Piece By Piece

  

I have a confession to make. I wrote a book about puzzle pieces called “Piece by Piece”. I use puzzles in my teaching all the time. But they have always been 40 or 20, maybe 70 pieces maximum. You know the kid’s puzzles, which allow me to use them for a challenge or a teaching point in a short period of time and allow me to make my point quickly.

 

A few months ago, during COVID lock down I did my first 1000-piece puzzle ever.  After a few hours I couldn’t believe how far I had NOT got in doing the puzzle. I hadn’t even got the edges of the puzzle sorted out. It was so hard. I was thinking, what is wrong with me? Why can’t I do this?  What is taking me so long? Once I did get the edges of the puzzle sorted, I thought that it would flow from there, but it just got harder. So many of the pieces looked exactly the same and the process of trying each piece one by one into each other to get a connection was a very slow process. 

 

Now, I know anyone who does puzzles, is not surprised. It is just silly me, for whom this was my first experience of a putting a large complex puzzle together. I got so hooked in conquering the process that when I looked at my watch and before I knew it, it was 3am in the morning. I was wired and thought, “oh what the heck, can’t go to bed now”. I just kept on going all night and by 7am I thought it might be good to stop and have breakfast.  But I still was nowhere finished. It took days and hours in each day, over 2 weeks to finally finish the puzzle. And to my shock and horror there were three pieces missing. It was such a letdown to do all that work and still not be able to finish it. 

 

The process of doing a 1000-piece puzzle was such a different process to doing a puzzle with 40 pieces. The pieces are obvious and with the cover picture to guide, placing each piece is quite an easy job. 

It put the statement “piece by piece” in a whole new light for me. But it did make me wonder…

 

When I consider faith communities, I wonder if we really are meant to be part of something so large that it takes so long to find your place?

 

I get how easy it is to gravitate easily to a group of like-minded people, a clump of people like you. I found it helpful to put the same-colored puzzle pieces together to help get me started. But I know that with a smaller puzzle each piece is often unique and very quickly distinguishable. You don't tend to form clumps as much as spread them out, find their distinguishing parts and then place them in the right space in the puzzle. It is a very different process. 

 

While I was doing the puzzle, I found myself staring at a whole lot of pieces that looked exactly the same and didn't know where to start. In a big faith community in its 1000’s, wherever you look you can see faces in a crowd and you can easily get lost. It would be easy to never be found or never feel like you are missed. It would be easy to imagine that your ‘piece’ really doesn’t matter and actually feel very

 unseen or unvalued. It would be very easy to feel like just a cog in a large wheel and although it is horrible to have a piece missing, when you are in the puzzle, no one really knows you are there, your piece doesn’t stand out that much.

 

I know that being in a smaller faith community, I am missed if I am not present. I am valued for the part I play, and I feel very connected to all the other pieces. Having been a part of a large faith community for the larger part of my life, I have looked over the sea of faces and never really knew many of them. Yes, it was great to be part of a large celebration, but I was never known like I am now. (Hebrews 10:25)

 

I know that God knows us all, He sees us all and there are many parts of the body of Christ. (Ps 139:1) But I couldn’t help but imagine that while we are a part of His Big Story, the big picture, during our time spent on this earth we only get glimpses of that BIG picture. His Kingdom is made up of lots and lots of little pictures where each person is seen, valued, heard and able to shine. 

 

I have done quite a few large puzzles since my first attempt months ago. I have enjoyed the process, it causes you to slow down, with long hours of focus and intentionality. Of course, I have realized over and over again that the journey is far more important than the final finished puzzle. In fact, after hours and hours of doing a puzzle, once finished I am not sure what to do with it, but to pack it up and put it away in the box again. It definitely gives you a sense of achievement but mostly it feels a little anti-climactic. I just want to start another one.

 

So, I get the temptation of achieving and doing something big, but I am not sure if that was God’s end game. If it was, Jesus would have come to this earth to draw a crowd, to gather 1000s. Instead, His end game was to gather 12-70 people, draw out their uniqueness, build them up and teach them that they have a small part to play in the big picture. And then He led by example by dying on a cross and rising again, with only a few watching and knowing that He was changing history. We were chosen to stand up and stand out, shine His light, not just to be a face of a large crowd. That is yet to come:

 

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,

    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength

    and honor and glory and praise!”

13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

    be praise and honor and glory and power,

for ever and ever!”

14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped. 

