Make it Like the Kingdom
- At April 11, 2015
- By Morgan Reid
- In Ministry, Quotes
0
“The purpose of the church and of the sacraments is to give the world a glimpse of the kingdom, to point in its direction. When we put a kingdom-spin on ordinary things – water, wine, leadership, marriage, friendship, feasting, sickness, forgiveness – we see that they can be holy, they can point us to something greater than ourselves, a fantastic mystery that brings meaning to everything. We make something sacramental when we make it like the kingdom. Marriage is sacramental when it is characterized by mutual love and submission. A meal is sacramental when the rich and poor, powerful and marginalized, sinners and saints share equal status around the table. A local church is sacramental when it is a place where the last are first and the first are last and where those who hunger and thirst are filled. And the church universal is sacramental when it knows no geographic boundaries, no single political party, no one language or culture, and when it advances not through power and might, but through acts of love, joy, and peace and missions of mercy, kindness and humility…
…And even still, the kingdom remains a mystery just beyond our grasp. It is here, and not yet, present and still to come. Consummation, whatever that means, awaits us. Until then, all we have are metaphors. All we have are almosts and not quites and wayside shrines. All we have are imperfect people in an imperfect world doing their best to produce outward signs of inward grace and stumbling all along the way. All we have is this church – this lousy, screwed-up, glorious church – which, by God’s grace, is enough.” – from Rachel Held Evans #SearchingForSunday www.SearchingForSunday.com
Soaking this in: My popcorn and chocolate ice cream
- At December 09, 2014
- By Morgan Reid
- In Ministry, Quotes
0
“Picture two people this afternoon pondering whether to come help clean the church tomorrow night. One is young and healthy and says, “O, I suppose I’ll go. Be worth a few brownie points with the leaders. Maybe they’ll have some snacks. Besides, I’m pretty good at that sort of thing, maybe I can give the rest a few pointers.” So he comes and he grumbles about the tools, he criticizes the way things are planned, he talks on and on about his abilities and his experience, and in general exudes a spirit of vanity. But he works. He may even get more done than some others. Some employers may want such a man if they judge him solely by his efficiency or productivity. But God looks on the heart and takes the whole man into account. And his assessment is: I have received no glory from this supposedly good deed of service, for it was not done in reliance on my power. There was not about it the spirit of joy and gratitude and humility that comes from being borne along on the wings of mercy.
But there is another person this afternoon who is planning his Monday night. He is older and has been quite ill lately—a good deal of pain and stiffness in the knees. There was a time when he worked hard in the church and loved every minute of it and never made a big to-do about inconvenience or sacrifice. “O,” he thought to himself, “how I would love to help out on Monday night. I could encourage some of the downhearted maybe. Or maybe just keep the coffee poured.” So he prayed. And lo and behold, Monday morning there was no pain and no stiffness. So he came. With bells on. He did what he could with a rag and broom and he did it well. But above all he exuded a joy and a sense of gratitude for life and strength that cheered everyone and pointed them to God. He knew that what strength he had was a precious gift of God, and his whole bearing and demeanor gave God the credit. That’s what it means to let your light shine.
But now here’s the hooker. Everyone of us owes every ounce of strength we have to God, just as much as that sick man did. We owe every fiber of intelligence to God, and the slightest resolve to do good is a gift from him. Apart from him we are all cripples. And worse than cripples. We would fly into nothingness without his sustenance, and we would degenerate into devils without his grace. If the totality of our dependence on God would hit us full force, O, how differently we would live and do good. We would “serve as one who renders service by the strength which God supplies.” We would not boast in our achievements, nor criticize the speck in our brother’s eye, nor grumble about inconveniences, nor be presumptuous in any way, as if even existence itself could be taken for granted! No, a person who truly owns up to the fact that he exists by the word of God, that all his strength and moral resolve is a gift of God, that person will have a spirit of joy and gratitude and lowliness. And in serving this way God gets the glory.
