More Crumpets, Anyone?

I had a little tea party
This afternoon at three.
'Twas very small-
Three guests in all-
Just I, myself and me.
Myself ate all the sandwiches,
While I drank up the tea;
'Twas also I who ate the pie
And passed the cake to me.
(The Tea Party, Jessica Nelson North)

“Small.” I think that is the operative word in this little scenario – a small party, a small guest list, a small heart, a small world.

Been there. I’ve grown quite a few soul sizes since then, but... I wonder what would happen if we really threw the “tea party” of our lives open to everyone? If every person we met in the course of a day truly was received by us as Christ Himself? Is that a scary thought? (What if I run out of sandwiches? Out of conversation? Out of time? Out of resources? What if just anyone sits down next to me? What if it grows to be a very large party indeed, and I lose control of it? What if... what if...?)

Jesus answered all our what-ifs, leaving no excuse for sitting alone at the little table of our lives, munching crumpets and sipping tea in self-satisfied silence. “For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Luke 6:38). Give generously of your time and attention and compassion and energy, and the response will be generous – from people, and from Me.” In fact, Paul’s message to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 9:6-15) might be paraphrased this way:

Remember this: whoever invites only a few to his tea party will have fellowship with only a few. Whoever throws the party open to everyone will have a happy crowd! But God will not force you to broaden your world – He loves it when you willingly share the wideness of His heart. If you choose to do so, He’s well able to supply you with enough “tea in the teapot and crumpets on the plate” and grace and opportunity to bless others, so that you can always honor your guests like they were Christ Himself.

So set out some extra chairs. Pile the crumpets high in preparation. Today’s tea party is by open invitation, and every lonely, hungry person who stops by will be Christ Himself...

How to Paint a Fence

Privileged and honored. That’s the only logical response to the news we heard in Sunday’s sermon: God has made each of us ambassadors for His Kingdom, and through us He makes His appeal to those dwelling in a realm of fear and death. I’m afraid we don’t always embrace it for the privilege it is, though. It reminds me of a devotional given by Tom Anderson at a Bible quiz meet some years ago, with the help of Mark Twain...

Do you remember Twain’s Tom Sawyer? It seems that one perfectly delightful Saturday morning when “all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life,” Tom appeared on the sidewalk, a paintbrush in one hand and a bucket of whitewash in the other. The morning would be spent whitewashing the fence – Aunt Polly’s orders. Tom “surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high. Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden. Sighing, he dipped his brush and passed it along the topmost plank... compared the insignificant whitewashed streak with the far-reaching continent of unwhitewashed fence, and sat down on a tree-box discouraged.”

By midafternoon, though, a succession of friends had swapped prized possessions (twelve marbles, a one-eyed kitten, six firecrackers...) for the opportunity to paint a section of that fence. After all, it was an exclusive job (Aunt Polly had insisted on Tom’s doing it!) and not just anyone could pull it off - but they could be a part of it! Tom had managed to make the job so appealing that they eagerly traded hours of personal freedom for the privilege of sweating and laboring with a paintbrush and a bucket of whitewash.

Sometimes when I’m doing something for the Lord, I remember those boys at the fence. One had a deep aura of gloom and looked for any way out of it... the others enthusiastically gave away a personal treasure for the privilege of doing exactly the same thing. One envied his friends’ carefree existence, while others willingly gave up their leisure. One was finally content to loll about, collecting trinkets, while the others actually accomplished something.

The difference, of course, is that when I work for the Lord I’m not just doing somebody else’s work for them; I’m carrying out God’s assignment to me. I’m not just joining a lesser cause that has been inflated to sound grand and glorious... there is no greater cause! And I’m not working for someone who didn’t want the job himself; I’m working with Jesus in a quest for souls that means everything to Him. I’m trading a brief “day” of leisure for an eternal Day of reward. I’m trading personal trinkets for treasure in heaven that will last a lot longer than the pop and fizzle of a half-dozen firecrackers.

Makes me feel honored to stand at His fence today...

The Christian Community Association

Community association rules are intriguing.

Having been rural-raised among the Allegheny foothills of Warren County, I never knew that home ownership could be contingent upon painting the house a pre-approved color, choosing a pet of a particular breed and size, having the garage door open only 15 minutes at a time, or limiting the number of guests at tomorrow’s dinner party.

I understand the logic, to a point. Settling a lot of people into a little space requires some order. And I suppose the simple solution is, if you don’t like the rules, don’t buy into that kind of a community. Go live in the country and make yourself happy.

The problem comes when the community association mindset permeates the church, until the acceptability of an individual depends upon their conformity to inconsequential (and often unwritten) practices and preferences. Christ’s Body cannot adopt the mindset that works in the subdivision: “Like it or leave it.” It’s just not an option.

Why? Because it’s not God’s standard of living. Because, in fact, He doesn’t look on the outside; He looks on the heart. The apostle Paul likewise declared that he no longer regarded anyone from worldly standards (2 Cor. 5:16), but sought to be “all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Cor. 9:22 NIV).

After all, he knew what it was like to be held at arm’s length by those he had moved close to. He knew how it felt to incur the displeasure of the association, and to plead, “We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange... Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one” (2 Cor. 6:11-7:2).

Has anyone within our church echoed Paul, crying out to a circle of friends or an ABF class or a small group, “Make room in your hearts for us”? Christian community is about opening wide our hearts to people, even as Christ did. It’s about accepting all whom God accepts (as wholeheartedly as He does), and requiring only what He requires.

I don’t think it comes particularly easy to any of us, myself included. But since it’s the association rules of the Kingdom, and since I’m planning a long-term stay in that neighborhood ....

At the Board

Our youngest son has ruled that “school” is a taboo subject during summer vacation, but since back-to-school sales are now in full swing, I feel justified...

At an FAC concert a few years ago, singer Annie Chapman reminisced about her school days… “I always had problems with arithmetic – simple, basic math. The very worst for me were the word problems: ‘A bus is traveling 60 miles an hour. It is headed for a city 120 miles away. How long will it take to get there?’ I had a terrible time with those problems… until someone would go to the board and work it out. Then I would understand it.” Then Annie talked about people God had put in her life to “go to the board” and work out their knotty problems in a way that gave Annie understanding.

That illustration has stuck with me, for a couple reasons. First, it made me appreciative of the people in my life that God has sent to the board with their problems. I watched how they worked them out as He stood nearby. And I learned.

Second, it made me aware that when I’m sent to the board with my own problem, someone is watching. They will be affected by what I do there. Will they see an example that leads them into deeper confusion and wrong answers, or one that demonstrates in practice what they’ve read in the Textbook?

It’s not that a Christian should always be able to rush to the board and dash off the right answer. We’re all learners, and sometimes there are long pauses, and standing back to survey the problem, and looking longingly at the clock for rescue (isn’t it time for the rapture?). Sometimes there’s even agonizing struggle (and it’s comforting to know that even Jesus agonized at the board in Gethsemane)... but maybe that’s when our example matters most of all.

Because that’s when we decide whether to throw the Book out the window and wing it, or open it and dig in. That’s when we refuse or accept the assistance offered by an “upperclassman” in the faith. That’s when we choose whether to throw down the chalk in angry protest or to slink back to our seats in tearful humiliation – or to turn to the Teacher who’s been standing alongside all along, just waiting to help.

Word problems. There's a reason they're called "examples." There are people just waiting to find out how you get your answers. It's the method they'll use to find theirs.