Author Archive for: meiling

They sat on opposite sides of the room, a man and a woman, bidding on an adorable puppy at a school auction. Others dropped off, but not this duo. Back and forth until they’d one-upped the bid to several thousand dollars. This was the Wimbledon finals, and neither player was backing off the net. Finally, the fellow gave in and didn’t return the bid. Going once, going twice, sold! You know what she did? Amidst the applause, she walked across the room and presented the puppy to the competition.

Suppose you did that to the competition, with your enemy, with the boss who fired you. Suppose you surprised them with kindness. Not easy? No, it’s not. But mercy is the deepest gesture of kindness.

God’s cure for the common life includes a strong dose of servanthood. Timely reminder. As you celebrate your unique design, be careful. Don’t so focus on what you love to do that you neglect what needs to be done. A 3:00 AM diaper change fits in very few sweet spots. Visiting your sick neighbor might not come naturally to you. Still, the sick need to be encouraged and diapers need changing.

The world needs servants. People like Jesus, who did not come to be served, but to serve. He chose remote Nazareth over center-stage Jerusalem, his dad’s carpentry shop over a marble-columned palace, and three decades of anonymity over a life of popularity. He selected prayer over sleep, the wilderness over the Jordan, feisty apostles over obedient angels. I’d have gone with the angels, given the choice. Not Jesus. He picked the people. He came to serve! May we do the same.

We speak of a short life, but compared to eternity, who has a long one? A person’s days on earth may seem like a thimbleful. But compared to the Pacific of eternity, even the years of Methuselah filled no more than a glass. James was not speaking just to the young when he said, “Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away” (James 4:14 NCV).

In God’s plan, every life is long enough and every death is timely. And though you and I might wish for a longer life, God knows better. And this is important: though you and I may wish a longer life for our loved ones who have gone on before us, they don’t. Ironically, the first to accept God’s decision of death is the one who dies. You see, while we’re mourning at a grave, they’re marveling in heaven. While we’re questioning God, they’re praising God!

Remember when you sought a night’s rest and got a colicky baby? Remember when you sought to catch up at the office and got even further behind? You can add to the list of interruptions sorrow, excitement, and bedlam. Sound familiar? Take comfort—it happened to Jesus too.

You may have trouble believing that. You probably believe Jesus knows what it means to endure heavy-duty tragedies. You’re no doubt convinced Jesus is acquainted with sorrow and has wrestled with fear. Most people accept that. But can God relate to the hassles and headaches of my life? Of your life? For some reason this is harder to believe. Jesus knows how you feel. His eyes have grown weary. His heart has grown heavy. He has had to climb out of bed with a sore throat. He has been kept awake late and gotten up early. Jesus knows how you feel.

The church names we banter about? They don’t exist in heaven. Because it’s not the denomination that saves you. And I wonder, if there are no denominations in heaven, why do we have denominations on earth?

I know this is a crazy thought, but what would happen if all the churches agreed, on a given day, to change their names to simply “church?” And then when people chose which church to attend, they wouldn’t do so by the sign outside, they’d do so by the hearts of the people inside. And then when people were asked what church they attended, their answer wouldn’t be a label but just a location. And then we Christians wouldn’t be known for what divides us; instead we’d be known for what unites us—our common Father.

Crazy idea? Perhaps. But I think God would like it. It was his to begin with!