A Message

This past week, Andy and I realized that the last time we took a break from church was in August. Every Sunday he's been at church serving, and for some reason, we just felt led to take a break this week and go somewhere else. So he made arrangements and we chose a church to attend that Abigail had actually asked about at some point. Our church that we belong to is very small, and very cozy, so you can imagine the difference going to a mega-church might be. But it really wasn't. Abigail thoroughly enjoyed Sunday School class, and the message by the Pastor was specifically for us. God wanted us at that church yesterday morning because the Palm Sunday message was a confirmation for us to stay the course. That we are doing exactly what we should be doing and to keep it up. We felt so encouraged as we left that church yesterday. They are doing great things, and will be in my prayer list for a bit of time to come.

Anyway, the message. There were three parts to his sermon, and it would likely take a while for me to post all of my thoughts on the whole thing, but there is one part that particularly stuck out to me- and that I was supposed to hear.

38"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"

40"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

41As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." Luke 19:38-44

There is such a strong visual image here, and that is of Jesus, riding on a donkey, all the people around him cheering and praising him, and he is weeping. And as the Pastor pointed out yesterday, it wasn't just a little tear running down his face, it was outright sobbing. That is a very powerful image to me. One of the points of Jesus weeping is that he still weeps today. And no doubt he does, when he sees God's children make choices other than him, or sees priorities placed in the wrong things, he cries for us, because he knows what we're missing out on. He cries when we place an importance on things and money and material possessions. They aren't important. We had it 100% confirmed yesterday that placing Christ as our #1 priority is exactly what we need to be doing. While there have been several lessons that we have learned from Andy's time of unemployment, the number one has been that stuff is just stuff.

This has been a lesson for me. We are finally at a point in our lives where we can afford the good stuff. We can afford to spend a little more on quality. And for the most part, I think that we are better for that- we're not buying junk. But as an example, I really, really have wanted new living room furniture. Our couch and recliner have seen much better days and part of me has always been embarrassed when company comes over and has to sit on it. So I've been looking at new furniture. And I shouldn't be. While our furniture is ugly, it's serviceable. I could spend several hundred dollars on a new couch, or I could take that some money and put it towards God's work. We have been learning this over the past several months, and I swear that in a crowd of 500-600 people, the Pastor looked right at me when he said that Jesus cries when we place importance in stuff.

Not only was it confirmation for us, it was a challenge. We left that church feeling like we have been challenged to reduce our reliance on "stuff" even more. And while we talk about all the things that we want to do once Andy is working again, the reality is most likely that a larger portion of our income will be set aside for God. And you know what? We're looking forward to it. Now we are feeling that while we would really like Andy to go back to work, it's not for us. It's not for our betterment, because God will continue to meet our needs for as long as we need him to. But imagine all the good that will come of an increase in giving. The missionaries we could help support, the programs we could help sponsor within our church- and maybe even within others. Times are changing, and we will continue to listen to the Holy Spirit, because he hasn't led us wrong yet. It was so wonderful to have our feelings and thoughts confirmed for us yesterday. I feel a lightness today, and I thank God so much for that and for the wonderful Sunday we had yesterday.