The Miracle of Giving Thanks

Some requested that I post the message that I shared at the Oxford-Orion Community Thanksgiving Service tonight... Here it is!

The Miracle of Giving Thanks

One day a year, a great number of Americans sit down to a meal and, before eating, they offer thanks to God… thanks for their provision, thanks for their health, thanks for friends and family, and for many other blessings. Whether or not your family is in the habit of giving thanks before every meal, Thanksgiving is one occasion when most families in our culture are sure to say some sort of formal grace. In this time when so many of our denominational barriers are being broken down through community celebrations like this one and through ministries like Love INC, I thought it was fitting to share with you some examples of how grace before meals is “done” across the body of Christ.

Popular in Ecumenical settings: God is great, God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen.

The variation I knew growing up: God is great, God is good, thank You for this tasty food (rhyming with good… parents took a dim view of this, I think because our giggles spoiled the solemnity).

? Good food, good meat, good God, let’s eat!

Echo. Thank you God for food…Amen!

Common Protestant grace: Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen.

Anglican. Bless, O Father, thy gifts to our use and us to thy service; for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Common in religious schools in the UK. For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful. Amen.

Eastern Orthodox. O Christ God, bless the food and drink of thy servants, for holy art thou, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Wesleyan. Be present at our table Lord. Be here and everywhere adored. These mercies bless and grant that we -- may feast in fellowship with thee. Amen

Catholic. In the name… Let us pray. Bless us, O Lord, and these, thy/your gifts, which we are about to receive from thy/your bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

One final blessing…

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haOlam, haMotzi lechem min haAretz

Pentecostal praying in tongues?? Well, sort of… it’s a known tongue though, and here is the translation...Blessed are You O Lord Our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. Where is the blessing from? To best of our ability to know, this is quite likely the very Hebrew blessing spoken by Jesus before He broke five small loaves of bread and distributed them to 5,000 men on a hill in Galilee, thus performing the only miracle, apart from the resurrection, that is recorded in all four of the gospels.

Each gospel includes the fact that Jesus blessed or gave thanks for the bread before distributing it, and John even repeats this detail in 6:23 ("near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks") It seems there is something significant in this giving of thanks, something about this giving of thanks that was essential in the production of this tremendous abundance of life-giving bread.

So I wondered: If the giving of thanks was part of the miracle, in what way was it so? Was it the fact that Jesus prayed before the meal?

As it happens, prayer before meals was a well-established Jewish practice in Jesus' day, but it’s interesting to note that it is not commanded in the Bible Jesus knew (the OT). What is commanded is a blessing after the meal. We see this in Deuteronomy 8:10: "And thou shalt eat and be satisfied and shalt bless the Lord thy God for the goodly land which he has given thee." To this day, observant Jews fulfill this commandment by giving thanks after they eat. Both the Catholic and Orthodox practices also echo this Jewish fulfillment of the law, the Catholic blessing reading this way: “We give thee thanks, Almighty God, for all thy benefits, and for the poor souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, may they rest in peace. Amen.”

If the commandment is only to bless after a meal, how is it that grace before meals has taken such a place in our religion? Well, we know that the Jewish tradition came about because the Jewish sages before Jesus had established practices that enabled the Jew to go beyond the letter of the Law to express greater piety than was required. If it was required to express gratitude to God after a meal, to do so before the meal was a special, voluntary way to show love for God. As we see elsewhere in Scripture, we know that Jesus kept the commandment to pray after meals, but His example of grace before meals is more often seen in Scripture, just as we see in this story. Thus it makes sense that we would continue the tradition of grace before meals today.

But the fact that we pray before a meal seldom accompanies the sort of miracle we saw with the multiplication of the bread and fish.

So I considered, perhaps there is significance in the prayer itself. The prayer Jesus most likely prayed had already been established by Jewish tradition, so there was nothing earthshattering or magical in the words themselves. But there is something in this blessing that can instruct us today. Note that this blessing is not on the food, nor is it on the people. Some English translations indicate that the Lord broke the bread and blessed "it" but in fact that "it" is not in the Greek text. So who is the object of the blessing? Listen again…

"Blessed are YOU, O Lord our God, King of the Universe..."

