Doing the Word

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. – James 1:22 (NIV)

How can someone deceive himself or herself by only listening to the word? Do you feel you have ever deceived yourself? What does it mean to “do” what the word says? What is an example of doing what the word says that you can think of right now?

My sister called me up the other day and told me about a little boy around 7 or 8 years old. He earned money throughout the year either because of gifts given or doing the odd job around the house. There was always the promise that as he earned the money he would be able to buy something with it, so the little boy kept earning money.
Toward the beginning of December his mother asked him if he wanted to use his money. Excited the little boy shook his head yes. “Do you know what you want to buy?” asked his mother. The little boy shook his head yes. “What do you want to use your money for?” his mother prodded. The boy looked at his mother and said, “I want to give half of it to Toys for Tots, and half to the Veterans Relief Fund.” Understandably his mother was shocked, “Are you sure?” “Yes, yes mom, I am sure.”
The boy’s mother told people about how her son wanted to spend his money and it inspired a couple of people who heard. These inspired people said that they would match the little boy’s gift. Several days later the boy walked into a Toy’s for Tots donation center and gave them half of his money and half of the matched gifts. Then he went to the place to donate for the Veterans Relief Fund and did the same. All total the little boy gave almost $500. What awesome work done by someone so young!

Jesus said, “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.” There is no doubt that little boy did what that word says! What word is it time to do that we have heard? As we approach the New Year let us make a resolution to do the word we have heard; we may be amazed at what occurs!

With hope and joy,
Garrett

The Grace and Truth Within

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. – John 1:14 (NRSV)

What does it mean to you that the Word became flesh? How have you witnessed Jesus live among you? Where have you seen his glory? Where is his grace and truth still on full display? How do you celebrate this event?

I once heard a story of a woman in her early 30s who went to a soup kitchen with some friends to serve the needy. It was Christmas time and they all felt the spirit of the season and knew they needed to do something to help others. The group of them arrived and began to help cook, and set up the coats that were to be given away, and prepare the tables for the people who were about to arrive.
The woman had taken off her coat and set it on a chair as she helped set things up. Eventually the needy people arrived and they were served a hot meal prepared with love, they were able to look through coats and take what they needed, it all went off well. As the afternoon kept going on, one of the woman’s friends came up to her and said, “I just saw someone go off with your coat! She must have thought it was being given away.” “Oh no that is my best coat, and it goes so well with my scarf.” “Well you should go run after her and get it back.”
The woman grabbed her scarf and ran off after the lady who had mistakenly taken her coat. A couple of minutes later she returned. Her friend asked, “Where is your coat? Was she unwilling to give it back?” “No, no, I didn’t ask for it back.” “Why not?” “I was running after her and then realized I can get a new coat. So I decided to give her the scarf too, because it goes so well with the coat.”

Jesus still lives among us. Jesus lives in every kind act, in every loving heart, in every joy filled laugh, and in every moment that is full of grace and truth. That woman was full of grace and truth when she made it back to the soup kitchen. Christmas is approaching. Let us pray that this Christmas is the one where we accept Jesus into our hearts so that he lives in us not just at this time of year, but all year every year. Then people might see his glory through us!

With hope and joy,
Garrett

Minister's Minute from December Issue of the Journal of Hope and Joy

A couple of weeks ago I drove to Tifton. It was a beautiful day. After two years in this place I am still surprised by the beautiful days. The perfect blue sky was lined with clouds as though some grand painter had made lines of clouds and lines of sky in a pattern that seemed to go on in every direction forever. Gentle suggestions of the arrival of fall peppered some of the trees. The yellows, the oranges, the reds, the purples, the browns, all of those colors that are at one end of the spectrum and announce the arrival of cooler weather and shorter days were on display, but just as a beginning. By now the colors must even be more glorious than they were then. The sun in her orbit played with the trees creating shadows that danced on the hood of my car as I moved in the direction of my destination.
I made it to the little hospital in Tifton finding a parking space and rejoicing that I could leave my car and let the breeze blow through my hair and bathe in the sunlight. Walking toward the entrance of the hospital I could not help but sing gently to myself some hymn. I do not remember now if it was a hymn I knew, or some other hymn of my creation that was inspired in the moment. Into the hospital I went and after a brief amount of confusion as to how to get to the room for which I was searching I arrived. For some reason or another every time I go to a new hospital I get lost within its walls; part of me laughed when I finally got to the door of the room I wanted, that I always get lost.
I knocked on the door and then walked into a miracle. There is nothing better in the world than experiencing the miracle of creation in all its grandeur, seeing things that still inspire poets to write, prophets to prophesy, and painters to paint, and then walking into the miracle of life. Inside the room I entered was a newborn baby held in her mother’s arms, a father who had been a father for no more than 10 hours, and two grandmothers smiling with a joy I have only seen in a grandmother’s smile. From the holy event of a beautiful day that each of us is invited to partake of, I was then invited into the holy event of this beautiful moment. I stayed for awhile and then prayed with them and left.
My footsteps felt light, but it was only the joy surging through my spirit that kept me from noticing my steps at all. I pushed the button for the elevator and waited. A janitor came by and we started a conversation. Within a minute we were quoting scripture to each other and sharing our love of God. I missed the elevator once or twice, but it was worth it to hear this man share his testimonies, his joys and his hopes. After five minutes I said, “I am having a great day and you somehow made my day better, thank you.” He responded, “All for the glory of God!” And so it was I suppose, because I glorified God all the more as I walked back into the beauty that was occurring outside that day.
I surely did not believe I could experience another thing that would make my day better… and then I heard a woman singing. I looked around to find the voice, and there a large, older African-American woman was gently singing to herself a hymn of her own creation. To a melody I have never heard, but I now imagine choirs of angels use, she repeated the phrase, “Hallelujah Jesus, Hallelujah Jesus.” I went up to her and said, “Amen!” She smiled at me and she got louder. We walked for a while together, her singing, me praying silently, but I believe she knew I was praying.
As I got into my car I was excited for the drive back so I could shower in the beauty again, but a part of me could not help but believe I had just encountered angels. An angel as a newborn sleeping perfectly in her mother’s arms. An angel as a father looking proudly on. An angel as a mother pouring out love for the little creation that is hers. An angel found in the smiles of grandmothers. An angel as a janitor who just happened to make my day better all for the glory of God. And finally an angel as a woman who I walked with for only a couple of minutes, the only word we exchanged was “Amen,” and yet it was so much more. Maybe angels are everywhere offering us peace, and maybe we are angels for others and thereby need to offer peace. I don’t know, but it is something to think about during the Christmas season.
Riding the Wave of the Holy Spirit,
Garrett

