ready so everyone rolls into the kitchen and I am left sitting there….no gifts on my birthday. I wonder if we don’t do that exact thing to Jesus. We have reason for the season signs and all of that. But it is so easy to get all caught up and not even think of a gift for the guest of honor at our Christmas celebrations.

    So what can you give the Lord of the Universe? If you think your mother-in-law is tough to buy for what do buy for the Saviour who has everything? Believe it or not…I decided to go back to the Three Wise Men and see if there was more to their gifts than first appears. What is the story behind these gum resin gifts? What is up with the gifts presented by the Magi? The simplest meaning is that these men brought items which, in their experience, represented the greatest worth. All of these gifts were rare, precious and expensive. Whatever else we may learn from this story, we know that they gave their best in honor to the One they believed to be the King, the Messiah. It’s interesting that we don’t know the names of the Magi but we know what they gave. We don’t know where they came from but we know that they worshipped the  Christ child.

    They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshipped him.

    The first important point is that the Magi did not visit the Baby Jesus at the stable so our Nativity scene on the mantle is chock full of Biblical errors. They showed up at the house and it is clear that the gifts were a part of their worship. They bowed down before Him, and they offered Him gifts. What an amazing spirit that must have surrounded that child that caused men of importance, wealth and education to fall down before Him!

    The miracle of God becoming man… He became what we are so that He might make us what He is.
    Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh. Matt 2:11 (MsgB)

    The first gift mentioned is gold.

    Gold was the usual offering presented to kings by their subjects, or those wanting to pay respect. Gold has always held extremely high value – as long ago as 2,500 BC, gold was especially prized, and used as a medium of exchange. Even today when investments get shaky you start hearing about buying gold as a hedge against economic downturns. The value of gold seems to be a constant in our civilization. In both the Old Testament Tabernacle and the Temple, gold was used plentifully and was clearly associated with worship.

    So should we give Jesus gold on His birthday? Most of us have a rather limited supply of gold. I am going to suggest that we give Jesus a commodity that is as valuable in today’s culture as gold was in the time of the Magi. That commodity of great value is time. When I think of gifts that we can give to Jesus…is there anything more precious than our time?

    When you love someone you want to spend time with them. If you say you love your wife but you go several days or weeks without talking to her she might be suspicious. When we say we love our children but we can’t work them into the schedule they begin to have doubts. When a young couple falls in love they want to spend every moment together. When they are apart they think of each other. As Percy Sledge famously sang that when a man loves a woman he can’t keep his mind on nothing else.

    So we say we love Jesus. But we probably have little difficulty thinking of something else. We tell others that He is the center of our universe…but we can’t carve out the time to spend with Jesus to develop that relationship. I am confessing here that I have been guilty of this far too often in my journey with Jesus. My lips confess my commitment to Him but my time with Him reveals my true priorities. The uncomfortable truth for me as a husband…as a father…and as a follower of Christ is that my calendar reveals my heart. I make time for the things that are most important to me.

    Gift suggestion number one for Jesus on His birthday…give Him a little time. Sit down with Him…talk to Him…enjoy His company.

    And join us tomorrow for another last minute gift idea for Jesus. Perhaps it is not that hard to give something to Christ this Christmas.

  • Tell Me Again What the Cattle Were Doing?

    Today is a revisit of a “Christmas Classic” from earlier. How does a blog become a classic?  It is your blog, your site, you pay the server charge and you can call it whatever you want. So enjoy a classic from Christmas past…

    One of my contributions with this modest little blog is to continually ask the tough questions.

    While listening to  “Away in a Manger” at a recent Christmas program my inquiring mind kicked in. You likely know verse three of the song.

    The cattle are lowing
    The poor Baby wakes
    But little Lord Jesus
    No crying He makes

    As I listened an important series of difficult and probing inquiries popped into my head. What noise, exactly, were the cattle making when they started lowing? Was this normal cow talk? Did lowing just sound better than mooing in the lyric or is lowing a more spiritual and reverent cow sound? And then the most important question came to mind. What is wrong with me?