As in the commandment in Deut 8 instructed, it is God who is blessed, not the food. The focus is on God Himself, not on us and not on what we have or what we lack. Let us learn from this a key to living an abundant life in Christ, and that key is having a singular focus on God. Let our focus be not on our circumstances, our own strengths, or our own shortcomings, but on our God, our Good Shepherd who IS king of the universe, able to provide for every need, and not only able, but WILLING, for it is His good pleasure to give to His children, not only what we need, but exceedingly abundantly beyond our need. Amen?

The very words used by the gospel writers when telling this story point to our need for a singular focus on God...

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all use a word from which we get the word "eulogy" which means, literally, to speak good words. Jesus took the bread... these 5 small loaves, clearly not enough to feed 5000 men...he took what was available, looked to heaven, and spoke good words about God. We can learn a lot here, as we consider what we have and what we seem to lack. Isn't it true that God is good, ALL the time? Can we not find GOOD words to say in any circumstance? Let us take care with our words, for we know that just as a small flame can set a forest ablaze, so the tongue, such a little part of the body, can bring much pain and destruction when it is not disciplined. "Life and death are in the power of the tongue" wrote King Solomon. We also know that in order to discipline the tongue, we must discipline the heart, because as Jesus told us, "the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart." Let us set our hearts on Christ, and like Paul, may we learn the secret of contentment in any situation... the secret that in Christ is found all the strength and all the grace we need for all things.

Now, in the fourth gospel, we read in 6:11 that “Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish “ … When John says Jesus “gave thanks” he doesn’t use “eulogeo” but instead he uses a word from which we get "eucharist" and, incidentally, from which we derive the term “saying grace.” “Charis” means grace, that is, something given as a gift, and to say grace, to practice a “eucharist” is literally to give a good response for a gift, for a grace, something undeserved. Simply put, it means to give thanks or to be thankful, and thus our Holy Communion is truly a "Eucharist" when we partake with gratitude the precious, unearned and undeserved gift of God, the Body of Christ broken for us, that we might have life.

Of course, this heart of gratitude ought to extend from that Communion to all circumstances, as Paul exhorts us to give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for us in Christ Jesus. Did you hear that? Giving thanks is God's will for us, not just because He "wills" to have people to tell Him how great He is, but because He knows what this heart of continual gratitude will yield... an abundant life, one that cannot help but overflow with richness to others, so that, like the disciples on that hill so long ago, instead of stretching too little among too many people, instead of hoarding what little blessing we have, instead of feeling like people are going to empty us of whatever we have… instead of lives of poverty, we find ourselves living lives of abundance, even collecting leftovers to sustain us far beyond what we thought we could endure.

What is this Miracle of Giving Thanks? Simply this: that even in our poverty... whether material or spiritual... even in our poverty, we find abundant life when we bless God in all things, when we gratefully pour out good words from a good heart, good not because of our own works, but because of the precious gift of God, Christ in us, the bread of life.

Thank You God, for this Food... Amen!

Fabrication of new Bathroom Stall's for Echo's Men's room!

New Stalls for the Men's Bathroom at Echo!

Garrett is fabricating the new Men's Bathroom stall's for church in our Garage! Sunday afternoon we drove to Jackson, MI and Garrett hauled them down a few flight of stairs in an old factory, to bring them home and make them fit in the men's bathroom at Echo! We are grateful that God has fit this into our budget and made it possible to happen before our open house in November! Thank you Father for Craig's list!!!

"God put it into my heart to..."

Ever heard anyone say something like this? Ever said it yourself?

Some would raise their eyebrows at this, doubting that God interacts with us in this way. Isn't it enough that God revealed Himself to us in His Word?

Well, certainly. What we find in Scripture is plenty, especially when we read...

"So my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles..." (Neh 7:5) Nehemiah, a reverent, God-fearing man, referred to this special revelation almost casually.

"The Holy Spirit said..." (Acts 13:2) People (not just apostles) of the early church were gathered, and the Holy Spirit gave them direction.

"What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?" (Deut 4:7)
Indeed... it is His nearness to His faithful ones that marks them... us...setting us apart in the world.

