Remember the story in John 6? People were hungry and the disciples were trying to figure out how to feed them. Phillip said, “No way, dude! We can’t possibly find the money to buy what we need!”
But Andrew was different. He came to Jesus not focusing on what they didn’t have, but on what they did have. A small boy with five loaves and two fish. That’s it. But he brought them anyway. And we know the rest of the story.
Pastors and biblical scholars refer to Andrew as “The Bringer.” He is only mentioned a few times in Scripture but each time he is bringing someone to Jesus — the boy with the lunch, his brother Peter, and the Greeks. Andrew was a bringer.
If we determine to be bringers here is the kind of life we live:
1) We recognize that everyone we know needs to be introduced to Jesus;
2) We find ways to bring others to Him;
3) We look around at resources and ask “what is it that we have available” — not at the huge need — and we bring whatever we have to Him.
Make a commitment to be a bringer today. Because when we bring what we have and the folks we know to Jesus, He will do way more with them and with the things we bring than we can ever imagine.
Have you ever had an experience that you feel has stripped you bare? Ever felt like you had nothing left when the season was over? Think about locusts and what it looks like when they have come and eaten everything — stripped it bare. Is this how you felt at the end of that season?
As you know, my family had a situation like that last year. We are still recovering from that and probably will be for a long time, in fact, I dreamed about it last night.
Check out these verses from the small OT book of Job that discuss what happens after a season like this in your life. God Himself says,
I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm[b]— my great army that I sent among you. 26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you;
If you are in one such season and you feel as though metaphorical locusts are devouring everything in sight, remember …. this, too, shall pass, and when it is over God will repay you! Days of plenty, days of God working wonders are ahead!
Oh, no, you may be saying, here she goes again. Trying to push me to adopt.
Well, not exactly. Did you know that the subject line of this email is actually a Bible verse?
Psalm 115 verses 13 and 14 says this….(in The Message)
13And let God bless all who fear God - bless the small, bless the great.
14Oh, let God enlarge your families
You could, of course, interpret this as God calling you to care for orphans, but as I mentioned in a previous blog entry that 23 of you read, God doesn’t have to call us to do things He’s already asked us to do. Caring for orphans is all over scripture… If you’d like to see a long list of verses that talk about the fatherless and the orphan all you have to do is click here
But today my challenges is this: Let God enlarge your definition of family. My husband has said many times over the years that the lines that define family are permeable. For example, in our world, are the baby mamas of our grandchildren, though not ever connected to us by blood or by marriage, part of our family? You bet. Are the birth families of some of our children who we have gotten to know a part of “us?” Certainly. But we have had other situations as well.
I think back to this story about when Jesus came to Thanksgiving dinner at our house. It happened in 2005 and I wrote about it again in 2017 because it is still a powerful memory. To give context, in 2005 we had a total of ten children who were ages 9 to 19 and holidays were awful back then. All kinds of memories and trauma triggers for the children made them act worse than ever on holidays. And yet, the kids held it together when a mentally ill man from our congregation invited himself over for Thanksgiving. For that holiday, Dave was family.
I’m not even saying you have to seek it and try to find others to be part of your family— but what if you invited God to enlarge your family in whatever ways He saw fit? What if we were all open, every day, to redefining who family is and sharing ourselves with lots of people?
I’ll share one more thing — and sorry that this is all about my family today, but it’s one thing I’m pretty proud of in the way that we have raised our kids — the fact that they understand that our family can be family to anyone who needs one.
As you know, Im participating in Open Table, and the woman we are mentoring was looking for a church. I talked to my kids about her joining us for Sunday dinner and lunch, a time which has become pretty sacred for us — the one meal we try to always eat out together. I said, “I was wondering if you would be OK with us sharing our family with a person who has nobody.
My daughter, who came to us at the age of six, was sitting with her husband and three of the most adorable children in America. She said, 'Of course. You’ve been sharing us with other people all our lives.” Now she is willing to share her family with others as well.
Let God enlarge your definition of family. Be open to him enlarging your family in creative ways. Believe me it is a rich and deeply satisfying way to live.
I know I have. Standing in front of crowds, congregations, groups of folks in many settings. I have said, "If God is calling you to be a foster or adoptive parent, or of late, a Safe Family, or a Vision 30 Partner.... But this week at the Orphan and Vulnerable Children Conference, I heard these words from Isaiah 1 and want to pass on a couple thoughts I learned there.
The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
So now you are probably saying to yourself, “OK, Claudia, I’m pretty sure that this doesn’t apply to me. I have never once offered God rams or the fat of fattened animals. I don’t ever try and give God the blood of any animal, especially not bulls and lambs and goats. I stopped burning incense a long time ago. And I have never once gone to a celebration about the New Moon!"
But what if it said something more close to home? What if it talked about the offerings we put in the plate at church? Or the last time we got together at church for a “fall festival” or a community wide block party? What if their convocations and assemblies translate into our worship services or Bible studies? Just sayin.
