December 21st 2009
I’ve been listening to a few podcasts from what Bethyl likes to call “my men in a box”. This morning two separate speakers were both focusing on giving to the poor as being the heart of the gospel. “If you do not leave all that you have behind, you are not worthy to be called my disciples…” These are hard words for me. What do they actually mean? Like Francis of Assisi-- leave the rich clothing-merchant father’s house; strip naked; walk away to fulfill his destiny? Or live the life of the “righteous rich” and give wisely here and there to those within my narrow circle of influence? I am also piqued in my spirit by this poem, and am pondering its meaning also in the same vein:
Christmas Poor
You are the caller; you are the poor.
You are the stranger at my door.
You are the wanderer, the unfed;
You are the homeless with no bed.
You are the man driven insane.
You are the child crying in pain.
You are the other who comes to me.
If I open to another, You’re born in me.
--from The Edge of Glory, by David Adam
Dear Lord, give the wisdom to effectively be your arms and legs, your mouthpiece, your body on this planet. Teach me to live within my limits but unselfishly so. I invite you, reader, to comment what this means to you.
3 comments:
To me, it means every believer is called to be the hands and feet of Jesus according to God's specific and unique call for them. Just as there are many differing gifts, so there are many differing calls. In my experience, it comes down to what are God's marching orders for me? Where has my Commanding Officer assigned me? Ephesians 2:10 says we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that God prepared in advance for us to do. My challenge is to discover what good works I am assigned to do for him.
I liken it to a nation at war: Some citizens fight on the front lines, some provide support and leadership from the rear lines, some transport supplies from the home front, some work in factories and on farms producing supplies for shipment. All form one team with one goal--win the war. So in God's army: It is the prerogative of the Commander of the Lord's Armies (Joshua 5:14) to set goals, design strategies, and assign people. Our place is to discern God's leading and obey--what I call the AAA plan: Go anywhere, anytime to do anything God asks you to do.
Sharon and I have taken great risks and paid steep cost to obey the Lord's calling at different times. At times we have taken risks and paid costs God wasn't asking us to take and pay--thinking we were doing what God wanted when in fact we were acting on other motivations such as a need for significance. God allowed us to get torched without being destroyed, teaching us that we need to be sure we are only doing what God asks of us. That has left me saying, "Don't take a risk God isn't asking you to take; don't pay a cost God isn't asking you to pay."
This was illustrated for me in John Yun's book, "The Heavenly Man." He writes about a few times he took risks God wasn't asking him to take out of his own internal issues such as burnout or overcommitment to doing ministry, resulting in him getting caught and imprisoned.
For me the bottom line is to live my life with open palms, holding everything I value up before God, willing for God to take and use or take away anything he deems best for his purposes. It's the willingness of our hearts that I think is most important. Then, God will guide in investing all he has given us in his ways for the accomplishing of his purposes--the good works he has already prepared in advance for us to do.
For me it means, to summarize by borrowing from John Wimber, "I'm just small change in God's pocket. He can spend me anyway he wants."
Vance and Bethyl,
"Upon further review" (as the football referee first says reviewing a play via instant replay)...
What it means to me is:
God leads each believer to live in a certain context and in a certain lifestyle. It comes down to "Trust and Obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus." God's leading is individual as to whether someone is called to the front lines, the back lines, or somewhere on the home front. Those good works are already prepared for us by God, per Ephesians 3:10. So our challenge is to seek the Lord for discernment on his leading. Where he guides, he provides!
Vance and Bethyl,
This so much reminds me of Martha and Mary in the book of Luke. Mary delighted in sitting at the Lord's feet and drawing from his wisdom while Martha concerned herself with many tasks.Ofcourse Mary was going against what was expected, that of a woman's obligation to offer hospitality to a guest.She gave boldly, herself to Jesus. Jesus told Martha however of one needful thing, which Mary had chosen. Many at times we get distracted to hear the voice of the Lord in the most intimate ways he speaks to us. Sometimes we get amassed in consumerism and popular culture and fail to recognize the divine duty we are called to do in this world. The Lord is preparing us to be servant leaders in a world more wanting than before and more thirsty to hear of God's love and grace. I think the main challenge is to choose the needful thing. Once chosen, i believe the Lord will safely lead, every step of the way.
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