It was war! Water balloons were catapulted into the air with devastating effect, buckets of water annihilated any dry spot on its enemy, Supersoakers took aim with pin point accuracy, and the water hose was the epicenter of No Man’s Land. The toll of war was a high price to pay, the casualties piled up in the melee of battle, even the innocent bystander was an unfortunate victim in the overflow. No one left unscathed…yet we loved it. On the hottest day of the year, in the middle of a record breaking heat wave, the all out water war, was the most refreshing fun I’ve had all summer.
It was a dangerously hot day at 106-110 degrees in some areas, and for us Oregonians who feel most comfortable at about 68 degrees this heat was nearly unbearable. I can’t sleep at night, I feel anxious, always tired, irritable, scattered and am generally as unproductive as a slug. However, as we came together for our Wednesday Family Night, without A/C, in an epic water war between kids, students and adults it changed the day from misery to jubilation. As the battle was nearing its end, soaked from head to toe, I paused and realized I felt completely refreshed, cooled down and full of energy. Water is a beautiful thing.
Scripture uses the metaphor of water to describe the spiritual refreshing and life-giving affect upon our emotional, social, mental and physical well being. In the 23 Psalm the Good shepherd “leads me beside sill waters”, and we have all experienced those dry, hot, desperate times in our lives where we can relate to the poetic Psalm.
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. (42:1-2)
Christ gives the appeal for us to come to him and drink of the refreshing, life-giving Holy Spirit.
“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:38
Just as we are in the middle of a record breaking heat wave, at times we have all felt the pressure, stress, irritation, hopelessness, drain of breaking heat in our lives. Family and marital relationships that are strained, finances that are stretched, health, work pressures, unfulfilled hopes, expectations and dreams, and uncertainty and anxiety of our future can make us feel depressed, tired, irritable, hopeless, drained, lethargic, and myopic. The good news is that in God’s goodness, he has given us his refreshing spirit for life, hope, joy, discernment, strength, energy with living water flowing from within us. We then become a source of God’s refreshing Spirit.
When those record breaking heat waves hit me from time to time, I will be armed and ready with water balloon in hand, a mischievous glint in my eye, and the confidence to know that a refreshing victory is at hand.
One of the joys of life is picking a ripe vegetable from you garden, brushing off the dirt and taking the first bite. The fullness of flavor excites our taste buds as we bite into the juicy beefsteak tomato or the crisp carrot. As colorful and enticing the vegetables look at the supermarket you can’t top the flavor and enjoyment of your own harvest of vegetables. In part I think it is due to our personal investment with our garden. John Maxwell, Winning with People, states the “Gardening Principle – all relationships need cultivation to grow”, as an illustration of our time and effort in developing relationships. In gardening there are pests that can destroy your crops, there are also pests that can damage and destroy your relationships as well.
From slugs, caterpillars to aphids, there are a number of pests that eat, damage and destroy your once healthy, vibrant plant. One of the most sickening moments you can have is to take a big bite of a tomato or fruit and find a half a worm. Just the thought makes me gag. Within our relationships at home, church or workplace we find there are pests that eat, damage and even destroy the friendships that were once thriving. Broken relationships generally don’t happen over one event or day, but over time with neglect and a pest is usually present.
One pest that destroys relationships is self-centeredness. When our lives each day are consumed by our needs, our desires, our goals, our wishes then others simply become either stepping stones or obstacles. In the end they will never fulfill our need. You will find this pest in the professional in their time and energy exerted in the workplace - striving, earning, achieving. You will find this pest within the home, when a loved one does not meet your expectations. You will find this pest within your friendships, when it’s one-sided.
The Apostle Paul reminds us that we naturally have this pest of self-centeredness “For everyone looks out for his own interest, not those of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 2:21). Yet, we are also challenged, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:4-5).
The pesticide for the pest of self-centeredness is love, to have the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus. That is a powerful example and command. When we begin to eradicate this pest from our relationships we will enjoy the sweet and life giving harvest of our garden.Blessings,Pastor Tim
Gardening is a hobby we admire when it is done skillfully and artfully producing a bountiful harvest of fresh vegetables. I’ve tried and I am only modestly successful at producing some tomatoes and hardy peas. It takes a lot of skill, knowledge and upkeep from the beginning of Spring through late Fall. John Maxwell in Winning with People, illustrates this idea in developing relationships, The Gardening Principle – all relationships need cultivation to grow.
