Illustrating Priorities

During Lent my church is holding a Lenten Bible studies series called “Dinner and a Movie: Don’t Forget Your Change.” It focuses on the changes that come in our lives- changes that come via circumstances (both good and bad) and the changes that come when one allows the transforming power of God to re-create his people.

Our first study was about our changing priorities and based on “Cast Away.” Chuck, the Fed-Ex employee, allows “time” to run his life and misses out on important moments in life. His view of “time” changes once he is marooned on a desert island, shifting his priorities from allowing “time” to be his master, to mere survival and the hope of returning home.

As a part of rethinking our priorities, I did a short demonstration in the study, using a glass vase, sea shells and salt. The vase represented our lives, the shells were the vitally important things, and the salt was the peripheral things (both necessary and fun) that fill up our days. I began by pouring a container of salt into the jar, noting my “peripherals.” “I like to play with my nieces and nephews. I like to golf. I like to learn new things about technology. I have to wash the dishes.” and so on. The salt filled the jar about three quarters of the way. Then I began filling the jar/my life with the “important” things, and stuffing each one in as far as I could. “I need to study the Bible. I need to visit people in the hospital. I need to spend time with my family. I need to watch my health” and so on. However, by the sixth shell (6 of 15), I could fit no more in. The “prayer” shell hadn’t even made it in yet. The jar/my life obviously had no room for the things I said that were vital. Time to rethink my priorities… The illustration had their attention.

“Ahhh” I said. “If this is my life, I need to recognize that my priorities are all messed up. I need to rethink how I live day to day” as I poured out the salt and removed the few shells. With the glass vase empty, I reordered the process, putting in all the “vital” things first, and then pouring the “peripheral” things in after. In practice, I knew that all the shells and all the salt would fit now, showing that when you put God first, everything else would come together (“Seek ye first the kingdom of God…” Mat 6:33). I held up the vase and everyone could see the perfect illustration which is supposed to leave you with the thought that perhaps each of us needs to reflect on our priorities and ask God to direct us and transform us.

Yes… a perfect illustration, a perfect moment to reflect, however life is not perfect… (Wanna know the rest of the story? Watch for part 2 of this in tomorrow’s “Cracked Lives”)

During this Lenten season I encourage you sit in God’s presence, in worship, prayer, and study, and allow him to show you the changes that will transform you and bring you closer to Him.

WHAT IS LENT ANYWAY?

In the same way that Advent marks a time of preparation for the celebration of Christmas, Lent marks a time of prayer and reflection leading to the celebration of Easter. During Lent we face the reality of our sin and our need for forgiveness and new life through Jesus Christ. The forty days of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday (see our homepage for service times) and ends the Saturday night before Easter. The Sundays during worship are celebrated as “little Easters” and not counted as a part of the forty days.

Daniel Benedict, the director of worship resources for the General Board of Discipleship for the United Methodist Church, describes the purpose of Lent in his article “Water and Ashes Do Not Mix!”

"Lent begins with Ash Wednesday. More and more congregations are including "The Imposition of Ashes" in their worship on Ash Wednesday. It makes sense to do this, given the name of the day and the service; but the truth is, many Protestant churches have held the service without the use of ashes. For many, it was seen as "too catholic." And many Protestant churches were intolerant of such symbolic gestures.

As we have moved into the post-modernism of the late twentieth century, we observe that a shift has occurred. There is growing trust and appreciation of ritual gesture and symbol in our culture. Baby boomers and baby busters who were raised in a world of television and technology are visually-oriented and sensually-oriented. Icons, like the Nike swoosh, help many people of those generations make sense of the world. Ashes on the forehead, lots of water at baptism, bread that is really bread, anointing with oil for healing, and hands raised in praise are increasingly familiar and comfortable to the people in our congregations.

Ash Wednesday is a time to begin a rich journey. The Ash Wednesday Service is a frank recognition that we are mortal people who have sinned against God and our neighbor. See The United Methodist Book of Worship, page 321. As the introduction to the service says: "Ash Wednesday emphasizes a dual encounter: we confront our own mortality and confess our sin before God within the community of faith. The form and content of the service focus on the dual themes of sin and death in the light of God's redeeming love in Jesus Christ."

The people of Bellaire United Methodist Church invite you to take this journey of faith with us as we move into the season of Lent and look toward the celebration of Easter. If you would like more information please email us at info@bellaireumc.org with your questions and we will be glad to respond.

Commercials That Preach

There are two insurance commercials out there right now that have caught my attention. They both speak volumes in such a short time frame and contain powerful messages. The first is a commercial that shows a person needing help and out of the blue, a stranger comes over and helps her. Standing nearby is a third person who just happens to see the act of kindness. Soon, this third person sees another stranger needing help and goes to their rescue with a quick act of kindness. Across the street a fourth person who has seen this act of kindness and in turn helps yet another stranger. This chain reaction of people offering help to complete strangers is repeated over and over again. A second commercial uses a tag line that caught my ear before it caught my eye: “Let’s treat people more like they’re in your home and less like they’re in your way.”

Remarkable. Are these two secular T.V. commercials really espousing the idea that we should actually jump in and help complete strangers? Are we to truly take that idea a step further and treat everyone we meet as more than just strangers- treat them as important and loved family members?

Most Christians can recite the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (found in Mat 7:12). Most can tell you that Jesus said the two greatest commandments were, to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mat 22:37-38). How does our quickness in recitation compare to our resolve toward faithful action?

During this season of Lent (what is Lent? Click here) we should take time to consider the words and actions that fall short of glorifying God. Not to beat ourselves up, but to simply recognize that a course correction is needed- in our personal lives and in the lives of Christ’s church. How often do we justify our words of anger toward others and block out Christ’s call to love, even our enemies? Lent is a time to put an end to calling yourself a Christian and in the next breath speaking words that tear down instead of build up. Lent is a time to awaken from our tendency to sleep-walk though the journey of faith. It’s a time to commit senseless acts of kindness and a time to see people around you with new eyes, opened by Christ. It’s a time to make peace and mend fences. It’s a time to remember the joy of salvation and invite God to renew your spirit. Today I leave you with John’s words:

7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:7-12)