Sacrifice for Others

The American summer is bracketed with the two holidays of Memorial Day and Labor Day and highlighted in the middle with Independence Day. We citizens of the grand old United States make the most of these holidays as they give us a day off from work and often make for an extended weekend free from office or manual labor.

They should represent days of greater importance to us, however, than simply days not to have to go to the office or the factory. They are times we need to remember the sacrifice that created the desire to have these days set aside in the first place.

We have just come out of the Memorial Day weekend holiday. This day was first recognized in the late 1860’s as a way to remember the many soldiers who had fallen during the American Civil War. Since then the day has taken on the added importance as a time to remember all fallen American soldiers of every military conflict. In many instances people also use the occasion to remember and show respect for deceased family members and friends, civilian or military.

Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday of September. Each year this guarantees a long weekend to workers as a way to close what has become traditionally seen as summer activities. The day itself is a celebration of the American worker. Originally it was focused upon the manufacturing segment of the economy. Now it is enjoyed by all, although I cannot remember our work on the farm as a boy being interrupted by this day!

When we talk about “the 4^th of July”, everyone knows we are referring to the American Independence Day of July 4, 1776 when tradition says the Declaration of Independence from England was signed. It probably took several days for representatives from sufficient colonies to make it a go, but the 4^th is a great day to pick as THE DAY. We wave our flag, shoot off fireworks, and tell anybody we know who has helped us maintain our freedom, “Thank you.”

These three holidays all refer to sacrifices Americans have made across the centuries to make this a great nation. Families have sacrificed, soldiers have suffered and died, and workers have marched, gone on strike, and risked losing their jobs to earn the respect every human being deserves.

In the midst of all this celebration and time of vacationing, we need to remember what we believe is the real foundation for it all. God’s love for every person gives that person a value and dignity no law, no dictator, or social pressure can take away. Created in the image of God, every individual has the innate right to be respected and treated with dignity. We as Americans when at our best have fought across the generations and around the world to guarantee that respect and dignity.

Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

The foundation we recognize in the love of God was not something man created. It was born in the actions God himself initiated. Man didn’t dream up the idea of freedom for each man that should impact human society. God had already exemplified that with his own actions.

Joh 3:16  For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.

We measure in tears the sacrifices made by our family and community members to give us freedom and a society in which every individual can have the respect of others. The sacrifice God made was to give up his own purity and omnipotence to carry the weight and penalty of the sin of mankind.

That sacrifice bought us forgiveness. It bought us freedom from the penalty of sin. It bought us a new perspective on how we can view our fellow man. It bought us a chance to see our value, not from the human perspective, but as through the eyes of God himself.

Take A Breath!

I’m sure you have heard the statement, “Come apart before you fall apart.” I perhaps have shared the importance of this concept more than once in this blog. It bears repeating. Rest is something the human body needs. Rest is something the mind needs. Rest is something the spirit needs. With the holidays stretching out before us, you, your mind, your body, and your spirit need time to rest.

It doesn’t take much thought to list the benefits of rest. Your body’s cells have a chance to clean out and renew. Tissue has a chance to repair before the next big push. The brain has a chance to cull through all its experiences and file the accumulation in the proper levels of consciousness. Rest gives the soul a chance to hear God.

Over the next several weeks each of us will be involved in making plans for how we will spend each of the coming holidays. We will plan dates on which action has to be taken. We will plan the action we will take. We will plan travel or how to receive those who will be traveling. We will plan what to eat, where to sleep, and even how much sleep we can expect to get.

We will go shopping. We will decide what we will buy, how much we will pay for it, and who will receive it. We will decide how we will give it to them and if we will see them when we do. We will buy food, clothing, jewelry, household items, tools, travel tickets, and gift cards, perhaps lots of gift cards! We will decide when to use credit cards and when to use cash and when we have spent enough and when we are done.

God wonders if we will continue until we collapse, until the money runs out, or simply when the calendar says we have run out of time. Somewhere along the line he hopes we will slow down enough to get the rest he intended for us mortals. At the same time we will have the opportunity to listen to him.

When God clarified his laws on Sabbath rest in Deuteronomy 5:13-14, he was emphasizing the need to build in a break from the routine of making a living or the accumulation of things. We need rest. Rest is so important God commanded that everyone take time for it, a full day every week.

Deu 5:13  You have six days in which to do your work,

Deu 5:14  but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work---neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country. Your slaves must rest just as you do.

The Gospel of Mark records Jesus saw the need for his disciples to find a place and time to rest especially in the midst of high emotion and conflicting expectations.

Mar 6:31  There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his disciples didn't even have time to eat. So he said to them, "Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest a while."

The wonder of these holidays cannot be enjoyed through the memories of others. Our own experiences must be a critical part of this time of year. If our memories are to be more than those of fighting shopping lines, standing in the kitchen baking, screaming at kids to leave things alone, and checking visitation schedules, then we must schedule a time to stop.

Take time in this season to sit and write a list of the good things in your life. Include the material things and those blessings found in relationships. Take time to see colors around you. Some will be in nature and some will be manmade. Take time to listen to sounds. Some will be natural. Others will be manmade. Some sounds will be uniquely human voices.

Take time to listen to God and in turn speak to him. He’s been waiting for this opportunity all year.

Living with a Holiday Spirit

Here they come all lined up in a row, one after the other. Halloween followed by Veteran’s Day, and soon our path runs into Thanksgiving. The season of Advent begins on the last Sunday of November. Then the Christian, Jew, and the secular world celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah, and one way or another we find the means to celebrate the passing of one year and the beginning of another. All this occurs in less than ten weeks.

