The Widows Garden

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
-James 1:27

Several months ago we visited the church my parents attend. A missionary family to Uganda, the Probsts, were sharing their experiences from the field. Although many things about the day to day grit of their lives were striking, I was most challenged by the following story:

The fledgling church was made up mostly of recent converts. I don't recall all of the details clearly, but it seems that they had been given a very nice building to hold their services in. When they had made the decision to follow Christ rather than the "big man" in the church, they had lost the building, and been forced to meet under a tree. Passersby scoffed at the fools for losing their beautiful building.

The missionaries were able to purchase a parcel of land to give to the church, but made the decision that the Ugandans would have to build on the land with their own resources. Although they badly needed a building of some kind for their meetings, the first thing that they did was to cultivate a garden on the land. They called it the widows garden, and gave what grew there to the widows and orphans.

I cannot imagine that the scoffers had a lot to say after they started their garden. Here were people who cared enough about others that their first thought was not for their own real need, but for the need of the widows, who were truly destitute. Later on they built a building in their own style and with what they had. It was nothing like the building they had given up, but the church that meets there knows what is truly important.

I can't imagine tilling up the manicured front lawns of many of the churches here to plant gardens. In our culture that may not be a practical thing to do... but perhaps it should be something we would be willing to do.

Which Jesus do you follow?

"...He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
-Isaiah 53:2(b)-3

Tonight I listened to Todd Agnew's CD, Reflection of Something. His words really hit home for me. Here are some excerpts:

"Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?"

"'Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent his time with thieves and sluts and liars.
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?"

"Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church,
The blood and dirt on his feet might stain the carpet.
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He'd prefer Beale Street to the stained glass crowd"

"I want to be like my Jesus."

Have we been hiding our faces from the real Jesus? I challenge you to look at these words again and think about them today and the next time you walk into your church.

don't waste your life

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. -Matthew 6:19-21

I am always inspired by John Piper, and especially enjoy listening to his sermons and reading the blog linked to his ministry, Desiring God. I've recently been reading his book, don't waste your life. The back of the book includes this quote:

"I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. Consider this story from the February 1998 Reader's Digest: A couple 'took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball, and collect shells...' Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: 'Look, Lord. See my shells.' That is a tragedy."

I will not presume to add much to Piper's words, but consider this as well; this tragedy is occurring all around us on a more common scale. Those who spend their free time, especially the golden years of retirement on trifles and hobbies will most often end up with nothing but dusty boxes full of unfinished projects of which their children will have to dispose. Even those whose brilliant projects shine on the covers of magazines will know on their deathbeds that those countless hours were wasted.

Think about this as you plan your upcoming weekend. I am guilty of wasting hours and probably years working on things which no one in their right mind would describe as "treasures," while I let the opportunity to build real treasures slip away. Dear Lord, please forgive me, and help me not to waste another minute.