Now, we must take care of course that not every whim of ours is attributed to God in order for our desires to seem holy. When we looked at this Sunday, Karen pointed out the attitude and behavior of the believers in Acts 13:2. "And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said..." When we also consider Nehemiah's consistent attitude of worship, we can see that, truly, according to His Word, He draws near to those who draw near to Him.

The conclusion I draw from all this? If we are living lives of worship and reverence, drawing near to Him, He WILL draw near to us, and there will be times when He WILL put things on our hearts to do and say. Now, I admit, that's a pretty big IF, and there are many who DON'T live this way and claim to hear from God. We need not fear them. But when we ask Him for wisdom (read that somewhere too), ought we not expect to hear from Him?

Is the Word living or active TODAY, or isn't it?

2 Kings 13:20-21 Salvation: A Happy Accident

"Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. As they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet."

Well, now, what a lucky fellow, wouldn't you say? Talk about being in the right place at the right time! And it wasn't even his doing... this poor dead man was being buried by others, and not very carefully, at that. In their haste to avoid the marauding Moabites, these men halted their arduous task of preparing a proper burial for their countryman, and, seeing a handy tomb nearby, likely thought, "Well, neither of these fellows will know any better." So, into Elisha's tomb you go, old friend.

Let's pause here to consider... have you, through no action of your own, ever had your destination changed, and not for the better (as far as you can tell)? Has anyone ever treated you hastily out of their own need for a speedy getaway? Before you rise up indignant at the memory, consider the results for this dead man...

Through no choice of his own, and not even the purpose of any man, this man was rescued from the grave. God alone could orchestrate this scenario, and it is for our benefit today as we read it.

It is written, in fact, that we may be saved. Indeed, even into the tomb Elisha's name continues to stand: God saves.

Who saves? God saves. When we believe that, we are believing in this name, Elisha, which in essence is the same as the name of Jesus.

We may say that we chose Christ, that we walked into salvation with eyes open and, seeing the wisdom of His Way, we embraced Him wholeheartedly. If we say this, however, we are fooling ourselves. Jesus told us that, if we claim to see while in the darkness, our sin remains. Who, if convinced he can see, will go to the doctor for a solution? Likewise, who, if convinced he can choose the right way, will depend on the Shepherd to save his soul from the grave?

Let's face it. Any who are saved are saved by a happy "accident" crafted by the One who formed us in the womb. Any who come in contact with the life-giving Body of Christ may be revived. What remains for us is this: once revived, will you do as the once-dead man did next? Read it again...

What did he do? He "stood to his feet."

Have you found yourself in a place not of your choosing? Have you been cast away by those more concerned about their own safety? Perhaps this is your "happy accident" moment, right here, right now. Perhaps, as you touch the life in His Word, you are being revived even now. Will you stay in the grave, or will you stand to your feet?

Life is waiting.

2 Kings 6:1-7 Salvation in Elisha

A little logic puzzle for you: Elijah is to John, as Elisha is to .......

Did you say Jesus? Indeed, it is not just an interesing coincidence that Elisha's name has the same meaning as Jesus' name. It's the only name by which men are saved, for in fact both names mean "God/YHWH is Salvation."

Think about it. We know John made way for the Christ (John 3:30), but we don't often recall that long before John, Elijah made way for the figure of Christ we find in Elisha.

If you've been following along with Elisha's story, you ought to have found his miracles quite familiar. Multiplying food (2 Kg 4 and John 6), raising the dead (2 Kg 4 and Mark 5), opening the eyes of the spiritually blind and closing the eyes of those who see (2 Kg 6 and John 9), to name just a few.

Today I want to take a brief look at one miracle in this week's reading that, on the surface, doesn't seem to pre-figure Christ at all.

2 Kings 6:1-7
Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, "Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. Please let us go to the Jordan, and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live." So he said, "Go." Then one said, "Please be willing to go with your servants." And he answered, "I shall go." So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, "Alas, my master! For it was borrowed." Then the man of God said, "Where did it fall?" And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick, and threw it in there, and made the iron float. And he said, "Take it up for yourself." So he put out his hand and took it.

There are several pictures of Christ I see here in Elisha, but for now I'm going to consider just two points:

1) No job is too small for His care (blessing children, paying taxes). I have known some to say "Oh, I won't bother God for that, I'm ok, I can handle it...He has bigger issues to deal with."

