the body

My thanksgiving break did not go as planned. I did not eat way too much food, I did not watch football, and I certainly did not drink coffee. I did, however, spend most of my time sleeping, dead to the world. Why? Because all day on Thanksgiving, beginning at five in the morning and continuing the rest of the day at regular thirty minute increments, I puked my guts out. Literally. And in somewhere in the process of self-diagnosis, I learned that the more accurate name for my bout of puking was not 'the stomach flu' but instead is 'viral gastroenteritis'. I know this because both my stomach and my intestines were affected. Need I say more?

Saturday evening, when I was catching my flight out of Denver to come back to the glorious Midwest, I reached in my backpack to pull out a book and gave myself a paper cut under my finger nail. 

I am not telling you these stories to earn your pity or your care packages (although the latter is always dearly appreciated). I am telling you these stories because both hurt me. In different ways and at different levels of pain, yes, but both- even for just a short amount of time- altered the way I functioned. 

Friends, what I am about to say is nothing new: we are the body of Christ. Each one of us has a different function- a function that God has created us to fulfill to bring him glory. Do we even recognize when our inner workings are not functioning properly? Could it be that our churches are metaphorically vomiting because we have not taken the time to figure out where our internal systems are not working properly? Or maybe we do know they are not working properly; have we taken the time to fix them?

At the same time, are the hands of our Church willingly putting themselves in places where they could be cut and hurt under the most sensitive part of their hand- their finger nail? Are we willing to reach out to the hurting, knowing that it is our job to share in their hurt? Are we willing to be compassionate? And most of all, are we willing to unify together and experience what all the different parts of the body are doing together? 

The finger needs the brain and the nerves to tell it when it has been hurt. The body automatically knows that throwing up is not a daily habit to take part in. Likewise, the Church needs its head, Christ, to tell her when things are not as they should be. It then becomes the Church's job to reach out and become the tangible method of redemption, with Christ always at the forefront. 

Friends, be thankful for your Body. Know the part you are in it, and actually be the part you are. The body needs the inner workings of intestines as much as it needs the hands. Believe me, I know.

idols

^"18 To whom then will you liken God,

    or what likeness compare with him?
¹⁹ An idol! A craftsman casts it,
   and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
   and casts for it silver chains.
²⁰ He who is too impoverished for an offering
   chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
   to set up an idol that will not move.

 ²¹ Do you not know? Do you not hear?
   Has it not been told you from the beginning?
   Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
²²It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
   and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
   and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
²³ who brings princes to nothing,
   and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

 ²⁴Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
   scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
    and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

 ²⁵ To whom then will you compare me,
   that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
²⁶Lift up your eyes on high and see:
   who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
   calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
   and because he is strong in power
   not one is missing.

 ²⁷Why do you say, O Jacob,
   and speak, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD,
    and my right is disregarded by my God"?
²⁸Have you not known? Have you not heard?The LORD is the everlasting God,
   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹He gives power to the faint,
   and to him who has no might he increases strength.
³⁰Even youths shall faint and be weary,
   and young men shall fall exhausted;
³¹but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
   they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
   they shall walk and not faint."

                       -Isaiah 40:18-31, ESV

Many people know the end of this chapter in Isaiah; "they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength..." But isn't interesting that there is a contrast set up between "they who wait for the Lord" and those who make idols (v 19-20)? It's almost as if Israel has turned to idols because they believe that, "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God (v 27)". They thought that God had forgotten about them or was ignoring their situation, and therefore they constructed idols. 

And then Isaiah reminds them who God truly is. He doesn't forget about his people. Instead, He is everlasting, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He never gets tired (even though they continually reject Him), He has unlimited understanding. He gives power to the weak, He calls the stars out by name...and how much more does He love Israel than the stars! 

Isn't it interesting that God promised Abraham that his lineage would be grow as numerous as the stars (Exodus 32:13), and then in Isaiah 40, God reminds Israel to look up to the stars to see His power and might? Almost as if He is reminding them of how he keeps his promises and is faithful. Not only that, but God calls the stars out by name! This parallelism then extends to mean that God calls his people by name; he is a personal God and he wants his people to love him- not idols!

Friends, what is your idol? What is replacing the one true God in your life? What are you spending time with that takes God's place? Are you focusing on pleasing people, getting in shape, getting good grades, having a lot of friends, or even doing 'good' things? I challenge you to re-focus your motivation for doing all of these things...are you doing them for the glory of your Creator, or are you doing them to take the place of living for your Creator?

Your way is not hidden from the Lord. Your right is not disregarded by God. Wait for the Lord; wait for the God whose understanding is unfathomable and whose strength is extended into those who are weak and admit their dependence on Him. Dependence on an idol will never give you strength.