There will be parties and family gatherings. Travel miles will reach into the millions. Businesses will make more money in these ten weeks than in any other four to six month period of the year. On January 2^nd we will go back to work, collapse in exhaustion, or watch another round of college football games. It is the American way.

Where in all this chaos do we find time to celebrate the reasons behind each season? There would be no Halloween (All Hallows Eve) if there were no All Hallows Day or All Saints Day. There would be no Veteran’s Day if we did not honor those who have given of time and life to defend the freedoms of our country. There would be no Thanksgiving if we did not remember the price paid by those who first settled our country. There would be no Advent and Christmas if followers of Jesus had not seen his coming as a divine interruption in history along with a promise he would return some day. And as for New Year’s Eve and Day? We don’t need much of an excuse to celebrate. If a reason is not handy, we’ll make up one.

In I Thessalonians 5:18, the Apostle Paul said,

1Th 5:18  Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do. (Contemporary English Version)

Holidays can bring a mess of emotions. Anticipation can fill your thoughts as you prepare for the seasonal activities. There is the joy of being with friends and family in an atmosphere of caring and sharing. There can be a sense of longing about wonderful occasions now relegated to the past. Our hearts can miss the joy of the season altogether if there is an empty chair where a departed loved one used to sit.

Paul calls us to remember regardless of what is happening we have reason to thank God. Things may look dark. Grief may dominate. Still, Paul says, we can find joy in what God has given us and will never take away.

Don’t celebrate the demonic and evil at Halloween. Celebrate the lives of all the saints who have kept a faithful witness for Christ through the centuries. Celebrate the Resurrection of Christ when he overcame death, the greatest weapon of Satan.

Don’t be conquered by grief at the terrible cost in lives and families by war. Thank God there were and are men and women who are willing to give “the last, full measure” for the freedom of their country. Thank God for their memory. Thank God for their service today. Remember them in your prayers and acts of kindness.

Don’t let Thanksgiving get lost between the decorations of Halloween and Christmas. Slow down long enough to recognize that as James said,

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God, the Creator of the heavenly lights, who does not change or cause darkness by turning. (Good News Bible)

Use the time of Advent, the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, to thank God for sending his Son Jesus Christ to die in place of us for the consequences of our sins. Take time to thank God that this same Jesus is coming back one day to carry us to our eternal home in the presence of our heavenly Father.

On New Year’s Eve, thank God you have what you have at the end of this old year. On New Year’s Day thank God you have to possibilities of a new year awaiting you.

This will help you live with a holiday spirit.

Fountains and Sponges

Do you spew out or soak up? That’s a different way of suggesting how we as Christians approach the seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas with a variety of attitudes. Those attitudes determine what impact the seasons will have upon us individually and our communities. Fountains spew. Sponges soak. Which will you be this holiday season?

Tremendous artwork has been associated with fountains through the centuries. Some are simple and share the sound of falling water. Others, far more elaborate, are meant to be enjoyed with multiple senses. Sculptures amidst waterfalls delight the eyes. The water cascading over the artwork creates its own musical concert. The spray upon skin brings a wondrous cooling that borders on healing.

The fountain shares all this while recycling its flow to offer it all once again to every passerby. That is what a fountain does. It takes the water supplied and overflows it for the enjoyment of others.

Now your typical sponge operates in a different way. When it comes to water, the sponge soaks it up. The water disappears. You can leave the sponge in the sun and the water disappears while leaving no impression upon the observer. Squeeze the sponge and the water reappears generally in a form you would rather avoid and often as you hold it over a drain.

The water goes in, but it rarely comes out in a form that makes you want to share the experience with someone you love. The sponge draws away. It removes what you don’t want to see. It hides the past event. You really want it to impact as few of your senses as possible.

The holiday season offers Christians the opportunity to showcase the difference between the secular and sacred approaches to these celebrative occasions. A Christian and a non believer will see the same event, but experience it in radically different ways. For the latter there is a feel good experience that may prompt at its best an expression of good will toward another person. For the Christian the event is an expression of an ancient Story connecting the profane and the sacred, the mortal and the immortal, the temporal and the eternal. Humanity has become the recipient of this Story and has the blessing of passing it on to each succeeding generation.

Churches can be like sponges with the Stories of Thanksgiving and Advent. They produce magnificent presentations in drama and music. They include the smallest angels to the eldest matriarchs and patriarchs. Choirs and soloists spend months rehearsing. Thousands of dollars are spent on costumes and sets.

Who sees the results of all these efforts? By the time the families of all the participants crowd into the limited seating and the few remaining seats are taken by members of the church down the street, those who have never heard the Story find there is no room in the inn. The church has soaked up all the good news and left nothing for a world hungry to know there really is a thing called hope.

The individual Christian can seem no better. Having gone to a community Thanksgiving worship service at the local church, the individual finds little for which to be thankful when in the company of the unchurched. The music was stirring, the preschoolers heart-touching, and the drama as good as anything on Broadway throughout the season of Advent, but when that last candle, the Christ Candle, is blown out on Christmas evening, no one outside the circle of intimate Christian friends will have heard the glad tidings proclaimed by the angels long ago.

The fountain stands in the middle of the town square. Even on the coldest night it sprays its water into the air for all the villagers to enjoy. It quietly shares its beauty, a glistening dream to prompt its visitors to go to their neighbors and say, “Come and see!” May we like the fountain invite those who do not know the Story to come and see it presented in heart-transforming fashion. Brave the dark, brave the cold, but come to see, come to hear the greatest Story ever told. (John 3:16)