Coming to the Table

We had the nicest sermon on taking communion a few Sundays ago. The scripture was from 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. For me, it was a beautiful reminder that you and I are always welcome at the Lord's table.

It is only when we come to supper with the Lord that we can receive His Power and His Grace. It is here we can be washed clean and rest in God's presence. The blessing is that we can come just as we are. . . no, you do not need to be perfect and without sin - an impossibility that it seems I, at least, am ever striving to attain. I think that I am often tempted to judge myself and other people, as to whether they are worthy to partake. I'm not sure if this is something that I grew up with in the Church, or something that I picked up from the world, but the thing is - I don't get to decide. The Lord has invited everyone to come to the table. Everyone means just that, everyone - the blatent sinner, the unbeliever, you, and me. Some of the sermon highlights:

• When we prohibit people from coming to the Lord's table they cannot receive the power of Jesus. When we come to the Table of the Lord we let Jesus show Himself to us.
• While there, we need to enjoy the feast for all it's worth.
• Unusual prayer is fitting at the Lord's table.This is the place to bring your most outrageous and impossible requests.
• Jesus can flow His wholeness into any part of my life (or yours) that is broken. It is here that we receive God's cleansing.

Isn't this all such a mystery and such a great picture of how outrageous and upside down it is to be a Christian. We can't reflect God's glory if we are not nourished by His body and blood. We must turn the other cheek and forgive seventy times seven, we must go and tell this strange and unbelievable message to people that don't know Him. We must follow His creed of loving our neighbor as ourselves. Not just the neighbor that we find it easy to like, but also the neighbor that we find reprehensible and unlikeable. Who else follows a religion like this?

I'm reading an interesting book: Take This Bread by Sara Miles. Sara's ancestors were Christians on both her mother and father's sides. Her mom and dad however, rejected the faith. Sara had no interest in the Christian lifestyle. Until . . . one day for reasons unknown to her she stopped by a church and took communion. She knew nothing about God, she just sort of followed the routine of the people in the church, but taking the bread and wine changed her. I'm still learning about her journey, but am struck by her stories of the people in the church who we might turn out, and who are actually the sort of people that Jesus hung out with. I'm struck anew by the fact that it's not my job to judge, but rather to love. How to love without judging? How to speak to the wrong without alienating the wrongdoer, and is that even my role? Do we only point the way to Love and leave the rest to the Holy Spirit?

These are the sorts of questions rolling around in my brain. I'm thankful that I can be nourished by God's body every day, and that His Holy Spirit is accessible to me every day, not just at communion. I'm thankful that I'm not the Judge, and that, even though I don't know the answers to my questions, that I can count on the One who knows all the answers to lead me down the right paths as long as I entrust myself to Him.

If you are a Christian, and love Jesus, then you know He's called us to be the light of the world. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, partly because we're focusing on World Missions in Church, and partly because that's always a part of my thought process in my life as a Christian. Since we've been focusing on World Missions, we're seeing and learning a lot about the amazing work God is doing in countries where they don't have the gospel, or not allowed to share the gospel. Learning about people who are putting their lives on the line so that others can hear and share in the Good News.

This always makes me feel a little inadequate--I haven't gone to Africa, or India, or anywhere really, except to my desk at work every day. I believe that God uses me where I am, but somehow it doesn't seem like it measures up to the Great Commission. I'm trying to think differently about it, because I know God uses me, and I know I have some things He's wanting me to do right where I am that I'm really not too crazy about doing. Heart things that could make a difference in how hearts view Him. Do you think it counts if you do the heart things, but don't FEEL the heart things? (This is really a rhetorical question, I know the answer is YES, but wouldn't it be better and more honoring if my heart could do those things joyfully rather than reluctantly and with much groaning?)

If you haven't seen the "A Thousand Questions" video by Willow Creek you should take 10 minutes to view it. I think the ending in particular, clearly shows that we are called to help in the world, certainly, but also, the world isn't just far away places, but it's right here, right now, right where you are. There are school kids that need our help, people in nursing homes, homeless people right here in our own backyards, and yes the people we work and live with every day.

Perhaps some day I will go to a persecuted country and share the good news. Perhaps not. Maybe I'll always be sharing the good news in my own small way in my own small corner of Holland, Michigan. For me, the greater victory will be when "I will [not merely walk, but] run the way of Your commandments, when You give me a heart that is willing" Psalm 119:32 Amplified

In the meantime, I will remember the words of William Booth, and show God's mercy where I am.