O, how I want to make sure that the image in your mind of how to glorify God is not wrong. For many it’s like waking up in the morning, looking up to God and saying, “You are worthy to be glorified today, Lord, and I will do my best.” Then they look over and on their Bible is a big block of lead with shoulder straps. And on the block is inscribed: “The duty to glorify God all day.” They strap it on, muster their strength and resolve, and head off to glorify God.
If that image, or one like it, is the way you feel about glorifying God, please look and see that 1 Peter 4:11 shatters such an image. May I suggest a more biblical image? There is a man, and I know him well (he is the husband of my wife and father to my sons), who wakes up in the morning and looks up into heaven and says, “You are worthy to be glorified today, Lord, but there is in me—that is in my flesh—no good thing. I have no strength, no wisdom, no resolve to do good but what comes undeserved from you, O God. And I love you. It would be to my greatest fulfillment, my highest pleasure, my richest treasure, my popcorn and my chocolate ice cream if at the end of this day I could believe that someone has come to cherish your power and wisdom and love more intensely because of me. God, let it be.”
And then he looks over and on his Bible there is this strange contraption of straps like a harness. And on the back of this harness there is a rope attached that runs up through the roof and into heaven. And he gets up, straps on the harness, gives a little jerk, leans into it, and God supports him all day. On the broad, brown leather strap across the front you can see the lettering: “My harness is easy and my burden is light.”
God gets glory not from our heroic exertion but from our reliance upon his strength—when we serve as one who serves with the strength which God supplies.” – John Piper
Soaking this in: Life on display
- At December 09, 2014
- By Morgan Reid
- In Quotes, Reflections
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“If you are a believer in Jesus, that’s what your life is. Your works, your life is a display of the trustworthiness of Jesus.” – John Piper
What does my worry say about Jesus?
My anger, greed, pride, selfishness and complaining?
“Jesus isn’t good enough for me and to me.”
O for grace to trust Him more.
Soaking this in: Be a people
- At December 09, 2014
- By Morgan Reid
- In Ministry, Quotes
0
“Be a people zealous for good deeds. Be a people who are not enslaved to worldly comforts, but who consider it more blessed to give than to receive. Be a people who dream not about the comforts of bigger salaries or days of vacation and retirement, but who dream about how many different and creative ways we can make a name for the glory of the grace of God in this city and around the world.” – John Piper
soaking this in
- At November 24, 2014
- By Morgan Reid
- In Ministry, Quotes
0
“…Aren’t our lives of devotion and faithfulness to Jesus supposed to encourage curiosity as they wonder where we find our satisfaction, everlasting joy and unfailing love?” Exactly. John Piper says something like, “Be salty – make those around you thirsty for Jesus.”
beds n littles: soaking this in
- At November 15, 2014
- By Morgan Reid
- In Quotes
0
“One thing I want to work on and get great at is having great beds for the kids. When they look back on their childhood, I want them to remember climbing into a clean, warm, comfy bed – positively exhausted by all our living and loving.” – Jessica Connolly
Soaking this in . . .
- At August 15, 2014
- By Morgan Reid
- In Quotes
0
Thou art the LORD Who slept on the pillow,
Thou art the LORD Who soothed the furious sea,
What matter beating wind and tossing billow
If only we are in the boat with Thee?
Hold us quiet through the age-long minute
While Thou art silent and the wind is shrill:
Can the boat sink while Thou, dear LORD, art in it?
Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?
– Amy Carmichael
“Chart and Compass come from Thee
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.”
Soaking in this:
- At July 12, 2014
- By Morgan Reid
- In Quotes
0
“I’m happy to have small ways to capture and create beauty. There is joy in beauty and it makes me happy. Pope Francis writes,
‘Every form of catechesis would do well to attend to the “way of beauty” (via pulchritudinis). Proclaiming Christ means showing that to believe in and to follow him is not only something right and true, but also something beautiful, capable of filling life with new splendor and profound joy, even in the midst of difficulties. Every expression of true beauty can thus be acknowledged as a path leading to an encounter with the Lord Jesus.’
Isn’t that what life in a family is: a living, breathing, daily catechesis? Let’s let it be beautiful!” –Elizabeth Foss