If this is you, my friend, you may not realize it, but that is pride cloaked in false humility... and a resistance to the Lord who wants to enter into every detail of your life. You know very well that it's in the details of your daily life that you fall to the temptation of anxiety and, if you're not careful, bitterness and then strife. You don't have to be given to this bondage; He truly has made a way out of this temptation:

Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

2) Non-formuleic and unpredictable means (sometimes completely supernatural, sometimes uses props... spit (3x), a fish with a coin)

Elisha seems to favor the use of seemingly random props. He used music, a new jar of salt, grain, jars to collect oil, and here a stick and also the hand of the one who lost the axe head the first place.

One lesson to draw from this is that we don't have to limit His means of healing. If we expect Him to behave a certain way and he doesn't (but does something else we're not looking for), we may fall to the temptation of taking offense, leading to ungodly anger and hardness of heart, resisting His commands... like Naaman, for example. Remember him?

When Naaman the leper came to Elisha for healing, what did he expect? Here, check it out:
2 Kings 5:11 ..."Behold, I thought, 'He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper.'

But what did Elisha actually do? Well, nothing... he didn't even go out to meet the fellow; instead, he sent his servant to tell him to dip in the Jordan 7 times (that should sound familiar too, btw).

But because Elisha didn't do what Naaman expected, what was Naaman's first response? Let's look at the beginning of verse 11...

"But Naaman was furious and went away."

Fortunately for Naaman, his servants were bold enough and wise enough to steer him back to do what Elisha had said.

When you ask Him for your healing, and you should, His means of healing might surprise you. And if you ask a man of God to pray for you, do not take offense if that individual doesn't do what you expect... and if he asks you to do something you feel is beneath you... uh, just do it, ok? That man of God, if he truly is one, will have sought the Father on your behalf and will be instructing you according to Gods' wisdom, not man's, not even his own wisdom. Who are you to turn your nose up at that? Why not rather obey the instruction with joy and be grateful that you weren't required to fast forty days in the wilderness!

Elisha, true to his name and like the Christ he foreshadowed, preached salvation in his deeds... pointing to the Father who sets captives free from sickness and anxiety, and even death. The God of Elisha is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and longs to set you free as well. You may find your way to pray in your time of need, but will you then listen to what He says... will you SH'MA??

"Except the LORD build the house..."

29 April 2010

Blessings, beloved friends and family of Echo Christian Fellowship! Most of you know about our building project here in Lake Orion. It’s been a long road, with more miles to go, but we’ve finally come to a place where we must ask for help! Read on to see how His story is unfolding…

It started with an unseasonably warm day in January or February of 2009, when melted snow got trapped and caused some damage to the walls. As we began repairs we found… eww, bats!!! We didn’t mind them so much as their, uh, way of tithing :-/ We were going to try to clean out the guano ourselves, but wisdom prevailed and we looked into having the job done professionally. The cost? MUCH more than we could come up with! So now what? We told the Lord, “If You want us to have a building, You’re going to have to do something!”

Well, as it turns out, our insurance policy covers bat removal! Go figure!

So the bats were evicted and the sanctuary was cleaned, and with the water-damage claim we had enough for a desperately-needed roof! Tim Fix and his crew did a beautiful job!

But the project was far from over. With the ceiling exposed, we were able to see a number of broken trusses! Doh! Add to that the crazily leaning walls that had never been right since a roof collapse years ago… and the engineer from the insurance company just shook his head, saying, “Tear it down!”

Yikes!

When I heard that, though, something in me leapt for joy. There is something spiritually exciting about the idea of tearing down old walls to rebuild on a solid foundation, don’t you think? Amy King and I stayed up late that night at camp, all excited as He stirred in us the words of Isaiah the prophet:

"Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.” Is 58:12

Our response: “AWESOME!” So…”

THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN!”

We were all quite happy to see those old walls go down to make way for the new!

We even had Tim tear down the mold-factory, that scary old hallway and storage room between the two sides of the building.

Yay!!!

The new walls went up quickly, including new siding, additional windows, and a BEAUTIFUL new interior!

Jeff really likes the “echo” in the new room.