    I can’t answer the last question but I can help with the others. Lowing is defined at dictionary.com as “the characteristic sound uttered by cattle; a moo”.

    So little baby Jesus was awakened by the characteristic sound uttered by a cow. That would not have flowed well in the lyric so I understand using lowing. The next part of the lyric is disturbing to those of us who are parents. If any of the babies who grew up in our household were awakened by cattle lowing they would be squalling (the characteristic sound uttered by a ticked off baby; a scream).  During the course of my intrepid investigating I discovered that this verse was not original to the song. It was added in the early 1900’s by a Methodist minister named John T. McFarland for a children’s program. While verse three is not a part of the original Christmas carol canon it does create an image of Jesus that we need to rethink.

    I remember as a child singing “Away in a Manger” and picturing the baby Jesus with this beatific smile on his face and a little halo hovering over his head. In my imagination the animals were swaying and singing like the campfire scene from the movie “Three Amigos”. I pictured Mary and Joseph as awed spectators as the baby Jesus acknowledged the shepherds and welcomed them to his place (remember…the earlier lyrics told us he didn’t have a crib). My images of the baby Jesus were indeed childish. But I wonder if we don’t carry a little of that flawed perspective about the “Baby Jesus” into our adult Christian journey (like Ricky Bobby in the movie Talladega Nights…you bad Christians know what I am talking about).

    This Christmas why not take a little time to think about the implications of the incarnation. That nice little theological word is used to denote when the second person of the Trinity assumed human form in the person of Jesus Christ and became both fully God and fully man. C.S. Lewis called the incarnation “the Grand Miracle.” He wrote: “The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation…. Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this…. It was the central event in the history of the Earth–the very thing that the whole story has been about” (from Miracles, chapter 14).

    By a miracle that passes human comprehension, the Creator entered his creation, the Eternal entered time, God became human–in order to die and rise again for the salvation of all people. “He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down further still … (to) the womb … down to the very roots and sea-bed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him” (Miracles, C.S. Lewis).

    Take a moment to meditate on the mystery of that. Fully God and fully man. I am sure the little Lord Jesus would have had the normal response to being awakened by any cow noise…lowing or other. His swaddling clothes had to be changed just like any baby. Chuck Swindoll described Him as diety in diapers.

    How does that affect me this Christmas? Because God became flesh I can relate to a Savior that understands the frailties of my flesh. Because the Creator understands His creation I can be sure that God understands my pain, frustration and loneliness. It is difficult for me to relate to an invisible God. That is the miracle of God becoming man. I can relate to Jesus because He has walked in my sandals. Joni and I were always appreciative and blessed when people expressed love and care while she was battling breast cancer. But when a breast cancer survivor expressed that love it connected on a different level. They had been there, felt the fear, fought the tiring battle and traveled the long road. That is the sovereign genius of the incarnation. We can relate to God in flesh in a way that is different. When I suffer I know that Jesus understands. He has been there. When I am lonely or feeling betrayed I can know (in my finite ability) that He understands. When I am joyful and laughing He understands. By becoming like me I can believe that Jesus can empathize with me on a different level. Because I know He gets it then I also get it. God loves me and Jesus has my back.

    My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.   (I John 2)

    Jesus became our advocate and our path to salvation when He arrived on earth. The miracle in the manger was not Jesus ignoring stupid cows. The miracle was God becoming flesh.

  • The Santa Claus is comin’ to town theology

    I am a little too old and lot too cynical to be swept away by the latest fad in Christendom. I have sat on the sidelines while Jabez prayed, millions were purpose driven and others found their best life. I guess I was just left behind. Others were incredibly excited by one or all of these phenomenons.

    So I was more than a little surprised to find that God rocked my world through a ministry I knew little about just a few short years ago. Their books and materials have not become an entire section at your local Christian superstore. And that is a shame. Because they have a message that needs to be heard by most of us.