"Not called" did you say? "Not heard the call" I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face--whose mercy you have professed to obey--and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the World. (my italics)

"Crispin": Junior Fiction Worth Reading

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Crispin is set in the 14th century. It's the story of a boy who is known only as Asta's son, and discovers his true name after a series of sometimes cruel and sometimes strange events. He is pursued on every side for reasons that are not clear to him. In all his 13 years he has never been treated with kindness, but only with contempt or dismissal. In the beginning the language seemed a little stilted to me, and some of it put me off, in that 14th century language isn't that smooth I guess. Before long though, I was wondering what misadventure was going to happen next, and how the story would be resolved. I strove mightily not to read the end before finishing the book, but alas, I can rarely resist that temptation. It never ruins the story for me though, and I just picked up where I left off and read through to the end. I'm thinking this has something to do with my impatient nature, which is sometimes an advantage, and sometimes not. One thing that struck me was the picture of people as souls. Rather than saying "150 people can fill this building" the book would say "150 souls can fill this building. I like that. I think we should have kept that language, because when I think of you as a soul, I value you so much more.
Crispin: At the Edge of the World by Avi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The day after I finished Crispin: The Cross of Lead I went to the library to get this book. I wanted to know what was going to happen! I enjoyed this book as much as the first. Crispin has grown in his sense of daring and right and wrong. His loyalty to his friend Bear is strong. His curiosity though, seems to get him into a little bit of trouble. I'm disappointed that the 3rd part of this trilogy is not out yet. Now I'm left hanging until it's published!

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Have You Read "The Help" Yet?

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It's 1962 in Mississipi, and a majority of white women have a black maid to help them at home. They trust this maid to comfort and feed their children, make their meals, do their ironing, but they don't want them to use their bathrooms. This is just a tiny example of the many little prejudices that black people in the South have learned to put up with. White people may treat their maids as family, or they may treat them as non-persons. Someone who treats them as fully human, may themselves face repercussions from their community.

The Help really brought home to me how dysfunctional this society was. The children would treat the black women that cared for them as if they were their mothers. They would play with white children, and love them. Until, that is, they reach a certain stage. I have no concept of what it meant to be black in that society, or in this society now. I think white people in general have no idea of the small or large inconveniences that are purposefully put on black people. We have no idea of the very real courage they had to have to fight their way to freedom, and that so many of them did that with dignity and grace deserves our applause.

The story is told in 3 unique voices: Aibileen, Minny, and Miss Skeeter, who is white. Each character is unique, and each character struggles with who they can become, and taking the courage necessary to become that woman.

The author, Kathryn Stockett, had a black maid in her childhood, so the story has authenticity. The book jacket tells us:

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and thir times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

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If You Like Old Literature Try This

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book was copyrighted in 1925, and it's actually sort of between 3 and 4 stars. I was intrigued to read it when I saw clips for the film version of it. It's about a woman who married a man she didn't love, and is foolishly in love with a married man. Her husband discovers this love affair, and gives her an ultimatum - either file for divorce and name your lover, or come with me to Mei-tan-fu, which is ridden with cholera. Her lover doesn't want to marry her, as her husband well knew, and so she goes to Mei-tan-fu. I was expecting her to fall in love with Charlie (her husband), while there, but she does not. Eventually she finds a purpose in helping with the children, and a sort of satisfaction in the woman she becomes. I can't give away anymore without spoiling the story. To understand the story as a whole, you will need to look up "Elegy" by Goldsmith, unless you are already familiar with it.

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Am I Living a Life of Adventure?

The Crime Of Living Cautiously: Hearing God's Call To Adventure by Luci Shaw

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read this book because I feel like I DO live my life cautiously, and wanted to see what Luci Shaw had to say. It didn't hurt that she is one of the featured speakers at Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College this year. I liked how each chapter began with a quote and ended with reflective questions. In Chapter 7 (The Risky Adventure of the Unknown) she quotes poet Mary Oliver: "Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?" Doesn't that just give you pause? Is this what I'm doing, cheating God of a life fully surrendered to Him because I'm a chicken? This paragraph ends with this thought:

"We need God to confound us with a mission larger than we are, so that we can call on Him for what we need and don't have."

I liked that. I need to listen more for God's call to adventure and listen to Him. I loved the ending thought from the last chapter:

"The cliff edge of our anxiety about the future may indicate that God is calling us to a new and different level of faith. When we walk, praying for guidance, to the edge of all the light we have and breathlessly take that first step into the foggy mystery of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen: either God will provide us with something rock-solid to land on and stand on, or He will teach us how to fly."

