What does it mean to you, this never ending water?
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water [from the well] will be thirsty again,but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” [John 4:13-14, NIV]
This week begins a series of devotions based on the word, Reflect. And one of the best ways to reflect is to ask ourselves questions. What do these words really mean to me?
If the water from the Christ should truly be as a spring of water welling up within me, then why am I not continually refreshed? Is it the fault of the water? I don’t think so. Instead, there’s some pesky beaver damming up the stream. I’ve allowed a lot of sticks and mud and stones to get in the way. Despite tearing it down, the industrious beaver will rebuild overnight. (Please, don’t think I’m picking on beavers in particular, it’s just a metaphor.) My point is that keeping the water flowing is a daily task. And only when the water is flowing can we actually drink.
Becoming a follower of Christ was a choice. I did not choose under a haze of emotion or outside pressures or a well-meaning but overly enthusiastic “witness,” but upon completing my first cover to cover reading of the New Testament. The question that came to my mind was simple: Is Jesus the truth or a lie? And despite all my arguments, this one belief found root. Jesus is and was and is to come, the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end [Revelation 22:13]. And when the chapter (and the book) ends with these words, “Even so, come Lord Jesus,” I accepted this Way. Put aside the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt and serve the Lord. But if it seems wrong in your opinion to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Choose the gods whom your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But my family and I will serve the Lord. [Joshua 24:14b-15, CEB] I cannot convince anyone of anything. I cannot “make” you or anyone believe what I believe. I can only speak of this core of Spirit that was born that day and has blossomed into an integral part of myself. Are there things I don’t understand? Of course. Do I ask for clarification? I do. And one day, I believe, though I “see through a glass darkly” still, I will have the fullness of wisdom. But for now, I will hold fast to my God, my Jesus. One of my beloved and venerated church mystics is Julian of Norwich. Some of her sayings capture my meaning today:
Julian of Norwich and her cat
“See that I am God. See that I am in everything. See that I do everything. See that I have never stopped ordering my works, nor ever shall, eternally. See that I lead everything on to the conclusion I ordained for it before time began, by the same power, wisdom and love with which I made it. How can anything be amiss?” and
“Truth sees God, and wisdom contemplates God, and from these two comes a third, a holy and wonderful delight in God, who is love.” [from Revelations of Divine Love]
and most well known of all,
“And all shall be well. And all shall be well. And all manner of things shall be exceeding well.”
So, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Back and forth I go over this scripture from Paul about being “all things to all people.” More than likely, he is referring to his ability to accommodate various beliefs and behaviors by being non-judgmental and that’s a good thing, but then I can envisage a mis-use of this passage to assert we should blend in and not rock the boat. It’s all a bit of a fine line.
I act weak to the weak, so I can recruit the weak. I have become all things to all people, so I could save some by all possible means.All the things I do are for the sake of the gospel, so I can be a partner with it. [I Corinthians 9:22-23, CEB]
Honestly, I’m not sure Paul could have blended in anywhere anyway. He was so opinionated and seemed to step on toes wherever he went. I’m just sayin.’
Jesus is really the role model for this scripture. He never changed his spots and yet, he engaged each person and group fully. He allowed people to be who they were in that moment and the by-product was that they recognized his authenticity. I could imagine him walking into a bar and hanging out and although he would be drinking water, he would be available without condemnation.
When serving outside our comfort zone, it’s important to be secure in our faith without reserve, but also realize that every journey is different. But we must learn to “look” to the spark of human within, the spark that is waiting for the flame of the Holy Spirit, for all of humanity is waiting in one form or another [Romans 8:19] for the personal revelation of God. In this way, we are all the same. Our outward selves and circumstances are often a poor reflection of the core within.
The real chameleon is the spirit within who can melt into a unity with the essence of Other.
Both Jesus and Moses served God, but Moses out of the covenant of the law from without while Jesus served out of the nature of God within. Pick your way. Personally, my desire is to serve because it is a natural expression of my identity, it is a reflection of God through Christ.