    The organization is called TrueFaced and the book of same name rocked my world.  I don’t think I have ever had a book (excluding the inspired one) impact me as much as this one. Here is how strongly I feel about this book and ministry. I have written two books. So selling a few books would be awesome for the fading retirement account. But if you only have the budget to buy one book in the near future I would tell you to buy TrueFaced. (That gives you a hint as to why I rarely am asked to do marketing seminars)

    I am borrowing one little bit of content that is very timely during this month. John Lynch is one of the authors of the book and in this section he addresses how we are programmed from childhood to default to performance theology. He calls it the “Santa Claus is Coming to Town theology”.

    You better watch out
    Better not cry
    Better not pout
    I am telling you why
    Santa Claus is comin’ to town
    He’s making a list….checking it twice…three times…every day
    Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice
    Santa Claus is comin’ to town
    He sees you when your sleeping, nows when your awake, he knows when you’ve been bad or good so be good for goodness sake.

    Oh, he’s watching. Waiting for you to screw up so you will get coal instead of a bicycle. You had better please him. And we teach our kids to put on the mask and be something they are not. Because Santa Claus is comin’ to town. This omniscient being who is judging our every deed is coming to town…and we learn to do the dance early. Buck up…be good. Don’t cry. Don’t pout. Santa Claus is coming to town.  (©Copyright 2003, William Thrall, Bruce McNicol, John Lynch. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.)

    He is exactly right. We learn that we get good things and receive love only when we are good and do good things. Santa is pleased (and we later substitute God) when we obey. So we learn early. We had better be good. Or least fool everyone around us to think that we are being good.

    Ask any child this Christmas if they are being good and I will wager you will never hear this response.

    “Well, to be honest, I am really struggling with the whole being nice thing. I have actually been pouty and I cried yesterday. It just isn’t working out this Christmas so I suspect the video game system will have to wait.”

    Nope. What you hear is the lie that we learn early and too often keep handy in our arsenal for a lifetime.

    “Oh yeah. I am being really good!”

    I remember (vaguely) the tension of the Santa Claus years. I knew I hadn’t really changed much. I tried to modify my behavior for a week or two leading up to Christmas but I knew I had failed to really be good. I learned a couple of things early. I learned how hard it is to change behavior by sheer willpower and I learned that I could fool Santa by living a lie. I learned that that he would bring me presents in spite of my failures. I did not learn about grace. That maybe Santa gave me gifts because of who I was and maybe he came to my house because I was lovable instead of rewarding me for what I had done to please him. I figured I had fooled him and to get the good stuff I would have to continue to hide the little boy who broke an ornament and then hid it.

    Isn’t that too often how we view God? We had better not cry. Better not sin. I’m telling you why. Jesus is coming to town. He’s making a list and He is checking it not once or twice but every moment of every day. God knows if you’ve been bad or good so if you want to be healed or happy or prosperous you had better be good for goodness sake. If I do mess up I am scared to death that I will get a bad life or miss all that God has for me. So I put on the mask and try to be really good for Jesus. If I can fool those around me maybe, just maybe, I can fool God too.

    Satan sells the lie so convincingly. And we buy it for months and years and even decades.

    But God and Santa are very different in their approach. God does not keep a list. He is not impressed by our hernia inducing straining to control sin.

    Jesus offers us so many gifts. But the one we seem to have the hardest time unwrapping is the gift of grace. The gift that allows us to become who God desires us to become as we simply trust Him and quit trying to be “good” for goodness sake. We are saved by grace and faith in Christ. We become like Him by the same radical strategy. Faith that He has changed us into a new creation. And understanding the grace that gives us good gifts even when we don’t deserve them.

    Don’t let the Santa Claus theology live into the New Year. Go straight to the gift of grace that Jesus left under the Cross. Open it. And clothe yourself in His salvation, acceptance and love. It may be the best gift you have ever given yourself.

     

  • Joan Horner – A life well lived

    On Monday I heard the sad news of the passing of Joan Horner. I lost a friend. The Texas Rangers lost one of their biggest fans. Thousands of women around the world lost a role model and mentor. Andy Horner lost his sweetheart of sixty-four years. She will be missed so much by her loving family and friends.

