Tag: invitation

THE WATER AUTHORITY: A PARABLE

george gaffga2 Comments

A few weeks ago the City Water Authority where I live came to my home at my invitation. They came to inspect all my sprinklers to make sure they were efficient and they programmed the system that turns the water on and off at correct intervals for conservation and effectiveness. All this was done for free.

The whole experience was wonderful. What happened next was the best. I shared my experience with my neighbor. He was overjoyed because he was having problems with his own system. He made the call. Then I overheard him sharing the news with another neighbor and then another. The water folks are going to be busy in our neighborhood.

You could say that this was GOOD NEWS, a proclamation of what the City was doing for us. Now, here’s the thing. Let’s say my neighbor Phil listened to their recommendations, read their follow-up email….  and did nothing; told no one. Ah, but that’s not how it works.

It got me to thinking. Wouldn’t it be great if we shared the Good News of what God is doing for us with those around us? I could sound something like, ‘Guess what God is doing in my life?’ ‘Can I pray for you?’  ‘Hey, if things are going so wrong let me share where I have found some help.’ An understated, subtle comment is often more effective than a forceful evangelical approach. Heck, you could even write a little blog on the Good News. And if you are reading this and not a person of faith, then invite God into your life perhaps not knowing what to expect at first. You can discover who God is by reading one of the Gospels in the beginning of the New Testament. Listen, I never knew that the City provided their service until I read about it on a neighborhood website.

The second thing I thought about was how sometimes we receive the Good News about God and do nothing with it. God is always about reconciliation, reform, renewal and I am sure a whole lot of other ‘r’ words. The Good News is about changing the world for good by God’s grace. Grace changes everything: the way you see yourself, the way you see others and best of all the way you see God through his Son Jesus, the Messiah. God coming into our lives as Good News changes the earth… not the way we care for just our lawns but all of creation. The Good News changes the ethic, the worldview by which we live.

Now I would have loved the water authority folks to stay with me and help me day to day cause something always is going wrong with my sprinklers, but of course they can’t.. But the Good News of God is that God stays with us to repair and renew everything in our lives. Oh, sometimes the system of this world might not be able to be repaired at the moment, but the Good News is that something good can come from the brokenness.

So make the call, accept the invitation and live into the change that the Good News of God can make. A change not just in you not but also in this world that God loves so much.

I welcome your thoughts.

Becoming an Olympian Christian

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It must be an amazing journey to become a participant in the Olympics. The process usually starts when a person is very young and someone has his or her sights set on the Olympic prize for a child or young person.  They need sponsors, lots of money and the opportunity to practice at time 24/7. They win at school events and then in the community, state and country.  They work hard for a goal, the medals and a place in history. Whether for a team or as an individual the Olympian is the best of the best.

 In some religions there are systematic ways by which with much striving, working, self-denial and self-discipline one can attain to the goal of being welcomed into the religious community, into the company of the elite.  But here I want to say that with Jesus it is different.

It is sort of like being made an Olympian first and then getting to practice until you reach perfection. Let me explain.

When Jesus began his ministry he told all people that they were welcomed into the Kingdom of God by his invitation. Say yes to the invite and they were ‘in’. Recall the Beatitudes, ‘Blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God.’ (Luke 6:20)  Jesus is not saying that the state of being poor is blessed. It’s not. But to those who were poor, and whose poverty was seen as disfavor by God, Jesus said they were welcome into this Kingdom that had been newly inaugurated on earth through his presence.

 Jesus starts with the goal and once enlisted those who follow him will be taught how to live life in the Kingdom of God. They will be challenged to become perfect even as their heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48) And that’s a good thing because that kind of life is the good life, the God life in us.

 New life has come in Jesus and all we need do is place our trust in him and begin the journey. Will the journey be arduous at times? You bet but here’s the great thing. The coach will stay with us through the whole experience. In fact the coach, mysterious as this might sound, will place his life in ours.

I suspect if you are an Olympian athlete the coach’s voice will become ingrained into your very soul. Well, take the words of Jesus and let them soak into your mind. The Bible puts it like this, “Let the word of Christ dwell richly in you.” (Colossians 3:16) By word and Spirit we can’t go wrong.

 So no matter your condition when Jesus meets up with you please know that you are welcome into the Kingdom of his Father. It’s a brand new exciting life. And for the rest of your life you can have the pleasure of being in the day-to-day Olympics of living here and now in the Kingdom of God.