Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
(2 Timothy 2:22), 1 John, 3:1-3
1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
I have a picture on my desk. It is sitting just in front of the monitor and next to the keyboard. The picture is of Leslie, Hannah, Caleb, Judson, and me, taken in 1999. Judson was coming up on 4 months of age, Caleb was not yet 2, Hannah had just turned 4. The Christmas tree is behind us, and the kids and Leslie are decked out in festive red and green. All of us except Judson have smiles on our faces, to varying degrees. Hannah is smiling sunnily straight into the camera, Caleb looks like he’s getting ready to say something (nothing new under the sun), Judson is looking down at his hand, holding Leslie’s, and Leslie and I are both looking into the lens.
That year, Christmas was an incredible time. I’m not sure what the children will remember of it, but it will always have a special place in both my and Leslie’s life.
You see, a little over a month before the picture was taken, I had lost my job. Although Leslie was working part time at Thalia Lynn, her salary was not enough for us to meet expenses, much less attempt to live on.
Though everything in me wanted to curl up and sleep for a week or more after I was dismissed, she wouldn’t let me. The very next day, I was sent to the employment office to fill out the necessary paperwork, and begin the process of securing a new job.
Exactly two months later, my next employer hired me. The story of those two months is the story of God’s unmerited, unexpected, and undying love, expressed through not only church members, but co-workers, friends from the day school where Hannah was attending, and even the staff at the credit union where we banked.
The director of the child development center at church offered me a temporary job in the kitchen, as dishwasher. I accepted, and even though it only paid minimum wage, it kept me in motion. I only ended up working there for a week, but I consider that time to have been critical to my understanding of what it means to BE God’s presence and grace in someone else’s life, and what it means to ACCEPT God’s presence and grace in your own life.
This is what I learned:
God has gifted you with a mind and a body, and has graced you with a place of service. That place of service may not always be the picture of paradise we always hope for, but it is where you are, and God is with you. Putting those two things together means that, in truth, regardless of where you are, God is with you, and you are therefore his ambassador, his representative. As such, when you act, God either acts in sometimes seemingly insignificant ways or doesn’t.
To speak of love in a Christian context is to attempt to put into words what can only be shown in deeds. If we say we love and don’t show it, the words don’t amount to much. If we say we love and show something contrary to that love, it does more than immediate damage. It creates a precedent of untruth that works against not only the immediate situation, but taints any future encounters.
The other thing I learned was to be ready to receive God’s grace from unexpected sources.
A friend from Church, a new Christian who had sung with Leslie in the praise team that plays for the contemporary service, called me from his job and let me know of a temporary opening as receptionist for the real estate firm with whom his boss shared a building. I started working for them at the beginning of December, and worked there for the next 6 weeks. During those 6 weeks, I saw a world I’d not been exposed to before. Real estate in a competitive market can be a cutthroat business. It may have been due to the season, but as Christmas approached, I witnessed God’s grace moving through those agents and brokers to a degree that I had not thought possible.
But then, as soon as I say that, I’m reminded of the verse in Luke 18,
‘What is impossible for mortals is Possible for God’.
I could go on about our experiences during those two months, about the members of our church who walked up to us with a hug and a Christmas card that included a check, or how bags of groceries seemed to appear either on our doorstep or in our Sunday school room, about the host of angels WE encountered that Christmas.
As the text says, beloved, we are God’s Children now. As a child, we are imprinted with our parent’s behavior.
Let it be so with us as children of God.
Paul says, What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is
Insofar as we become more and more like God, how will the love of God be manifested in us?
Dan mentioned taking on one prejudice to rid himself of during the season of lent. As we move into this new school year, perhaps we can take on the challenge as we approach Christmas and find that new way to love. That new way to be Christ in unexpected ways.
(read note – and refer to Gayle’s email)
Let’s pray
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