Messy Lives=Abundant Harvests?

During church this past Sunday, this verse hit me. Not for the reason you might expect, though.

Our lives have been very messy. Not the messy most people deal with. I mean MESSY! The last month has been a rollercoaster of overwhelming circumstances–most of it not good. But do you see what this proverb shows us? Keeping things clean and neat and quiet does NOT lead to abundance. No! The manger, if used, is a smelly place that constantly needs attention to keep it from getting out of hand. But if you leave it empty, you have no oxen. If you have no oxen, you have no one to pull the plow. If the plow can’t work in the fields, you have no harvest.

I’m not saying I’m going to jump for joy at the mess of our lives, but at least I can step back and say this mess can lead to something good.

New Year: Sacrifices and Blessings

It’s a new year. Last year, we made a big deal about good riddance to 2020. This year, I got the sense that most people held back on their hopeful proclamations. Although 2021 wasn’t as harsh as 2020, it still didn’t offer the relief many hoped for.

I get the desire to mark the beginning of a new year as a season of hope, but I’ve always felt that was silly. Dates have little to do with my day-to-day life. I mark the new year just because it falls so soon after Christmas.

If I look at things based on the calendar year, I can say 2020 and 2021 offered a lot of blessings for me. Yes, the world dealt with, and continues to deal with, Covid. I know many who have suffered great losses during this time. Personally, things have not gone well with my daughter whose children I’m raising. My husband began to deal with health issues that put a monkey wrench in some of our Christmas plans. I could dwell on the negative aspects of those two years without anyone questioning me.

Yet, it wasn’t all horrible. Wonderful things did happen. I published three books over those two years and won Best Fantasy Novel for the first one. I attended conferences as an invited guest instead of an attendee. I made lots of new friends. My daughter became engaged in a very theatrical way that suits her personality. The move from in-person corporate training workshops to virtual ones healed my feet of the agonizing pain of plantar fasciitis.

So, I could dwell on the negative, but I have plenty of positives to focus on. I’d rather view the passage of time in that light instead.

In the Bible, God gave the Israelites a calendar to go by. It contained festivals and rites and times of sacrifice. He used these events to remind them of what God did and continued to do for them.

In Exodus 23: 14-19, God instructs the Israelites about three festivals:  The Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering.

“Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me. “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt. “No one is to appear before me empty-handed.  Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the first fruits of the crops you sow in your field. Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field. Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord. Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast. The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning. 

These festivals reminded them of the blessings God provided. Two of them are to celebrate, not to look back. The Festival of Unleavened Bread does look back, but it looks back toward a joyful time of release from bondage.

God repeats this instruction in Exodus 34, almost to the word. We could spend a lot of time on why it’s repeated, but I’ll only note that Exodus 23 occurs before the golden calf and Exodus 24 after.

In Leviticus, God gives instruction to Moses on sacrificial offering. The directions provide clear, albeit difficult, steps to follow. In some way, I can see the Israelites taking comfort in these rituals. In Leviticus 16, he gives specific directions about the Day of Atonement, ending the direction with this summary:

“This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work-whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you- because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins. Leviticus 16:29-30

Several chapters later in Leviticus, God provides instruction of feasts, including the Passover.

Why am I noting this? God set up a calendar for His people. He marked it with special events and processes that reminded them of their salvation in God. These events reminded them of His blessings and of their shortcomings, but this calendar gave them hope. It gave them a way to move forward beyond sin.

It may feel like we don’t have the same experience in today’s world. We don’t offer sacrifices in the way the Israelites were commanded to do. Jesus’ sacrifice changed how we look at forgiveness of sin. Even though we don’t hold these feasts, every Sunday Christians come together to worship Him and remember the ultimate sacrifice through the Lord’s Supper. Maybe celebrating a new year as a season for looking forward with hope is not far from what God planned for us, after all.

So, I’m rethinking my attitude of not looking at January 1 as a day to mark with anticipation for what’s to come. This year, I’m thankful for blessings in the past and hoping for blessings in the coming year. How about you?

To Serve or Be Served?

Image by ArtTower from Pixabay

Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. John 13:14-15

Last week I recounted the blessings I’ve received from helpful friends and family due to my fall a few weeks ago. As the blessings continue to pour in, I’ve been thinking about how we respond to offers of help. How many times has someone said to you, “Let me know if you need something” or “Can I bring you a meal?”

I’m serious. Think about that question. Take a moment and really try to recall the times you’ve offered to help someone or they’ve offered to help you.

Now, here’s the hard part. What was your response? Did you accept the help? What was their response? Did the person let you help?

When Christ washed the disciples’ feet, Peter objected. He didn’t want Christ to do it. He struggled with the idea. Why? Because he didn’t feel right accepting help from Jesus. Why should the Son of God kneel at Peter’s feet and clean the filth from them? Because He wanted to do it.

I’ve heard a lot of sermons about Christ washing the disciples’ feet, but they focus on the value of serving others. But what about Christ’s message in verses 14 and 15? He tells the disciples they should do as He did. They should wash each others’ feet. We tend to focus on the act of washing, the service given. What about the receiving? Christ told them to do both.

He told them to do both!

How often have you turned down someone’s offer to help because you felt like you shouldn’t accept their service? If you’re being honest, you probably do it without thought. Someone offers to help. You’re touched, but you don’t accept their service. You say you’re fine, it’s not necessary. When you do this, you stop someone from following Christ’s direction:  you also should wash one another’s feet.

If we say no, then whose feet will get washed? No one’s!

I’m guilty of this. I get it. We think, I’m not the person they should be serving. I’m not the one who needs it, but Christ said you are. He said to do it for each other. That means giving as well as receiving.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve learned to accept the beauty of receiving help from others. I hated that I had to receive it, but each time someone did something for me, it felt wonderful. I saw the kindness and beauty of their souls. It’s hard to accept help, I know. But when we turn down someone’s help, we’re letting our own pride get in the way of their efforts to do as Christ told them.

How can we develop a spirit of service if we don’t let others serve us, too? If we’re only on the giving end of things, how can any of us ever do as Christ says? We must serve, but we also must be served.