Being Crafty

Week of Oct. 23, 2011 – Boldly Shaping Partners of God for the Transformation of the World

Theme/Title:  “Being Crafty”

Scripture:  Isaiah 64:8; Colossians 3: 12-17; Romans 12: 14-21 & Luke 6: 27-31

Media:           “2nd Grade Teacher” by Target  on YouTube

Reflection:

“You are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” God has crafted us into who we are and God has placed within us a desire to be in relationships with God, others and ourselves that are healthy and that help move humankind to the place God dreams we will be.

Many things have shaped us over our lives: experiences, successes, failures, risks, rewards, teachers, mentors, youth leaders, pastors, where we grew up, the schools we attended, the churches we were a part of, the organizations and institutions we belonged to, who we befriend and who we trust.  We are a product of so many forces and ingredients all of which play a part in making us who we are.  One key component in all this shaping is the choices we make concerning how much any influence will rule who we are and how we live.

We also are shapers, crafters, we are people who mold and influence others.  We are parents, co-workers, bosses, friends, grandparents, teachers, neighbors, members of groups and organizations, we serve on boards, we vote, we mentor and we live our lives of faith openly and honestly.  All this shapes others in various ways and to varying degrees.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”  “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  This is the advice of Paul and Jesus concerning how you craft others and how you continue to shape yourself.

Faithful living involves one in a constant creative act – shaping yourself, crafting yourself so that you reflect the grace and love of God accurately and clearly to the world.  But it also is a shaping, a crafting of others through your words and deeds that helps create something that also reflects the grace and love of God accurately and clearly to others.  Shaping is a constant element in faithful living, crafting self and others is part of the work of partners of God, transforming yourself, others and the world brings creation one step closer to God. 

Meditation:

Who is it that helped shape you?  What events, experiences, and opportunities formed you?  How has God been active in crafting you?  Reflect on both the positive and the negative as both have tremendous influence on who you are and how you live faithfully in the world.

Prayer:

Offer a prayer of thanksgiving for those who shaped you.  Give thanks for the institutions and organizations that influenced you.  Thank God for the negatives that also helped make you who you are.  Ask God to open the hearts and minds and spirits of others that they may be shaped into faithful children of God.  Pray for an enemy or someone who wishes you harm.

Being Bold

Weekly Devotion – October 16, 2011 – Boldly Shaping Partners of God for the Transformation of the World

Theme/Title:      “Being Bold”       

Scripture:     Mark 15: 42-43; Ephesians 6: 10-20; & Acts 19: 8-10

Media:          Montage of boldness http://proves.glogster.com/boldness/

Reflections:

We progressive, United Methodist Christians don’t want to offend, make people feel uncomfortable or in some way cause someone anxiety.  We also live by a motto: “Live and Let Live – Believe What You Will.”  So it is hard for us to think about being “Bold!”

Boldness implies all the things we are hesitant to do and be: A bold person may be willing to risk shame or rejection in social situations and be willing to bend rules of etiquette or politeness. Boldness does not necessarily mean obnoxious; it is possible for one to be bold, while staying silent. Outside a social context, "boldness" can also refer to a willingness to get things done, even despite risks.

There is no other way to get the message of God’s grace and love out into the world except by faithful people boldly speaking the truth and living the faith.  How can we hope to make the world a better place if we aren’t willing to be bold about it?  You can’t change the world and remain hidden, soft-spoken and unnoticed.  Think about those who have changed the world: Civil Rights marchers, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., suffragettes, Nelson Mandela and the anti-apartheid movement, demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, Egypt, Libya, and Syria, those who participated in the “Prague Spring”, etc… examples of boldness for a cause that was just and right, a cause whose goal was to change the world for the better – which is God’s goal too.

To be bold means taking a risk, being visible and willing to suffer the consequences of the boldness you live.  Boldly doing anything shows your level of commitment and reflects the seriousness of what it is you are being bold about.  Only when people of faith are willing to boldly engage others and the world do great and wonderful things happen.  If Joseph of Arimathea hadn’t asked for the body of Jesus there won’t have been a tomb.  If Paul hadn’t been willing to stand up to the arguments, taunting and physical abuse we might not have the church we have today.

We all need to be bold in living our faith – like it or not God needs us to be beacons and loudspeakers broadcasting the grace and love of God to the entire world by our words and actions and in this way we can shape the world and others into what God dreams it can be.

Meditation: Have I been living my faith boldly?  If so how?  If not, why not?  How serious am I about what I believe and value?  Am I serious enough to live it fully and obviously?  What would me living my faith boldly look like, sound like, feel like?

Prayer: Pray for boldness.  Offer thanks for the boldness of others.  Pray for God’s help to live your faith boldly.