Jesus was faithful to the one who appointed him just like Moses was faithful in God’s house. But he deserves greater glory than Moses in the same way that the builder of the house deserves more honor than the house itself. Every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant in order to affirm the things that would be spoken later. But Jesus was faithful over God’s house as a Son. [Hebrews 3:2-6, CEB]
I am contending a bit with the young adults in my house right now. We have all been through an ordeal, the death of a husband and the death of a father. But the sorrow, after a time, cannot be used as a “get out of jail free” card forever. The laundry still needs to be washed, the floor swept, the dogs fed, the meals prepared. It is not a hotel. When I suggested to one of them to wash our windows, the protest was immediate. But then, when I asked, who should do them? Nominate someone else to do the work. Silence. The windows were done, and yet begrudgingly. Other times, I am given a report a what was done or not done. I have to laugh. I really don’t want to keep score. We all live here; we all have a responsibility to maintain our home.
Is this microcosm any different from the macrocosm of our earth, or county, or state, or county, or city, or neighborhood? We live here.
God is not keeping score. But the responsibility for our environment and the people who live in it is irrefutable. If we don’t serve, who will? Who do you nominate to the work you don’t want to do?
Before Mike died, I struggled with “loving” others who were in grief situations. I kept thinking, I don’t know what to do, how can I help? But then, I saw the simple truth of it. Jesus already told us what to do, not only in the “golden rule” [Matthew 7:12] but in one of the greatest commandments: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” [Matthew 22:37-40, CEB]
So, this is what others did for me while I floundered about in the days and weeks after Mike’s death:
Sat in my house and waited for me the first night, so I wouldn’t be alone.
Dog-sat my pups in their home while the household was in chaos.
Cleaned my house.
Stocked my pantry with paper goods.
Not just brought meals, but coordinated them.
Created to-do lists.
Made phone calls. Filtered phone calls.
Went grocery shopping for me.
Filed my paperwork and cleaned my home office.
Kept my kitchen clean and clear.
Made meals for extended family.
Offered guest rooms for extended family.
Drove to the airport. Again and again.
Made breakfast.
Stocked me up with breakfast foods and coffee.
Shoveled snow. Again and again.
Took me out to lunch.
Created memory posters and organized photographs.
Offered to create a scrapbook of sympathy cards.
Took truckloads to the dump.
Delivered donations.
Sold two of my cars and found a replacement.
Stocked us up with pet food.
Took pictures.
Gave me rides, even when I could have driven myself.
Listened.
Sat with me.
Cried with me.
Sang to me.
Sent follow up cards to check in.
Invited me over for dinner. Just me. Even though, it was just me.
Brought over little kids who made me laugh.
Took the little kids home again.
Fixed my toilet. And then the second one. Oh, and the third one.
Came over to play games just for fun. Played cards.
Did my laundry.
The list goes on actually. There are still many people teaching me what to do the next time. The things people did were simple and often times, quick. But they all meant so much. They still mean so much.
Yup. I get it. I can love you like this too. It’s another way to serve one another. And maybe, just maybe, once I find to strength to love my near neighbor, my heart will reach further away.
Sisyphus is a character in a Greek myth who was punished for his deceitfulness. His reparation? To push a large boulder up a hill and then watch roll back down again. He experienced, firsthand, futility as a result of his pride. Sometimes, people serve God as though it’s a punishment: they repeat and repeat the tasks and get the same results and wonder why. Being a servant to God should not be drudgery and if it is, something is terribly wrong.
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. [Matthew 20:25-28, NIV]
Warren Wiersbe identifies one of the core reasons for this type of dreary service: the servant lacks understanding of the principles that underlie the work.
Whether it’s volunteers or employees, everyone needs to know how they fit into the big picture. It doesn’t really matter how clever or creative or well-funded we might be, without a substance understanding of why we are asked to do what we do, the task becomes heavier and heavier, the joy escapes like air from a balloon, and the grumbling begins.