(Rev 5:11-14)

 

 

…until then I wonder if God’s design of faith communities was to walk deeply together in smaller puzzles so that everyone knows they have a place and that they are known and loved. 

Living the Christian life, can be reflected in the way we read the Bible!

I wonder how you read the Bible?

I wonder if the way we read our Bible tells us something about the way we live our Christian life?

 

I think often we pick and choose, jump from Scripture to Scripture to hear what we want to hear when we need to hear it. Or follow a devotional thought based on a theme like peace or hope.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a good ‘one sentence inspirational thought for the day’, and I know God brings us comfort or guidance in all those spaces. I wonder however, if it may reflect our faith walk as we jump in and out of whatever we want to hear at the time, when it suits us? 

 

The problem with only reading the Bible this way is that there are parts of the Bible we miss and never see in context of the whole picture. We could miss the bigger picture and how this helps us with the context and deeper meaning of many stories and statements in the Bible. 

Francis Chan says "In our impatient culture, we want to experience Biblical awe without biblical devotion. At the core of our dysfunction is not necessarily style or structure but lack of devotion" 

 

This year, our community decided to step away from the 6 weeks themed topics that we grabbed from here and there and started reading the book of Luke from beginning to end.  It has meant we have had to read the inspiring texts along with the hard texts and within the context in which they were spoken. It has made me realize again and again how important it is that my daily walk with Christ must be more than tapping into a nice ‘feel good’ verse of the day and then carrying on with life as if I can safely tick the box, “yes, I have spent time with God”. Yes, I may feel uplifted, but I am really prepared for what life will throw me and more importantly am I a living the called life He desires for me?

 

Luke follows the story of Jesus and while He did so many things we would all long to see today, like healings, freeing some from being socially outcast, releasing others from demons, amazing miracles … we also walk with a Man and band of followers who saw many walk away because the call was just too hard and life consuming. 

 

In Luke 9:57-62, we see some harsh statements that if plucked out of context make Jesus seem heartless and certainly not compassionate. It seems that Jesus talks bluntly about not taking the time to bury your father or fixing up affairs in the home.  So, we can be guilty of brushing over those verses and landing in Luke 10:27 where Jesus is saying something we want to hear. 

 

 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

But if we read it all together, not jumping to the good bits, we read that Luke 9:57-62 must be seen in context of verse 51 where it says: “As it came time for His Ascension … so He headed for Jerusalem”. This means that Jesus does care about family and compassion, but He also knew His time was urgent and that he needed to stay the course for the greater purpose of dying on the Cross, so those dead, dying and yet to be born have a greater chance of eternal life. He challenges us all about the things that distract us and deter us, that cause us to look back or get off course. To walk with Jesus is to live in a way that shows “no procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day” (Luke 9:62 MSG).

 

During all this time, the crowds came and went, with only a few faithful followers staying till the end. Although, even they fled and left him alone to walk the pain of crucifixion by himself. This is not a hero story in the eyes of the world, yet it is the most important thing Jesus does in his life and the ONLY reason we have forgiveness, His love, hope of eternity and the promise that things will get better.  

 

Yet, many of us would rather just grab an uplifting verse for the day, like a meme, that gives us a lift as we carry on looking for things that we can do or feel that will make life better for today. And when we do that, we are no different from the crowds that came, listened and left when the words got a little tough to hear. No wonder putting time aside time with God and doing life with a faith community of people is simply ONE choice in a range of many things that we might choose to do any given day and especially on Sundays.

 

2000 years later we are often as clueless as the disciples were leading up to Him dying on the cross. We are in danger of reading our Bible like we ‘DO' the Christian life.  A moment here or there when the busyness of life allows. When we do, we just want to hear the good bits about “life to the full” and “grace and love”. 

 

“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" (Matt 16:24-26)

 

Jesus is still looking for people who will follow Him and count the whole cost. As we read Luke from beginning to end, immersed in the great and tough times of Jesus’ life, we are daily challenged to consider the cost of everyday life with Jesus and what that looks like in our everyday in 2020. 

 

I wonder how you read the Bible?

I wonder if the way you read your Bible tells you something about the way you live your Christian life?