God even says to the people, “
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening.
So what is the solution? What if all this activity that I am pouring myself — my religious stuff — worship and prayer and coming together with other Christians — what if it is becoming like the folks God asked Isaiah to yell at in Scripture? How can I fix it?
He makes it pretty simple:
Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.[a] Take up the cause of the fatherless;plead the case of the widow.
18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
There you have it. Get busy paying attention to those less fortunate. Get involved in taking care of the fatherless. It’s pretty clear. And if you haven’t been going that, God will settle the matter and forgive you….
We often say to people “If God is calling you ...." But that statement is incorrect. There is no if.
God has already made it very very clear that we need to find our own place in the space of caring for the fatherless. It’s at theme throughout Scripture. It isn’t “If God is calling you” it is “BECAUSE God has ALREADY commanded you.”
Think about it.
(Thanks Jason Johnson and Kelly Moore for some of the thoughts above)
Our society has redefined a word and we now think of government programs, but here is the first definition of the word welfare:
the health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group.
We all know Jeremiah 29:11, right? “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope."
But do you know what Jeremiah 29: 7 says?
The context is this. Jeremiah is telling folks that God has sent them to other cities in exile. He tells them to go ahead and get settled in their new cities — to buy homes, settle down, get married, have babies. He wants them to know that He has sent them there for a purpose.
In verse 7 he says, "But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
Woah. Learning all about the City of Lynchburg, most specifically, as we have begun to spread the word about Vision 30, I have realized all the needs that are here.
I’m not comparing my move to the area to an exile by God, but there is certainly a message here for all of us. Wherever God sends you, settle in. Plan to stay for a season. Seek the welfare of the place where you live. Pray for the city where you are. And, He reminds us, your personal welfare depends on the welfare of the place you live.
Maybe you don’t call the town you live in or near by a city, but the same thing applies. God sends His people to wherever He sends them, not to receive, but to give. To look for ways to make it a better place. To earnestly seek ways in which to serve in order to make it a better place.
We are not called as God’s people, or as the church, to live in isolation from the cities where we are. We are responsible for the welfare of those in them.
What is it that God is calling you to do to make a difference in the city to which He has sent you?
Check out the Care Portal. Maybe there is something you can do in your city. Let me know if you do -- cuz that would be cool to hear about. We are planning to bring it to Virginia, and I am interested in hearing if anyone has used it.
What do you think about when you first wake up? Often for me I don’t think about something pleasant. Whatever stress, guilt, burden, struggle that is happening in my life seems to pop into my mind right away as I transition from sleep to the beginning of my day.
This is why these are some of my all time favorite verses from Lamentations 3:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
Every day we need God’s mercies to be new. We need to wake up and realize, after all of the other stuff hits us, that the mercy He offers us is for TODAY, for THIS day. Maybe we ended yesterday wondering if we could get up again the next day but lo and behold, when we wake up we are faced with His mercies which will get us through yet another day.
Every single morning God’s mercies are new and they are more powerful than whatever you are facing today.
And because these verses are some of my favorites, this song is also my favorite hymn. I learned it as a child and every time I sing it it is a great reminder that through all of the ups and downs of my life, God’s faithfulness has indeed been great and every single morning His mercies have been new for me… for that day … for that situation…. for that trial … for the forgiveness of that sin. And they will be there tomorrow as well…. and every day after that. It’s something I have learned to count on.
On Sunday my husband taught Sunday School. We are studying the early church and working our way through the book of Acts. We were studying the story about when Peter and John healed the lame man. You remember it from the song right, “ Silver and gold have I none (clap twice) but such as I have give I thee (clap twice) in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk…. he went walking and leaping and praising God…. etc.
Bart pointed out that the lame man was asking for a transaction. He wanted some money from the disciples. That’s all he expected. He showed up every day hoping for a few coins that he could use to buy food. But Peter and John offered him relationship… healing. And when he was done the Bible said that he “clung” to the disciples. They had offered him a relationship that led to his healing.
Here’s the interesting part…. you may or may not know that I volunteer with Community Connected which uses the Open Table model. Six other folks and I meet weekly with a woman who is trying to transition out of poverty. Obviously this is a relationship based model, not transactional. We don’t give her stuff… we build relationships. After our meeting I was talking to two other table members who happen to be young newlyweds who work for Liberty. Their passion is so impressive. Just neat kids. I was telling them about this concept as we were discussing mission trips, something that they are responsible for, in part, in their jobs.
Their eyes got bigger and bigger as I talked. It turns out that the campus pastor at Liberty this week used the same passage and the same words as he spoke to thousands of students this week. Our responsibility as Christ’s body is more than transactions… it’s relationship.
I concluded my Facebook post as I will conclude this devotional. (Is it ok to quote oneself? :-) Lives are seldom changed by transitions. Lives are changed when we do more than reach out and touch someone, but when we reach out and grab their hand and promise to never let go.