    Perhaps you don’t know who Joan Horner is. Joan and husband Andy started a little direct sales company called Premier Designs Jewelry a quarter century ago. That little venture now generates sales of 350 million dollars a year. But that is not what impressed me about Premier Designs. Lots of companies generate profits and hire people. Andy and Joan wanted to make a difference with their company. They have.

    Few companies have had a more concentrated plan to share their financial blessings than Premier Designs. Through the Horner-Premier Foundation the company has supported ministries and missionaries in 45 countries around the world. Locally, to help in the ongoing battle against breast cancer, Premier Designs created its Cure pin in 2004. Since then, the company has donated profits from sale of the Cure pin to fund the fight against breast cancer. In 2007, the company created the Patriotic bracelet and donated all the profits to Operation Homefront, a charitable organization dedicated to making a difference in the lives of our troops and the families of fallen soldiers. The impact of this philosophy of giving back has had an amazing and eternal impact.

    Every summer thousands of associates travel to annual meetings in Ft.Worth to be motivated, inspired and touched by Joan and Andy. I have had the privilege of writing many of the scripts and skits for the annual rallies. Many in the front office kidded me that it was only because of Joan that I was retained year after year. At least I think they were kidding. I had a real connection with Joan. We both loved baseball and our families and people and Jesus. We tried real hard to keep the correct order. Joan could talk baseball with the best of them. I remember staffers waiting impatiently for us to get going on a script idea while Joan and I discussed the current state of the Texas Ranger’s roster. I am so happy that Joan got to see her beloved Rangers finally make a World Series this fall.

    Today I heard a Christmas song from Michael W. Smith. A lyrical phrase struck me in an entirely different way as I remembered the life of Joan Horner. The intent of the lyric is to express that the happiest Christmas is when everyone gets together as family and friends. And that is true. But I listened to this phrase of the song and thought that maybe there is another meaning that my friend Joan is discovering today.

    Oh the happiest Christmas,
    Is a homecoming Christmas.

    Joan Horner is experiencing a homecoming Christmas that we can only imagine. Jesus talked about a homecoming and He was not talking about His upcoming birthday celebration. He talked about the big one. I am scheduled to join in that Homecoming someday and I am happy about that. I am looking forward to it because of a promise that I believe.

    “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”  (John 14, NLT)

    I am not anxious to leave this earth but I do look forward to that homecoming someday. Why? It is about relationships. Joan understood that and made it part of her philosophy.

    “Our purpose at Premier Designs is to influence peoples lives, not just their pocketbooks, and to build relationships. People are always more important than profits.”

    Joan Horner modeled that well. Her life was a life well lived. When you know a life was well lived you feel sadness but no regret that opportunities were lost. A life well lived shows the rest of us what matters. And clearly what matters is not just accomplishment or gain. A life well lived is invested in faith, family and friends. A life well lived values others and changes them. A life well lived serves others and affirms them.

    Joan Horner made a very real difference with a life well lived. She was a living example of Paul’s words to Timothy.

    I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness… (2 Timothy 4, NLT) 

    All of us receive that crown because of God’s grace. Some do a lot better job than others of demonstrating that grace. Joan was one of those.

    Note: You can continue Joan’s legacy of giving by donating to the Horner-Premier Foundation in lieu of flowers. Send your donation to the Horner-Premier Foundation, 1551 Corporate Drive, Irving, TX, 75038.

  • Leaving the Island of Misfit Toys

    Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year. I love the music, the memories, the traditions and the chance to annually think about Burl Ives. His memory came back again with the annual airing of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. That show first aired in 1964 and it has been a staple ever since. Ives is the voice of Sam the Snowman who narrates the “enhanced” story of Rudolph.

    Rudolph and his elf buddy Hermey don’t fit in with the others. Rudolph looks different than the others. Hermey is not interested in making toys. In an odd plot twist, Herme wants to be a dentist. Not surprisingly, his elf supervisor is upset with the unproductive Hermey. So the two outcasts set off to find their fame and fortune.

