You may recall that many followers of Jesus called him “Rabbi.” In essence, the word means teacher. Clearly the word describes the brilliant Nazarene who was constantly teaching his listeners about God and God’s expectations of humans.

In a secular society, it is of paramount importance that the teachings of Christ be proclaimed and affirmed wherever possible. In the early days of our country, it was customary for public schools to teach reading, writing and arithmetic as well as Christian principles. Subjects being taught were presented in a setting of morality, religion and character development.

The reading book compiled by William H. McGuffey in 1836 focused on such themes as self-denial, temperance, obedience, and warned against laziness, profanity, stealing and vanity.

In our time, however, when it is difficult to focus on God and spiritual matters in public schools, our churches and families have a great responsibility. Sunday school attendance, not only for children but for adults as well, must be of primary importance. Prayer, as well as discussion of social issues from a Christian point of view, must be practiced in the home and church. We must learn and teach about Christ.

“Learn from me,” Jesus said. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29 NRSV). Where shall we learn of him or from him if not in our churches and homes?

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

 

Remember kaleidoscopes — those tubes you hold up to your eye and point toward the light to see colorful shapes? When the far end of the optical instrument is turned, fragments of material inside an “object cell” shift and mirrors set at angles reflect light through the pieces, forming ever-changing patterns. A multi-hued flower might become sunlight through a round stained-glass window or fireworks on a clear night.

Various materials can be placed in the cell — tiny figures, twisted bits of metal, lace, viscous liquid — but often broken bits of glass are used, to beautiful effect! In fact, David Brewster, inventor of the kaleidoscope in 1817, named it after the Greek word kalos, for “beauty.”

Everyone feels broken, twisted or shattered at times. But when God’s perfect light shines in and through us, reflecting among the fragments of our imperfect lives, we, too, become beautiful. Out of our sinfulness and brokenness shines the beauty of compassion, kindness, perseverance, hope, love — delightful patterns to brighten this hurting world.

Thomas Merton, an American monk, writer and social activist, said, “It is in the ordinary duties and labors of life that the Christian can and should develop his spiritual union with God.” As the United States observes Labor Day, may we find meaning not simply in marking summer’s end but in celebrating the ways nearly all “duties and labors of life” can empower ministry and faith.

Whether as a dentist, parent, artist, teacher, mechanic, gardener, city councilor, farmer, day laborer, attorney or anything else, a Christian can begin each workday or shift by praying for opportunities to serve whoever they’ll encounter. We also can pray for and seek ways to grow in “spiritual union with God”: cultivating spiritual fruits; actively loving God and neighbor; seeing Jesus in the vulnerable; practicing humility, gratitude and praise.

In Labor Day, may we find inspiration to make all our labors loving and faithful!

Many people dream of having the “right stuff” to fly to space. Recently, 18,300 people applied for just 12 astronaut spots at NASA! Fanfare over the moon landing’s 50th anniversary is sure to spark even more interest.

Leaving behind earthly troubles and floating in zero gravity must be amazing, right? Not, it turns out, for one’s body. Weightlessness takes a heavy physical toll in space. Without resistance, muscles waste away and bones weaken. Bodily systems we take for granted are disrupted, causing disorientation. To counteract these effects, astronauts wear resistance suits while exercising. Ironically, after escaping Earth’s gravity, they must replace it.

Similarly, we long for trouble-free days and pray for an end to earthly burdens, not recognizing that exertion, whether physical or spiritual, builds strength. “He who knows no hardships will know no hardihood,” said Harry Emerson Fosdick. “He who faces no calamity will need no courage. … The characteristics in human nature which we love best grow in a soil with a strong mixture of troubles.”

Every weighty challenge is a reason to “rejoice … knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4, ESV).

—Stephanie Martin

A church is an imperfect mix of imperfect believers, so it’s easy for members to find faults or feel disappointed. That, in turn, may tempt us to shop around.

C.S. Lewis addresses that in The Screwtape Letters. “If a man can’t be cured of churchgoing,” Screwtape advises his demon protégé, “the next best thing is to send him all over the neighborhood looking for the church that ‘suits’ him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches.” How Satan must hate when Christians maintain long-term commitment to one church!

The urge to church-hop harms congregations as well as believers. “Spiritual depth isn’t fostered by satiating your sense of felt needs,” writes James Emery White. “It’s receiving a balanced diet of teaching and challenge, investing in service and mission, living in community and diversity that you probably would not select for yourself.”

Let Your Light Shine VBS

July 15 -18

6:00 – 8:30 p.m.