That was last fall … and here we are, more than six months later… still meeting in the fellowship hall!!

Huh?

Well, many of you know that as Tim was finishing up the work in the sanctuary, he discovered some issues in and under the floor… water damage, more mold, and oh look, broken-up asbestos tile, too! Oh my!

Apparently when the Spirit was whispering to us about foundations, He meant He wanted us to LITERALLY go down to the foundation, not just the floor! Well, OK, GOD! And so the work continues…


We believe this next phase is critical for us as a body, physically and spiritually. Many of you have prayed for us and encouraged us in the past. Now, more than ever, we ask you to cover us in prayer as the ground is exposed, and, spiritually, our fellowship is more vulnerable than it’s ever been.

And yes, we also need money! After paying for everything in the pictures above, our insurance company is covering nearly the entire floor project. They are not able to accept responsibility for all of the floor damage, so now, at long last, we are appealing to you for help for the remaining $5,000.

We do not plan to begin work until we have enough in the bank to cover the entire project. We feel strongly about not incurring any new debt, and we have been working hard to pay off our current debt. As we take this step of faith in asking for help, casting a net on “the other side of the boat,” we believe He will provide not only for the floor, but also for other areas that need attention. And guess what? Once funds are in the bank for the other projects, we can get nearly-free labor in 2011 from an Assemblies of God group called Mission America Placement Service (MAPS). Neat, huh?

There’s one more thing I’d like to share. Last summer, I was reading from the story of Elisha…

Then the men of the city said to Elisha, "Behold now, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful." He said, "Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it." So they brought it to him. He went out to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, "Thus says the LORD, 'I have purified (healed) these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer.'" So the waters have been purified to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.
2 Kings 2:19-22

My eyes were drawn to the words I’ve underlined above, and I heard Him speak into my heart: “The spiritual water of Lake Orion is bad, and My ministry here has not been as fruitful as I desire. I will pour out salt from new jars to heal these waters, and the land will bring forth much fruit.”

I believe Echo is to be one of these “new jars,” sharing in this pouring out. I also believe our natural “re-birth” in this location is a picture of the spiritual revival that He is getting ready to release here.

The journey continues. Are you with us?

2010 Seder at Echo Christian Fellowship

A remembrance and a looking forward to the Wedding Feast!

Echo Detroit

We met Abram today and learned about God's covenant with him...especially about Him blessing those who bless His children. We practiced blessing His children by blessing each other! Precious...

There is a river...

I drive by this 'hidden' river on my way to Toni's, and it delights me so much, that I now look forward to that part of the drive and I find myself singing...'there is a river whose streams make glad the city of our God...'
May His hidden river flowing thru His scattered saints delight and refresh you as you pass thru this life, and may you experience His delight in you as you pursue Him.

Do nothing from selfishness...

Selfishness = eritheia from eritheuo ("to work as a day-laborer")... apparently day-laborers were so stereotyped as self-seeking that the verb associated with day-laboring came to serve as the verb for being self-seeking, or more accurately, "demeaning themselves for gain"... serving for purpose of meeting personal, momentary needs or desires.

Well, now, that certainly fits my behavior quite often! All day long I choose behavior that serves my personal, momentary desires. Sure, I also do things to serve others, and sometimes I serve others and myself at the same time. But all of us struggle with this, I suppose... dcTalk sings it well: "The disease of self runs through my blood, it's a cancer fatal to my soul. Every attempt on my behalf has failed to bring this sickness under control. Tell me, what's going on inside of me? I despise my own behaviour..."

But the song goes on ...

"This only serves to confirm my suspicions that I'm still a man in need of a Saviour!"

Well, sure! That's the point, right? We still need Him.

But, also happily, I see something else in Paul's admonition in Philippians 2:3:

"Do nothing from selfishness" he says... the comfort I drew from this today was that, even though we have this "disease of self" we can choose something... we can choose to "do nothing" from that sickness... we can choose to not let the sickness dictate our behavior. We aren't bound to the selfishness, thank God.

I also appreciate that Paul (the kind fellow) gives a suggestion for making alternative behavior choices...

"With humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves."

The way to denying self is in choosing humility, that is, lowering yourself to bless another person.

So.... let's do that, okay?