First, thanks, Scott, for your wonderfully honest comment on my last entry! Don't you just love the way Papa God makes us all so different? I am so delighted to think in a way that boggles you (and many others) but know that we are wonderfully united in heart and spirit in Jesus!
So this time, during this season of giving, I am writing about the gift that each human being is to the rest of us. Last week I was greatly privileged to meet with a wonderful lady and her husband for dinner. During the course of our conversation, I thanked her for the way her writings have impacted my life (and many others). And when she responded with something like, "I am glad my book has been helpful to you," I surprised myself a bit by saying, "You are the gift to us--it's just expressed through your writing--but you are the gift."
As I pondered this statement in Papa's presence a couple of days ago, I was struck by how we usually think of what we do, create or give away as the gift. But is that really the case? In one very limited sense it is true, of course, but it’s not nearly the full truth. Rather I believe that God was showing me that what we do, create or give away is an unique communication to others of our unique and wonderful expression of the image of God. The book someone writes, the painting an artist creates, the meal that someone prepares, even the ditch a laborer digs—all of these are uniquely expressed through the richness of that particular individual (the totality of her/him: experiences as well as abilities), and we are therefore constantly receiving something wonderful in and through each person that we meet. No one could or will ever dig that ditch, prepare that meal, paint that painting the same way--it is a totally unique deposit into the fabric of eternity. And if I view things like this, then each person and all that s/he does, creates or gives is a treasured expression of God's image.
So yes, “You are the gift.” And this is even more true and vastly enriched when the person chooses to allow her/his life to be shaped by God. It's as if He perfect, polishes and empowers that unique expression of who He is! Do you see the wonder of this? Since each of us is a completely unique manifestation of God's image, then when we see the gift in wrapped up in the person, we also see Him in some special, very unique way. And as we grow more and more tender before Him and aware of Him, the treasure that we see around us in our world and in the people around us grows so much that we find ourselves more and more in a state of wonder and gratitude. Every person, every moment becomes an amazing gift--or more accurately, Papa God gives us eyes to see that. Amazing!
It is common to hear someone say about God, "Don't seek the gift, seek the Giver." I suppose that could be a terribly religious thing to say to someone, but there is a truth in it as well--God is a far greater Gift than anything we could "get from Him." But what if we also applied that principle to those around us. What if we could value not only the book, the gift, the ..whatever...but valued the and "sought" the person who is really the gift? Just wondering :-)
"Ah, Father, if we could grasp and hold onto this, it would change everything about how we relate to one another (to say nothing of how it would change our relating to you)! Even the most humble of persons becomes a treasure to us. I think of how this would change the way we view and treat people who have yet to trust in You: we would approach each one, even the most broken and hardened, with great respect and attention—wow! It would also help us to think less about our performance and more about you as we do and create—big thoughts here, Papa! Help us to get it!"
So...what do you think? Am I again on another planet? Or do you see the gift, the treasure that I am seeing?
Marveling at His treasure in those around me,
Tom, Abba's little boy
1 comment:
Tom,
I am totally tracking with you here as this echoes and fits into something that Father God has been unpacking for me lately. I have mentioned this - that the gift *is* the ministry. So, taking this further down the line, yes, I think the real heart of this is that we are then the gift, and in so many ways it can find expression. I can see how in all the work of His' Spirit inside my heart He is cleaning and clearing the way for wholeness in Him, so that this can take the proper expression. It is like the work of the Spirit, or the "gifts of the Spirit" are there to do so much repair and healing and transformation in us so that He can truly shine through who we are. And it is amazing how this is a shared glory with Him - it is so clearly His work and not ours, but He delights in us sharing in the mutual experience and joy. I am discovering that this is the secret joy of the true believer that scripture paints so clearly, but most of us find so lacking.
I want to comment on something also that has really been bothering me, for what it's worth. It is the whole "missional" idea of church ministry. Hey - I am all for the church reaching this world and living outside of itself, but there is so much push towards this "missional" concept that is still sadly lacking signs of the kind of inner life we have been talking about. It can be so utilitarian in its goal of aligning church ministry and people to this missional approach, that I feel that it threatens to place people's gifts as nothing more than a means to an end. Is God more or less pleased with us when we are "using our gifts for His purposes." But this is exactly the kind of language and tone I am hearing from people, and I feel it is the flip side of the same wrong coin of emphasizing our works, our performance, our gifts - what we do - as opposed to living out of the daily discovery of who we truly are in Him. One places the emphasis on how we can best serve "His goals" (whatever we think that is, sounds like some kind of divine corporation), the other places the focus on daily communion with God and active listening and response.
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