Who’s in my shirt?

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Apr 222010
 

I have several thick, heavy, over-sized flannel shirts that I enjoy wearing in the winter. Sometimes I will plan to wear one, only to have it mysteriously disappear. Later, I will discover it wrapped around something- my youngest daughter!  I know that you can tell from previous blog posts that I share a special relationship with my daughters that is an important part of my life! The first time or two that she swiped my shirt, she would respond a little sheepishly when discovered.

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son… “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.”But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. Matthew 22

I told her once that I was happy to have her wear my shirts or jackets any time.  “Whoever is in my clothes belongs to me,” I said. She has an open invitation to wear them whenever she wishes, knowing that I will never rebuke her for doing so.  She belongs to me, and while I say it somewhat jokingly, my shirt covering her is a sign of that fact! Her behavior is irrelevant. Good day or bad, she still belongs to me. That can never change.

The king welcomed everyone in to the banquet, good and bad. He freely provided wedding garments so that all would be comfortable and feel that they belonged.  The garment was a visible sign of approval, of belonging. Jesus said that His kingdom is just like that!  He freely provides the beautiful garment of His righteousness to us. We don’t deserve it. Can’t earn it. Can’t beg, borrow or steal it. All we can do is to just accept it. I can see my daughter relaxing in my shirt, relishing the welcome warmth of it, reveling in the knowing that she belongs in it. I can relax in Jesus’ garment, comforted as it covers me completely, knowing that I belong in it, knowing that I belong to Him!

Moses intercedes……or did he really?

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Nov 232009
 

Last Wednesday I had planned a special meeting for our 8th grade  unit within our church’s christian scouting club. We had been working toward each one of them taking personal responsibility for making space in their day for TAG time, Time Alone with God. Teens are so busy these days that it is difficult to help them prioritize and focus. I decided that we would spend most of our meeting time helping them to choose a special place and time as well as choosing partners to voluntarily keep themselves accountable to each other. I planned a special video to help set the tone. While many of the kids were receptive and cooperative, there were several who were repeatedly disruptive and disrespectful. By the end of the night, I was very frustrated. I went home thinking that it was a waste of time and that I would never be able to connect with them in a way that would help them grow.

The next morning, during my long commute to work, I prayed and grumbled to God about the trouble I had the previous night. I asked God if there was something I was doing that was in the way. I was struggling with whether I could effectively continue this ministry. As I continued to drive, I felt God impressing me to review a story I heard at church the week before. One that had been told for a very different purpose then, but one that He wanted to use for me that morning:

Moses was on the top of Mt. Sinai, receiving the Ten Commandments from God’s own hand. God told him that the people of Israel were committing sin in the camp. He said to Moses,

“Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” Exodus 32

Moses could have proudly accepted this great honor. Instead, he pled for mercy and went down to the camp, already hearing the sounds of the idol worship filling the camp below. When he reached the camp, he saw the people worshipping a golden calf they had made!  After confronting them with their great sin, he went back up the mountain to talk to God about it.

So Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold.  But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”

This story seems to support the common view of the stern, judgmental God of the Old Testament. However, a few verses later, God says otherwise. No, God didn’t need Moses to plead for the lives of the people. God needed Moses to love his people like God loves them. Unconditionally, without strings, without limit, no matter what. God had even told Moses that He would make his descendants the chosen people! What an honor! Even so, Moses still persisted in interceding for the Israelites.

God’s message for me that morning on the road was this: Bob, Know me! Love like I love!  Those 21 teens are my chosen ones. Can you love them unconditionally, without strings, without limit, no matter what? I need to teach you how to love like Me. I need to teach you to love like My Son lived. Can you love them like that?

How humbling that was. We each have opportunities to love like Jesus every day. Can we let God grow us so that we can love regardless of the outcome? Love no matter what the response?

And yes, teens, I don’t mind a bit if you read this!

shared in the workplace 11/19/09

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