A Time For Fellowship

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. – John 19:26-27 (NRSV)

Why do you think Jesus wanted to make sure these two had someone to care for them before he died? What may have been going through his mother’s mind? What about the beloved disciple’s mind? This is one of the last words Jesus spoke, what does it say about how we should live?

The following is a story about Marian Anderson that I have heard a couple of times.
Marian Anderson, an African-American singer who helped break down the walls of race, made her debut at Carnegie Hall, demonstrating to all a voice that is still considered one of the best ever today. At the end of the concert she sang “Ave Maria,” and people called her back for an encore, and then another, and then another, and she finally ended by singing, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.” Her mother was sitting in the audience weeping. The person next to her asked her why she was crying when her daughter was doing so well, and she responded, “I’m crying for joy.”
She then recalled a moment when Marian was a girl saying, “I was working in a kitchen, my hands were burned, my face scalded, it was hard, but I did it so my daughter could get an education. I remember one day Marian came to me and said, ‘Mother, I don’t want you working like this.’ And I looked down at her and said, ‘Honey I don’t mind, I’m doing it for you and I expect great things from you.’”
Years later someone asked Marian Anderson what the happiest moment of her life was. “Was it when you made that debut in Carnegie Hall?” “No it wasn’t then.” “Was it the time you stood before the kings and queens of Europe?” “No it wasn’t then.” “Was it the moment in Finland when it was declared that the roof was too low for a voice such as yours?” “No it wasn’t then.” “Was it when Toscanini said that a voice like yours comes only once in a century?” “No it wasn’t then.” “What was it then Miss Anderson?” “The happiest moment in my life was the moment that I could say, ‘Mother, you can stop working now.’”

Jesus knew that no one could get anywhere by himself or herself. Each one of us has made it as far as we have because of hundreds, maybe even thousands of other people who have helped us along the way. People were not meant to be alone and cannot go through life alone. Knowing that people need fellowship, Jesus made sure that his mother and his beloved disciple received fellowship in each other. We now must become fellows to each other, and discover friends in others; it is the only way we can make it all!

With hope and joy,
Garrett

Turning Lives Loose

“In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people.” – Mark 10:45 (NCV)

How do you believe Jesus has served you? Have you seen him still serving today? What does it mean to you that Jesus gave his life to you? What is the proper response to this gift?

The following story is by Fred Craddock as found in “Craddock Stories” ed. Mike Graves and Richard F. Ward, Chalice Press, 2001, pg. 46.
You don’t just turn loose of life. Life is a very tenacious thing and will not give itself up easily. First time I ever realized that was while chopping cotton on a farm. I don’t know if you know what chopping cotton is, but you’re chopping everything but the cotton. You’re chopping the weeds and all. But there was a snake, which I killed, but then I had to keep chopping the snake, calling my father and saying, “I’ve killed the snake, but it won’t stop wiggling.”
He said, “Well, son, a snake won’t die until sundown.” I didn’t know that. He said, “You hang it on a fence,” so I picked it up with a hoe and put it over a fence. Every once in a while I’d look over at the fence, and there was just the tail of that snake moving just like that, until sundown. I learned for the first time that it’s hard to give up life, just turn it loose.
And Jesus said, “I’m going to turn it loose.” But it was not a decision that was determined by his friends – they tried to oppose it – and it was not a decision determined by his enemies. He looked at them with a level gaze and said, “You’re not taking my life; I’m giving my life.” He was free.

Jesus freely gave up life in order that we may have life! There is a lot of celebration going on this time of year. Most of it is momentary celebration however, it will be forgotten as soon as we pack up the decorations and begin the drudgery of life again. That is why this free gift is important, because it is the reason we can celebrate forever and ever! There is something else though. Rejoicing in Jesus giving up his life is not the full extent of our celebration. Our joy becomes complete when we give up our lives in response, turning them loose to Jesus. Now that will be a celebration!

With hope and joy,
Garrett