A Day of Small Things

“Then the word of the Lord came to me: ‘The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple;  his hands will complete it.  Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.  Who despises the day of small things?  Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”  Zechariah 4:8-10

 

In this reading the prophet Zechariah, is encouraging the Jews who had returned from exile in Babylon to complete the building of God’s temple, which had stalled.  Many of the older Jews were disheartened because they realized that the new temple would not match the grandeur of the old one.  Zechariah encourages them to think positively:  God is pleased when His people do the right thing, regardless of the size of the enterprise.  This passage gives me hope for our congregation.  We are small, but we can still do God’s work where He has planted us.  To be honest, aren’t the small things what most of us are able to do?  We can show hospitality to a neighbor, kindness to those we meet;  we can bear someone’s burdens for a day or an hour;  we can pray for the world.  These may seem like small, everyday tasks, but they add up to a lifetime of love and doing God’s will.  This quote by Issac Penington (a Quaker) was in one of my daily devotional readings, and I would like to share it with you this morning:

“Oh!  look not after great things:  small breathings, small desires after the Lord, if true and pure are sweet beginnings of life.  Take heed of despising ‘the day of small things,’ by looking after some visitation, proportional to thy distress according to thy eye.  Nay, thou must become a child;  thou must lose thy own will quite by degrees.  Thou must wait for life to be measured out by the Father, and be content with what proportion, and what time, He shall please to measure.”

For most of us, today will be a day of small things.  Do those small things well, and leave the big picture in God’s hands.

 

Seek Ye First

On a Via de Cristo weekend, one of the talks is entitled “Piety.”  We learn that piety is part of a balanced Christian life, which also includes study and apostolic action.  True piety means directing your entire life toward God;  doing His will, understanding His purposes.  The song, “Seek Ye First” is a good reminder to do this every day.

Love Yourself?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  Matthew 22:37-39

As I’ve been thinking about the theme for this month my brain keeps coming back to the thought of loving yourself.  I have a really hard time with this concept as a Christian.  I know that God loves me and created me (and God don’t make no junk!) but my brain gets scrambled with the worlds’ concept of loving ourselves.

We are bombarded everyday with advertisements about making ourselves better.  If we do this or buy that we’ll be so much better, so much prettier, so much more desirable as a person.  Beauty products, hair products, vitamins, gym equipment, clothes, shoes; the list goes on and on.  Go to this spa, this gym, this hairdresser and they will make you look wonderful.  Maybe we don’t love ourselves if we are constantly trying to fix something or maybe we love ourselves too much because we spend so much time and money, and we’re worth it?  Then there are the self-esteem and self-image problems and I, truly, don’t even want to go there. There are so many self-help books, just pick a problem and then pick up a book to fix it.

What does loving myself look like?  I look at myself and I see a corrupt, sinful being.  How can I love that?  I know that Jesus loves me and that he died for me.  I was created for a purpose.  That makes me think that, perhaps, I might be worth saving.  Jesus certainly thinks so.

Then I’m to take this new found love for myself and turn it on my neighbor.  Oh boy.  What a task!!  Although, I think that sometimes it’s easier to love our neighbor then it is to love ourselves.  I have no problem taking care of others; I’ve proved that with my care-giving roles.  I have a tough time taking care of myself and I think that is where my problem is.  I need to stop looking at the world for the answer to my dilemma.

As a child of God I should respect and take care of myself so that I’m ready to do God’s will.  I don’t need to go overboard and try to be a fashion or makeup model.  I have to be me, the person God created.  I know, that’s easier said than done.  But in the future, I will try to love myself more as the Lord loves me.  Then it will be easier to love my neighbor and I’m sure that the quality of that love will be much better.

 

 

Stewardship of Our Life

I blogged recently about being a Pastor’s wife.  The truth is I, and all of you, have many roles.  We are mothers and wives, employees and daughters, friends and neighbors, church members and siblings.  In each of these roles we have a responsibility to be God’s hands and feet in the world.  On a Via de Cristo weekend, we call the team members who are serving  others chas, which stands for Christ’s hands in Action.  When you think of your whole life that way, it puts a different perspective on the smallest and most mundane actions.

Martin Luther, changed the whole understanding of vocation.  In his time, those who had a “vocation” were the priests, nuns and monks.  These people were the ones who were giving their lives to God.  Luther said everyone could do this;  those in religious orders were no different or better than the ordinary person who was striving to dedicate their daily life to God.  Milking cows was as holy and important a role as leading the Mass.

This doesn’t mean we can go about our lives without any thought of God;  instead it means that we should be thinking of God and trying to do His will ALL THE TIME.  Imagine how the world would change if every one of us did this?  It would put an end to a lot of cursing, gossip, insults and other kinds of careless talk.  It would lead to productive employees, concerned parents, helpful neighbors and caring friends.  I suspect that the harder I try to do this, the more contented and peaceful I’ll become.

The work I have in this world is the work God has given me.  The roles I fulfill are the ones He chose for me.  Each of them will teach me something and bring me closer to Him if I just remember who I am:  a steward of the King.