It takes a lot of attention and work to maintain a healthy, vibrant garden: weeding, preparing, watering, weeding, seeding, planting, weeding, feeding, weeding, harvesting. Some plants require more skill and attention than other hardy, “leave them alone” varieties. It takes attention and skill to nurture healthy, vibrant friendships, but not all friendships are equal.
Some friendships are for very short and specific reasons: acquaintances, visits to the doctor, your hair stylist, etc. Some people come into our lives for a season, for a period of a few weeks to a few years: our kid’s teachers and coaches, coworkers, business associates, and most friends. Then there are those who come into our lives for a lifetime with ongoing and permanent relationships: family members, your spouse, and close friends.
Peter identifies a specific relationship and gardening principle in 1 Peter 1:22
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
As believers and those obedient to the Truth (Jesus Christ), we are joined in a new relationship with other believers, and the gardening principle is love. In this passage in Greek, Philadelphia, is the love of those united in Christian Brotherhood, or brotherly love. The relationships we have with our brothers and sisters in Christ, are set apart and special from all others, and with it we enjoy unique blessings and hold specific responsibilities.
To cultivate friendships with this gardening principle of Brotherly Love is one that will compel me to garden with sincerity, and deep love from the heart. It will compel me to move beyond my comfort zone of relationships with people that the only thing I have in common is our bond in Christ. I will cultivate relationships with more compassion, with gentleness, joy, peace, hope, perseverance, patience, kindness and many other Christ like tools.
Nurturing healthy, thriving relationships is not easy, and yet if we purposefully garden with Brotherly Love, we will reap a bountiful harvest of lasting, lifelong friendships that will continue through eternity.Blessings,Pastor Tim
June was not a good month for celebrities. The world has said goodbye to Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, Billy Mays, David Carradine, and Fred Travelena. As we live in a media, entertainment saturated world each of these celebrities connect me to my own life experiences.
I remember sitting, crossed-legged, on my grandparent’s living room floor watching the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and the supportive laugh of Ed McMahon. As a pre-teen, Farrah Fawcett was THE Charlie’s Angel, and secretly Tim’s Angel. I practiced high kicks and karate punches in my living room after each episode of Kung Fu, and was intrigued by Caine’s calm confidence and cool quotes, “If a man hurts me and I punish him, perhaps he will not hurt another”. In the early 80’s, I was the market teen for the birth of MTV and Michael Jackson’s videos were the rocket fuel of the music video stratospheric lift-off. The Man of a Thousand Faces, the comedian Fred Travalena, took us back to our love of our favorite Looney Toons characters. Most recently with the reality series PitchMen, Billy Mays was the poster child of the American dream, from Atlantic City Boardwalk salesman to millionaire and household name. What would we do without OxiClean, Orange Glo and Mighty Putty?
It’s interesting how the vast majority of us have never had any personal contact with any one of these individuals, and yet in the news of their death, we were saddened and felt a sense of loss. Why is that? We don’t really know them. Were they persons of integrity, good character, faithfulness, loving and moral? Were we connected with them in a personal relationship? Still, for me it is the reality of passing of time. They were the central figures of the treasured times of my past, in events that cannot be repeated. I am mournful of my own passing of time.
King Solomon, late in life and in his reign, wrote Ecclesiastes as his expression of mourning his life. He reflected on the vanities of the pursuit of knowledge, wealth, pleasure, materialism through the passing of his days. One of his summations is to live in the present. “Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.” Eccl 11:9 “Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love…” Eccl. 9:7-9
I will never be seven again, or sit with my grandparents, be a carefree teen, have a first crush, or practice karate and the moonwalk in my living room…at least while anybody’s watching, and who knows what tomorrow may bring. It is today that I give thanks to my God for the joy, the peace, the time, the memories, my loved ones, friends and even work. It is today, this moment, that I will enjoy God’s abundant blessings upon my life.