Here's to flying!

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The White House and Capitol Buildings

Do you know that verse in the Bible where it says that God has prepared good deeds for us to perform ahead of time? I felt like I was the recipient of those good deeds on Wednesday when the car died on me. Ron was in the condo napping with his phone turned off, and I was stranded in the parking lot of Big Giant. I walked over to Auto Advantage and they lugged their battery tester over to Big Giant and tested the battery – which was good, but low on charge. Then they lugged over a battery to charge it up but that didn’t do anything. The gentleman that was helping thought it was the starter – so now what!!? I asked if he knew of a place that did good work but was reasonable and he immediately dialed Woody at Don’s Sunoco. They towed the car over (dropping me off at the condo on the way) and told me it would be done by the morning for sure, pretty iffy for getting done that afternoon. I called Rep. Hoekstra’s office where they graciously changed our tour to Thursday. Probably no more than an hour later Don’s called and they had the car done! They drove over to the condo to drop off the car and we drove Woody back to Don’s. Everything worked out so nicely. We had decided to just be lazy so I read “The Help” (very good), Ron napped, and then we went to dinner at Brio’s in Tyson’s corner (one of the 11 largest malls in US). Very good food and service, and I totally enjoyed my Crème Brulee Trio and Ron enjoyed one of the biggest pieces of chocolate cake ever!

Thursday morning we headed out to Old Ebbitt Grill in downtown DC. Ebbitt’s has been there 100+ years, and we thoroughly enjoyed our breakfasts (Egg Strata and Frittata) and yes, then we fell for dessert at breakfast (pecan pie a la mode and Chocolate Brownie Cappucino which was HUGE). Ebbitt’s is a beautiful old building and I thank my sister and Daniela from Pete Hoekstra’s office for recommending it.

After breakfast we headed out to the White House. First we stopped at the Visitor’s Center, which was okay, but I think we both felt we could have skipped it. Then we joined the other tourists to view the South view (Rose Garden and where Air Force One lands). Of course, we are barred out. I bet when Washington lived there you could have walked right up and knocked on the door. It doesn’t seem right to me that the House we help pay for doesn’t allow you in. We walked around and viewed the front as well. There were a few protester’s, but mostly just us tourists. From the White House we metro’d to the Rayborn Building to pick up our Capitol tour tickets from Pete Hoekstra’s Office. While I was removing my belt (I was tired of removing this by the end of the day, but it kept setting off the alarm), I noticed a sign for DIBELS pointing to the left. Somehow I had not expected to run into that while in DC – no protesters that I could see though.

The capitol tour was interesting. Our guide was very knowledgeable and took us through the history of the paintings and statues. Our government sure likes to spend a lot of money on these buildings and statues. We’re talking big bucks with marble floors, bronze statues, chandeliers, etc. Given this economy and the trouble our country is in I have to wonder about the wisdom of it. The Library of Congress was in the millions of dollars and they built that during the depression. It seems like the dollars we spend on these buildings could be better invested in people. I love seeing them, and seeing the history of the country, but I wonder if these monuments are just to make us feel important and show our success to other people/countries. Maybe we need to be more humble and frugal, and use these dollars to build up people instead of monuments.

After touring the capitol we sat in the House Gallery for a while. They were voting while we were there. It was driving Ron crazy because it just looked so chaotic and disorganized down there. Everyone was chatting people up in between the votes, and when the chairman would say what they were voting for and how long they would vote people just kept talking. Ron thought it was disrespectful, and he was disappointed we didn’t get to see a debate. After the house we went over to the Senate side. Hmmm. . . no-one was there. Eventually a few of the Senator’s walked in. This was actually fun for me because there were some young people (high school, college freshman?) there. When the Senator’s walked in they got so excited. Look! Is that Joe Biden?! (It wasn’t) We did get to see Joe Lieberman, John McCain, John Kerry, Debbie Stabenaw, Carl Levin and others. The kids were a riot. Ron hated to leave because it seemed like things were going to start happening, but we were meeting our niece for dinner so we had to go.

We enjoyed delicious pizza at Matchbox Pizza (Capitol Hill location) – Chicken Pesto and Sausage with sun dried tomatoes, and molten cake for dessert. We do love our desserts! Then off to view the monuments at night which was very nice.

We’re on our way home right now (I’m typing this in the car). We’ve decided you have to spend like a month in DC to see everything. I didn’t even get into any art museums and I had hoped to see some original Whistler’s art. Didn’t get to view the Smithsonian Castle, Spy Museum. I guess we’ll have to come back some day!