    The part of the story that resonates with me these days is when Hermey and Rudolph find their way to the Island of Misfit Toys. All of the toys on this island are castoffs because they are flawed or different. There is a “Charlie in the Box” and a train with square wheels. A boat that sinks in water and a squirt gun that shoots jelly. All of these flawed toys are banished to the Island of Misfit Toys.

    That is how I picture so many sad and tired church-goers. They see themselves as misfits. They believe they are flawed and not worth much of anything. They have allowed a perceived idea of what a “good” Christian should look like to cause them to feel like they don’t measure up. The doubts overwhelm them.  Discouraged followers of Christ start thinking thoughts like these…

    I don’t have theological training.
    I can’t sing well.
    I am not a good teacher.
    I am afraid to share my faith.
    I feel awkward in groups.
    I am not a leader.
    I don’t have much to offer.

    But that is not how the Bible describes a follower of Christ. Every Christian is described as being part of the body of Christ. Scripture makes it clear that every part of the body of Christ is vital to the healthy function of the church.

    I was reminded how might look in practice when I attended a Christmas concert featuring Christian artist Michael W.Smith. Michael has more musical talent in one finger than I have in my entire body. And I confess that I entertained a bit of envy in the early part of the concert. I always wanted to be a musician but I never was willing to commit to that whole practice and hard work thing. And that seemed to slow my progress as a musical talent. Right after I moved past my talent deficit envy I happened to notice (really notice) something that happens at every concert and stage event. At the end of a stirring song a stagehand quietly and efficiently moved onto the stage, set up two microphones and left without fanfare.

    And it occurred to me that his small role in this gigantic production was enormously important. The next event was Smith reading the Christmas account from Scripture as a musician accompanied his narration. Because of the unnoticed stagehand the transition was seamless and the effect was powerful. No one applauded the stagehand. He might have felt unappreciated. He might have envied the acclaim that Michael W.Smith receives. He might have noticed that the audience applauded the arrival of the first chair violinist and the conductor. He might have wished for the rousing applause reserved for the other vocalists and the instrumental soloists.

    But I kept thinking about the stagehand who carefully set the microphones in exactly the right place. I thought about the dozens of unseen technicians that made a magical evening of music happen. Incredibly vital people who did their jobs without a single moment of public adoration. And I think that is what Paul is saying when he talks about how the body of Christ should function. God always sees the stagehand that humbly does his part. God values the technician who makes the music happen without personal recognition. I believe that God would view that stagehand’s seemingly insignificant contribution as being every bit as important as the people in the spotlight when that small role is offered with worship.

    In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he wrote about the distribution of spiritual gifts.

    But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”  In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.

    I realize that I am prone to say it is all about Him and then get upset if no one notices me. So who is it really all about? If my service is for Him I am confident that God takes note. Should it really matter if anyone else does? I am the first to confess that such notice is nice and appreciated. But should it really matter?

    If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

    I am not always glad when another part of the body is honored. How quickly I forget the unmerited gift of grace. If we really comprehended what that meant would we ever question what is in it for me? It is so obvious that I have been given so many gifts of grace whether I gain kudos or not. As I meditate on that today I pray that I will choose to praise God and be content even if He asks me to be the anonymous stagehand that no one ever applauds. My part (and yours) is vital even if it seems no one notices. The truth is that the most important observer does notice. Everyone of us has a purpose that we were created to fulfill. So if you are feeling like a misfit toy this Christmas season you can trust this truth. You are a child of God imputed with His righteousness. You are a saint and you have a new identity rooted in Christ Himself.

    God does not create misfits. He creates people in His image with value and great worth. Satan would like you to retreat to your own island of misfits to feel sad and worthless. But God has another gathering place in mind. The Island of Grace. On that island you are not a misfit. You are a beloved child of God. You are a saint. And in this wonderful place there are no misfits. Paul made that abundantly clear with these words of encouragement to the Church in Rome.