Rocking the Foundations

 

I have lived in the same house for over 20 years. Over the years we had noticed that there were cracks and movement occurring in the walls and floors.  It was subtle and happening very slowly over the years. Just recently we looked again and were shocked at how big the cracks and drop in the floor had become without us even noticing. We sought professional advice and were told that if we didn't get this fixed, our house would have some serious problems in the near future and would certainly become very hard to re-sell. The footings had moved. Although we thought they were built on solid rock, over time through the rain, storms and the weathering of life the footings were slowly sinking, and the house was cracking as a result. The extensions we put on a number of years ago didn't help and added to the strain on the footings. 

 It is common with houses over time. It was time to do something about it. We feared the worst. We knew there would be a cost, but with a few new beams and cement, that house could very quickly become strong and secure again. 

 

Last week the builders came and while I was in the kitchen, the work they were doing under me felt like the whole house was going to fall. I literally felt like I was rising, as they propped the floor back up beneath me. It was loud and scary and very intrusive. I went to my upper room to escape the noise and movement, to find a bit of peace.  I know the work needed to happen. I trusted that it was going to fix things. I simply had to wait it out.

At the end of the day, I came back into the kitchen where the original cracks and holes had

been fixed. BUT to my shock and horror, the movement back into place, had caused more cracks than ever before in new places. Doors no longer closed and some I couldn't open. There was even one wall that had busted open and the gyproc had separated from the wooden beams.  I suppose it made sense, that when work is done to move things back into place to fix the cracks that had formed, that this movement would mean a stretching and movement of another kind. The builder assured us that it was just cosmetic and that these cracks could be easily fixed.

 

 I felt like I was right in the middle of a parable, experiencing the reality that at times our footings need readjusting and if we are brave enough to count the cost and choose to come back to the Rock, He will secure our footings again. There will be cracks revealed, there will be scars that are cosmetic, but they can be fixed.

 

I chose many years ago to live my life with my foundations built on God, my rock. He hasn’t moved, but over time, while building more and navigating the strains of life, it has meant slight movement on my behalf. As I constantly come back to my foundations and secure myself into Him, He will prop me up, build me up, fix the cracks, but not without a cost. 

 

This year, 2020, is a year that has rocked me to my very foundations. What I thought was secure and strong, has crumbled. “But unexpected weaknesses, failure, and humiliation force us to go where we never would otherwise. We must stumble and be brought to our knees by reality. “God comes to you disguised as your life”^[1]

 

God’s foundational truth presses in and challenges me to consider what I can choose when the cracks appear. Isaiah 8:13-17(MSG)

“If you’re going to worry, worry about The Holy. 

Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

The Holy can be either a Hiding Place

    or a Boulder blocking your way,

The Rock standing in the willful way

    of both houses of Israel…

Many of them are going to run into that Rock

    and get their bones broken,

Get tangled up in that barbed wire

    and not get free of it.

Gather up the testimony,

    preserve the teaching for my followers,

While I wait for God as long as he remains in hiding,

 while I wait and hope for him.

I stand my ground and hope.”

 

I can choose to be broken by what 2020 has thrown at me or I can choose to wait on the Lord and put my trust in Him. I can see the new scars and cracks as fixable and something I can grow through or I can allow them to keep me in my humiliation and failure and sadness of what will never be again. The movement that occurred is a part of life, a consequence of choices and in this instance was very much of out of my control. The recalibration and fixing have been necessary. I cannot go back and I don't want to. So, what remains when we find ourselves broken is simply a choice. To get tangled up in the barbed wire and broken bones OR to stand my ground and HOPE.  I believe HOPE has been watching over me and has never left me, but I felt times when I have let go of it. Fear, panic, loss and pain can do that. We can see it as a boulder blocking the way or a hiding place. COVID has allowed me to hide at times, but it will not remain a boulder blocking the way. I choose to wait in HIM, stand my ground and HOPE. 

 

Just like the cracks in my house are literally are being restored and smoothed over this week and the floor I walk on is like floating on air because it has been restored, I stand in a living parable and claim it over my life and future. 

 

A song from Amy Grant that I loved many years ago continues to come back to me during this time...

                                      “Now when the house is dark

                                         And you’re all alone inside

                                    You’ve gotta listen to your heart

                                    And put away your foolish pride

                                      Though the storm is breaking

                                      And thunder shakes the walls

                                        Love with a firm foundation

                                           Ain’t never gonna fall”^[2]

                               

 

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^[1] R.Rohr, “Order, Disorder, reorder: part two: It must happen to us”, quoting Paula D’Arcy, Monday, August 17th, 2020.

^[2]Amy Grant, “House of love”, 2009