July 19…Cookout at 6:00 p.m. with program at 6:45 p.m.

We welcome all youth ages preschool through elementary to join the fun!

 

 

It would be spectacular and amazing … if some king’s son were to appear in a beggar’s home to nurse him in his illness, wash off his filth and do everything else the beggar would have to do. Would this not be a profound humility? Any spectator or any beneficiary of this honor would feel impelled to admit that he had seen or experienced something unusual and extraordinary, something magnificent.

And yet the love of the Son of God for us is of such magnitude that the greater the filth and stench of our sins, the more he befriends us, the more he cleanses us, relieving us of all our misery and of the burden of all our sins and placing them upon his own back.

Whenever the devil declares: “You are a sinner!” Christ interposes: “I will reverse the order; I will be a sinner, and you are to go scotfree.” Who can thank our God enough for this mercy?   —Martin Luther, Luther’s Works 22, 166-167

Dr. Gordon one Easter brought an old beat-up rusty bird cage and sat it next to the pulpit.  As he gave his sermon that Easter morning, he held up the cage and said, “You might be wondering why this is here.  As a matter of fact, that’s not the normal part of an Easter service, having a bird cage here.”

He said, “Let me tell you the story of it.  Several days ago I was noticing a little boy….whistling, walking down an alley, swinging this bird cage.  Clinging to the bottom of the cage were little field sparrows he had caught.  So I stopped him and asked, ‘Say, what do you have there?’ He said, ‘Oh, I’ve got some birds.’  ‘What are you gonna do with ’em?’ I asked. ‘Oh, mess around with ‘me, tease ’em, something like that.’  ‘Well,’ I asked, ‘when you get tired of ’em, what are you gonna do?’  He thought a moment and said, ‘Well, I’ve got a couple of cats at home, and they like birds.  I think I’ll just let them have at ’em.’

Dr. Gordon said his heart went out to the little birds so he made the little lad an offer. “How much do you want for the birds?”  Surprised, the boy said, “Mister, these birds ain’t no good.”

“Well,” Dr. Gordon said, “regardless, how much would you like for ’em?”

The little fellow said, “How about two bucks?”

He said, “Sold.” So he reached in his pocket and peeled off two dollar bills.  The little boy shoved the bird cage forward, pleased with his stroke of good fortune.  When the boy left, the pastor walked a good distance away, lifted open the little cage door and said, “Shoo, shoo,” and he shoved them out of the door and they flew free.

The empty bird cage was the perfect illustration of how Satan had the human race trapped and frightened.  Jesus Christ not only paid the price for our freedom; He has set us free.

 

— from Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations

 

In Tramp for the Lord, Corrie ten Boom describes traveling to Russia during the Cold War — when Christians were being persecuted — to thank an old woman who’d been secretly translating Christian books (including ten Boom’s). Ravaged by multiple sclerosis, the woman could move only an index finger. Yet with it she typed constantly, translating words while praying for people who’d eventually read them.

Ten Boom’s reaction was, “Oh Lord, why don’t you heal her?” But the woman’s husband said God had a purpose in his wife’s suffering. Although the secret police closely watched other Christians, they left this woman alone, assuming she couldn’t accomplish anything.

Jesus works through our weaknesses, making his power perfect in them. He doesn’t ask if we’re capable — only if we’re willing.

 

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

In A Book of Saints, Anne Gordon tells the story of Father Maximilian Kolbe, who was a prisoner at Auschwitz in August 1941. A prisoner escaped from the camp, and in reprisal, the Nazis ordered that ten prisoners had to die by starvation.

Father Kolbe offered to take the place of one of the condemned men. The Nazis kept Kolbe in the starvation bunker for two weeks and then put him to death by lethal injection on August 14, 1941.

Thirty years later, a survivor of Auschwitz described the effect of Kolbe’s action: “It was an enormous shock to the whole camp. We became aware that someone among us in the spiritual dark night of the soul was raising the standard of love on high. Someone unknown, like everyone else, tortured and bereft of name and social standing, went to a horrible death for the sake of someone not even related to him. Therefore it is not true, we cried, that humanity is cast down and trampled in the mud, overcome by oppressors, and overwhelmed by hopelessness. Thousands of prisoners were convinced the true world continued to exist and that our torturers would not be able to destroy it.
“To say that Father Kolbe died for us or for that person’s family is too great a simplification. His death was the salvation of thousands …We were stunned by his act, which became for us a mighty explosion of light in the dark camp.”  — Bill Norman

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  Matthew 5:16