    So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. (Romans 5, NLT)

  • Tweeting God?

    Buffalo Bill’s wide receiver Steve Johnson settled under a well thrown pass that would be the game winner against heavily favored Pittsburgh. The ball tumbled off the hands of the open receiver. Johnson sat in the endzone with a stunned look on his face. After the game he sent the now infamous Tweet questioning what God was up to.

    “I praise you 24/7!!! And this how you do me!!! You expect me to learn from this??? How??? I’ll never forget this!! Ever!! Thx tho.”

    A couple of things come to mind. One is that Twitter has officially ended the use of complete sentences for an entire generation. Second is that Steve Johnson may have chosen an odd forum to express his frustration but his response is not uncommon for honest believers. It makes sense in our performance based culture that if you commit to praising and proclaiming God that you should get a little something in return. Shouldn’t it go a little better for me than for that other player who frequents bad places and does bad things? Shouldn’t God have my back?

    Johnson is not alone in questioning God. Many of the great men and women in the Bible wondered what God was doing at times.

    The classic example is long suffering Job. God describes Job as being upright and blameless and a man who feared God and shunned evil. Despite his exemplary behavior God allows tragedy to befall him. His family is killed and his possessions are lost. Job endures great physical suffering. Job wrote an ancient tweet wondering what God was doing.

    “Why did I not perish at birth,
       and die as I came from the womb?”

    Later he “tweeted” this…

    “I have no peace, no quietness;
       I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

    And this…

    “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer;
       I stand up, but you merely look at me.”

    What honest believer has not felt those emotions? God eventually addresses Job and explains to His servant that He is God and Job is not. I don’t mean to be flippant but that is the essence of God’s dialogue. Job replies with this insight.

    “I know that you can do all things;
       no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
    You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
       Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
       things too wonderful for me to know.”

    Some things are too wonderful for us to know. Some things are simply beyond our understanding. Job chose to trust God and not sin. Job did learn from his tragedy although he probably never understood why so much happened.

    I remember my bride making a declaration of trust when she faced an uncertain future with her breast cancer diagnosis. Her words inspired me. “I am not and I will not question God.” Joni did not want to go through what she went through. But she knew that God had been faithful throughout her journey and she believed that would not change. It did not.

    We have seen how God has used our trials in our lives and in the lives of others through His grace. I read a thoughtful book called The Perfect Loss. Author Chip Dodd begins the volume with these words.

    “Life is tragic; God is faithful.”

    He concludes one story with this observation.

    I wish the story from that point onward could be idyllic, the way we long to have life, but instead God’s faithfulness so often shows most clearly through tragedy. The same way the beauty, the richness, and the detail of a photograph is taken from the negative.

    So much of life is like this pattern—tragedy, then redemption to victory—because we rejected God’s freedom in the beginning, initiating tragedy. Freedom seems like such a wonderful thing, but only if we recognize it as a gift and treat it accordingly. The responsibility of freedom humans have failed miserably. We take the gift and use it over and over and over again to refuse how we are made for relationship with our own hearts, the hearts of others, and the heart of God. Instead of finding full life in how God made us, we use our freedom to refuse relationship if it costs us potential pain of hurt or more hurt; we block with fierceness the very thing that can grant full life—a vulnerable heart before a good God.

    I believe that God is good. I believe in the joy that’s coming. I believe in a God who used brokenness and hurt to tear down the protective walls of self to learn how to trust Him and others with my needs. I believe I can live in a realm of grace that allows me to see and love others without the judgment that clouded the eye of my heart for so long. And I believe in the outcome of the journey no matter how tough it can be at times.

    Paul wrote this to the church at Corinth.

    …As God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4, NLT)

    I pray that you hold firm to your trust and surrender to God when “life” happens. I will not dogpile football player Steve Johnson for his honest response to crushing disappointment. God’s response to our good behavior is not always green lights and blue skies. Johnson will learn this tough lesson if he hasn’t already through this little media firestorm. Sometimes that is how life will “do you” and part of the journey is learning that God is faithful even in the tough trials.