Born of God, then and now

               On this last day of 2013, I write what turns out to be the 33^rd post of the year.  No drumroll necessary, but perhaps a little cheer that I have continued to “crank out” a tidbits from the various thoughts and insights that have moved me and sustained me over this last year.  A recent tidbit has put together two familiar items in my “faith catalogue,” but as God often does, something new has been brought to my attention.

               About eight years ago, a line about possibilities kept coming to mind, one that didn’t seem like a familiar scripture.  Thanks to the marvels of Google, I traced its origin to a prayer with several admonitions, including, “May you never forget the infinite possibilities born of faith.”  Just weeks later, as I decluttered what was under various magnets on our refrigerator, I found the whole prayer printed out from an old email.  I do love how the Holy Spirit “brings to our remembrance” these little treasures—scriptures, prayers, song lyrics—that have nourished us along the way.

               Here’s where it gets interesting; well, I think it gets interesting.  On this Christmas Eve, for the first time in a long time, most of our Laughlin clan of eight went to church that night.  Our newest member (about 10 weeks old) was at our daughter’s house, safe and sound with her mother—as it should have been on a cold winter’s night.  Perhaps more than ever, this year I have appreciated God’s holy “orchestration,” bringing together so many parts and players for the birthing of baby Jesus in that manger so long ago.  Singing the carols, hearing the scriptures, taking communion and lighting our candles in the dimly lit sanctuary were wonderfully familiar—and we were together in one city on this night of remembrance.

               It was the next day or two before I “saw” a connection between one of the readings and the line about possibilities in my special prayer.  John’s first chapter is so often read, and one part had caught my attention previously:  “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God . . . who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12.13).  The point to me has been that this birth is God’s doing by God’s power touching us and moving us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.  Amazing, wondrous and altogether accomplished by God.

               More clearly, I realized these “infinite possibilities” are also “born of God.”  As we seek God, as we try to know Him more and to live as His children led by His Holy Spirit, God offers us these golden nuggets, these opportunities to lay hold of the gifts of faith He longs to drop in our hearts so that we will believe, simply believe, that God is still the miracle-working God He presents Himself as in the scriptures and especially in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

               God extends to us, each and every day, this love that persists, that seeks us out and wants to pull us into His realm of thinking, His way of loving, His way of believing for what He alone can bring to pass.  Looking back on 2013, I am so very thankful for what this persistent love has accomplished in my life and the lives of others.  Looking forward to 2014, I hope for and expect even more of this love of God that demonstrates itself in such powerful and wonderful ways.    

"Elf," the musical and childlike faith

               “Elf,” the musical, wasn’t a show I had expected to see.  Due to the kindness of our neighbor who received free tickets in the box section, we even got to see it “in style” and enjoyed it.  Although the Christmas message of the birth of Jesus was never mentioned in the musical, its message to believe with childlike faith certainly can have a very powerful Christian application.

               Buddy, the elf, grew up in the North Pole but eventually realized he was a human and not like the other small elves.  Santa sends him off to New York City to find his real father who has a wife and young son.  The father is a driven businessman and doesn’t believe “in the spirit of Christmas.”  In fact, Santa had told Buddy that belief in the Christmas spirit was waning, and this was a real problem for Santa since he no longer uses reindeer to pull his sleigh on Christmas Eve.  Instead, the power now comes from people’s belief.

               During the show, Buddy remains childlike and sincere in his belief in Santa and the loving spirit of Christmas. Toward the end of the story, Santa and his sleigh fall to the ground in a park on Christmas Eve.  Buddy comes to the rescue, rallying people, including his father, to believe again, and Santa’s sleigh takes flight, allowing him to “do his job” and deliver the gifts to the children.

                I once bought a Christmas decoration three inches high and ten inches long, spelling out the word “believe” in wooden letters with glitter on them.  It’s in a prominent place in our family room to constantly remind me of the importance of believing God and having faith.  In Webster’s Dictionary, one of the definitions of believe is “to have a firm conviction as to the reality or goodness of something.”  In all of the gospels, Jesus often addresses the importance of believing in God and having faith in His miracle working power.

               One story describes how two blind men follow Jesus and cry out to Him, saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”  Jesus then asks them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”  After they reply, “Yes, Lord,” Jesus touches their eyes and says, “According to your faith let it be to you” (Mat. 9:27-29).  Regaining their sight is clearly linked to what they believe about Jesus and His power to heal.

               While studying John in a Sunday school class, I was struck by the importance of what Jesus says to Martha, Lazarus’s sister, when she questions Him after her brother Lazarus had died (John 11).  She had sent word to Jesus that her brother was sick, but He shows up late, so late that Lazarus had died and lies in a tomb.  Approaching Him, Martha says, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now, I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give you.”  Jesus goes on and says, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live . . . Do you believe this?”  She must have been troubled and perplexed about what had happened, but even so, she replies, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God . . .”-- no matter what, and Lazarus rises from the dead.

               This kind of faith comes from God; it is a gift and of a stronger substance than anything we can “work up” on our own.  But it is ours for the seeking.  This season that for Christians points us back to the wonders of Christ’s miraculous conception and arrival in a manger, welcomed by angels, shepherds and wise men alike should rekindle the God kind of faith that can still “move mountains” even today.  Simple, childlike faith—just like Buddy’s.

Humbly and with thanksgiving

               Just last week, my husband and I traveled to Illinois to celebrate Thanksgiving in our daughter’s home with other family and friends.  In thinking back, we realized that this would be the sixth state in the last seven years that we have been with family somewhere for this occasion.  West is the only direction we have not traveled from our home here in St. Louis.

               This year, however, we were able to go to the annual Ferguson Partnership Thanksgiving service on Wednesday night before we left, something we have done many times over the years but not recently.  As we walked into Blessed Theresa of Calcutta Church, we heard wonderful singing as people from the various churches had become a special choir for the night.  Various clergy led us in reading the scriptures, praying and presenting a message on Luke 18, emphasizing the importance of praying and not “losing heart.”  After the service, many people stayed for the simple reception and the opportunity for fellowship that it provided.

Amid these last years of change, my husband and I found meaning and comfort in again being part of this observance of where our expressions of thanksgiving should ultimately be—to God.  As the scriptures say, “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy name” (Ps. 92:1).  It is also a good thing to come together as Christians focusing on what joins us, our faith in Christ and our sense of its importance in the community where we live.

               I am reminded of a familiar verse from Micah, verse 8:  “What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”  When we come together with genuine thanksgiving and love for God and one another, surely that is part of how we walk so humbly and so simply with God.