If you are serving uphill, stop and take a break. Ask questions of the leadership. Pray about the part you have been asked play. And if those two things don’t line up, test other tasks. No two people necessarily serve in the same way. It’s the whole foot-hand/eye-ear scenario in I Corinthians 12, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. . . . Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.If they were all one part, where would the body be?As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” [verses 4-6, 15-20]
Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. [Philippians 2:5-6, The Message]
For many years, Mike and I served in a variety of para-church organizations whose mission was to create a once-in-a-lifetime 3-day retreat based on the Cursillo model. While in Georgiain 1984, we attended our first Cursillo weekend (#14) and thereafter served on a number weekends sponsored first by Atlanta Christian Cursillo, then Walk to Emmaus as well as Tres Dias. When we moved to Maryland, we served in the Delmarva area for Walk to Emmaus and eventually found Maryland Emmaus (the weekends are numbered and although they are in the hundreds now, our weekends were #5 and #6). These retreats were a lifeblood for both the attendees and the “servants.” It was on these weekends that we learned about servant leadership and sacrificial service. Later Mike moved his energy to yet another outgrowth of these weekends into the Maryland prisons, and served on several Kairos weekends. There also evolved weekends, called Chrysalis for teens. Together, Mike and I contributed and served on over one hundred weekends. And we did this out of love.
It was here that we experienced the joy of serving, where each and every person on a team gave 110% of their time and commitment to the weekend and its preparations (anywhere from a 12-25 week commitment, depending on a person’s role). There was structure and yet there was creativity, laughter, tears, music, clowning, teaching, sharing, and great food (or at least, lots of food).
Being a project-oriented person, the process appealed to me from beginning to end. Being a results-oriented person, I saw changes to both team and participants. And several of the relationships formed on those retreats lasted far beyond the weeks of direct service. One of most popular jobs or roles on the weekend was the “cha.” This person demanded the most of the person physically, running errands up and down the hill, setting up chairs and tearing them down, moving sound equipment, delivering gifts, dressing up in silly costumes, waking up very early and going to bed very late. The focus of every retreat weekend was the participants who were first-timers. At the heyday of the movement, people would be on waiting lists for years, to attend. The weekend experience was life-changing.
These retreats were the best of Church.
But they were never intended to replace the local church. And often, the men and women (who attended separate weekends) would return to their home church, ready to serve. Unfortunately, in churches everywhere, everyone who attends church is not on the same page. And so, the people who are willing to serve freely often serve into burn-out. It’s so much harder to serve in a community when only a small percentage (often the proverbial 20%) of the people are actively pulling/contributing the bigger share (time, money, energy, etc).
I cannot imagine what serving on an Emmaus weekend would have been like if every team member didn’t know what his/her role was, didn’t give that role his/her 100%, and didn’t understand how that role impacted the experience of the pilgrim participants. What teams did understand was that each person has a gift to give and each gift is like a different vibrant color, the same kind of rainbow of color that typifies the love of God shining through the prism of Christ. DeColores.
The message of each servant/team member was really the same: “I am here serving you because someone served me.”
My personal mission is to inspire meaningful change, build faith in God and connect people with resources that make a difference in their lives. Librarian, Writer, Blogger, Follower of Christ.
What does it mean to you, this never ending water?
If the water from the Christ should truly be as a spring of water welling up within me, then why am I not continually refreshed? Is it the fault of the water? I don’t think so. Instead, there’s some pesky beaver damming up the stream. I’ve allowed a lot of sticks and mud and stones to get in the way. Despite tearing it down, the industrious beaver will rebuild overnight. (Please, don’t think I’m picking on beavers in particular, it’s just a metaphor.) My point is that keeping the water flowing is a daily task. And only when the water is flowing can we actually drink.
Meditations from Zion 