A Priceless Collection

           What do you collect?

            I used to collect sandcastles. Not the ones high tide washes away. The permanent ones you can buy in shops on the boardwalk. Every summer on vacation in Ocean City, New Jersey, I carefully chose another sandcastle to bring home.

            Now I collect teddy bears. Most of them spend most of the year in plastic bins in the basement or attic, but they move to the living room in December. They are my Christmas bears, dozens of them. And my Hanukkah bears, three or four of them. And a few assorted non-bears like sheep and dogs and even a moose. But mostly bears. I often can’t resist adding to my plethora of bears; I especially like rescuing cast off bears from thrift stores.

A fraction of my bears

            Does Jesus collect anything?

            Today’s devotion in the Secret Place surprised me. Author John A. Fischer points out that we are God’s gift to Jesus. I had to read that sentence twice. And underline it. “…God has given us to Jesus as a gift.” I’m used to thinking of Jesus as God’s gift to me, but I never thought of myself as God’s gift to Jesus. And yet there it is in John 17:24, a sentence in Jesus’ prayer the evening of his arrest, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”

            Jesus collects people given to him by his Father. He loves and treasures them. Even though he has a plethora, many sets of ninety-nine, Jesus searches for the ones who are cast off and ragged. (See Luke 15.)

See the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15.

            Who would have ever thought a girl from Park Ridge, New Jersey would become part of a priceless collection? And yet I am. And you can be, too.

Misconception Correction

            Today’s Secret Place devotion directed me to 1 Kings 19, a chapter I always like to read. I first encountered this narrative about Elijah in May of 1966, in fact, on the Sunday following May 9. How do I know this?

Not all Mondays are bad.

            The counselor who helped me pray to receive Christ gave me a booklet which included pages to take sermon notes. The first sermon I heard after my conversion was titled “A Prophet of God under the Juniper Tree,” preached by Rev. Bruce Allen, the young, red-haired pastor of the First Baptist Church of Pascack Valley in Washington Township, New Jersey.

             Being the nostalgic pack rat I am, I imagine that little booklet with the notes is still in a box in my attic.

           

Super 8 has red Gideons Bibles.

Reading 1 Kings 19 (in the hotel’s Gideons-placed KJV Bible), I’m captivated by God’s compassion and tenderness toward Elijah, when God could have said, “Suck it up, Buttercup!”

            In chapter 18 Elijah experiences a huge spiritual victory, validating both Elijah as a prophet and God himself as God alone. However, chapter 19 starts with a death threat from the infamous Jezebel, and Elijah, terror-stricken, heads for the hills.

            At a safe distance from Jezebel, Elijah experiences restorative sleep and is awakened twice to eat meals prepared by an angel. What was in that second meal? It powered him to travel forty days and forty nights to God’s mountain. Talk about your superfood!

            In a cave, Elijah gets to tell God his complaint, which turns out to be a misconception. “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (verse 10)

            God gives a three-fold demo of brute strength and finally speaks in “a still small voice” (KJV) or “a gentle whisper.” (NIV) Elijah responds only to the whisper and comes to the mouth of the cave. God renews Elijah’s mission and tells him where to find an assistant. Then God corrects the prophet’s misconception. “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” (verse 18)

            Instead of a harsh tongue-lashing for his wrong thinking and lack of faith, God gives Elijah a gentle misconception correction. “You’re not alone, buddy. You may feel alone, but I have thousands more faithful non-idol-worshiping followers. But why don’t you take Elisha with you for moral support?”

Who is wielding the fly swatter?

            Why do so many of us feel God is waiting to squash us like bugs? Have we experienced too much squashed-bug corrections from parents, teachers, spouses, and other authority figures? And here’s a scary question:  Because of my own squashed-bug experiences, am I prone to squash others like bugs when I’m in the position to correct? Have I made my sons and my students feel like squashed bugs?

            I know the Gospels well enough to know Jesus often used a fly swatter on the Pharisees, but it seems he was much gentler with his friends and followers. Even Peter, after denying three times that he knew the Lord, received only a look. (Luke 22:61)

            In his Gospel, Matthew uses this quote from Isaiah to refer to Jesus: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out…” (Matthew 12:20, Isaiah 42:3) I want to wrap myself in the tender poetry of these images.

            And I want to remember this blog post after school starts.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version.

Thinking about Mary

            Yesterday’s reading in the Secret Place—which I didn’t read until this morning—focused on Mary’s courage, from Luke 1:26 – 38. Manny Santiago's words got me thinking about my own courage or lack thereof.

            How do I react to change, or even an announcement of change? How do I react to strange? What if an angel showed up in my kitchen or in my car on the way to work?

The Annunciation from the Nativity Story

 

            Mary’s first reaction was to be “greatly troubled” and I surmise fearful, since the angel’s next words start with, “Do not be afraid, Mary.” What enabled Mary to move from “greatly troubled” in verse 26 to “bring it on” in verse 38? Why didn’t Mary argue like Moses (Exodus 3 – 4) or nervously ask for proof like Gideon (Judges 6)?

            Some might point out that Mary seems to be arguing or asking for proof when she says, “How will this be since I am a virgin?” I think she’s asking for clarity. “Excuse me, Mr. Angel. Did you mean I’m going to conceive this child after Joseph and I get married? Or did you mean right now in some other way?” I think that’s a reasonable question. Apparently, Gabriel agrees, because instead of striking her mute like Zechariah earlier in the chapter, he explains.

            I notice four things in the scripture passage that suggest how Mary got past “greatly troubled.” Three of them start with the letter “p.” I really wish all four did, because I’m all about alliteration. But maybe the three explain the one.

God’s Favor, featuring

     God’s Presence—The Lord is with you.

            God’s Power—The power of the Most High will overshadow you.

                   God’s Promise—For with God nothing will be impossible. (1:37, NKJV)

            Gabriel calls Mary “highly favored” and also tells her “you have found favor with God.” Dictionary.com lists numerous shades of meaning for “favor” both as a noun and verb, and I think these fit: the state of being approved or held in regard, excessive kindness…; preferential treatment. 

            Let’s be clear that usually when someone in scripture is favored and chosen, it’s not for a trip to Disney, but for a difficult assignment. (No wonder Moses and Gideon protested.) In nine or so months, Mary will hear this warning from the old saint Simeon, “And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Luke 1:35)

            Along with God’s favor, Gabriel assures Mary she also receives God’s presence, power and promise. It’s part of the favor package. 

            Now here’s the best part:  That favor package is offered to all of us! When I’m confronted with change or strange or a difficult assignment from God, I also have access to God’s presence, God’s power, and God’s promises upon promises upon promises.

            I hope I remember that. I hope you do, too.

 ²⁶In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[b] the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”

³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. 

(Luke 1, NIV, from www.biblegateway.com)