What money cannot buy

 The staff person that tagged the hand-carved wooden nativity at Savers’ Thrift greatly underestimated its real value. With a coupon I paid about $5 for a 12-piece set that is selling online for upwards of $100.

Just like the thrift store nativity was under-pvalued, so also many people of Jesus’ day failed to grasp his worth. He was despised and rejected throughout his ministry. He was seen by many as “just” the carpenter’s son, from that town of low reputation, Nazareth. How could he possibly be who he claimed to be? He didn’t look like anything they thought the Messiah would look. Their preconceived notions prevented them from seeing his true value.

It’s easy to see how we also can lose sight of his value. We have heard the story so many times that we lose our sense of awe and wonder. Or maybe we have been through so many hard knocks in life that we become jaded or cynical.

I think it is also part of human nature to overlook or underestimate the value of what is right before us. We’ve all heard stories of discovered treasures of great value, items found in a forgotten corner of the attic, at yard sales or even in dumpsters. But the person with a trained eye recognizes its true value and rescues it from the trash heap.

Likewise, we can tend to underestimate the value of the people around us. I saw this first-hand in the many years I worked with the homeless and people having disabilities. But it also can apply to the every-day people in our lives that we have taken for granted. And let’s take it a step further. We often can be harder on ourselves than anyone else. Maybe we allow regret or disappointment to hang over our heads for wrong turns, broken relationships, missed opportunities. After a while, those thoughts can blot out the reality of our inherent worth.

The remarkable reality that Jesus stooped down from heaven and took on human form demonstrates his deep desire to connect deeply with devalued people, the poor and destitute, the lame, the prostitute, the “untouchable” lepers. Among the men he chose to be his disciples, he picked common fishermen, and a despised tax collector, being fully aware of their weaknesses and failures. He saw the inherent value and God-given potential of each one.

I for one have been grateful that He knows the worst about me but believes the best. He sees past my failures to the potential I have, as his grace transforms me from the inside out.

As we wind up the infamous year of 2020 with its devastating global pandemic and widespread political and social upheaval, now more than ever we need a renewed sense of hope for ourselves and our neighbors near and far.

The gift of knowing that you are deeply loved and greatly valued by the One who chose to walk among us and give His life for us…priceless!

 

Grief, Gratitude and Grace

When asked yesterday for a word or two to summarize my feelings of the past few weeks, I said, “Grief.”


Grief for the hardness of one man’s heart that made him deaf to George Floyd’s pleas for life.


Grief that it took such a horrific act to wake so many of us from complacency and ignorance.


Grief for the people I know and care about who have had to endure a lifetime of racism and injustice.


Grief for the long hard battle against slavery and oppression and the curse it has on succeeding generations. From William Wilberforce to Frederick Douglass, to workers in the underground railroad and those who fought in the Civil War with the conviction to free the captives…. It causes me to weep, to think of all those who have gone before in this fight and yet here we still are. 


Yes, there has been progress and yet at the same time our culture has turned even more divisive.


For me there is another more hopeful side of the story.


For nearly twenty years, I worked in the heart of the city, in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the nation. At the City Mission I worked mostly behind the scenes but was honored to meet and work alongside so many who had given years, even decades to bringing life and hope to so many. 


I think it would not be hard for me to find enough material to write a book to capture the stories of the people I worked with who continued to fight the good fight with perseverance, resilience, grace and steadfast faith.

Looking at this photo this morning, I wept again, but this time with gratitude and deep respect for the heart of service these three represented.  They were the featured volunteers highlighted in The City Mission’s centennial book, A Door of Hope 1910-2010. Together they served over 100 years. 

Especially in these times, I have a deeper appreciation for what a difference it can make to actually be in relationship with people who have had such different experiences from me. Side by side, hand in hand, working within our own roles and capacities, we carried the work forward and saw lives changed in significant ways. To God be the Glory.


My hope is that this would encourage us to find ways, even small ways, to be in relationship and partnership in standing FOR causes that bring reconciliation, restoration and redemption.

Ponder the path of your feet

It's good to be reflective at times, looking back to what worked and what didn't, what moved us closer to where we hope to be, what has set us back even further. 

But extended periods of reflecting back cannot be done while speeding down the highway of life. That's why I appreciate having some quiet blocks of time at the side of the road, especially at the beginning of the year.

Yesterday I had several errands to accomplish. Before I left the house, I had a plan and a route to make the best use of my time and gas. 

Similarly, I'm taking time now to begin mapping out some plans for 2020, with prayers for discernment and a healthy dose of openness and flexibility to the unanticipated. In the process, I'm buoyed up by the remembrance of God's faithfulness to lead through the unexpected twists and turns in life.

I recall with gratitude many specific instances when He clearly pointed me in a very different direction than what I had planned. At times it felt like untying my little boat from safe moorings and sailing off into a massive sea of unknowns, much like C.S. Lewis’ Voyage of the Dawn Treader. But I hate to think where my life would be now if I hadn't followed those leadings. My life has been immensely enriched as a result, in relationships, in vocation, in faith.

“Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.” Proverbs 4: 25-27 ESV

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” Proverbs 16: 9 NIV

"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." Ephesians 3:20 NLT