December Weather

Dec 23, 2008

December 23rd 12:17pm

I hate to talk about the weather. I do all I can to avoid it in conversation. But this week that all changed.

 Inevitably there are times when I find myself talking about it. It is almost an out of body experience for me. I look at myself and listen to my words as if I am a third party. Then I have the thought... "Oh no! I am talking about the weather!" Then I hatch a plan to change the subject and get to more meaningful material as quick as possible. This week changed all that.

The Seattle weather forecast came in last week calling for the storm of the century. They were one day off but they were not completely wrong. We now have over a foot of snow and it has been here for almost 5 days now and they say to expect even more tonight. What has this snow taught us?

DEPENDENCE // NEIGHBORS // GRACE

DEPENDENCE

We are all dependent on others and yet we live as if we are, as Borat would put it, "king in the castle, king in the castle." Our money and our technology have conquered the world around us to the point that we begin to think we don't need anything or anyone. This storm has reminded me how fragile I really am. All it takes is some snow and cold temperatures to take my "castle" and turn it into an igloo. How long could you really live without electricity in your home? And the tools to overcome this storm are all things that others have provided me with. The snow shovel I am using was made by someone else. The chains for my tires were made by someone else. The house keeping me warm, the grocer selling me food, the pump flowing with gas were all provided for me by others. My life depends on them.

We just went out for a date last night and our van was on E. So we thought we should get some gas. We went to three gas stations. The hand written sign at the third station said it all "Sorry! Out of Gas." With our gas light on we were beginning to wonder if we would make it. Luckily gas station #4 had the goods.

Power, fuel, heat. my life depends on these things. Even more crucial than these things is our need for God. He is the one we are truly dependent on,Hebrews 1:3 "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." We are sustained by His powerful word. This is the invisible force keeping us from disintegrating into a million subatomic particles.

NEIGHBORS

Shoveling snow is a great opportunity to meet my neighbors and also to serve them as well. We even had one neighbor who had 4 wheel drive come by just to check on us and see if we needed anything from the store. This neighborliness is unheard of when the weather is normal. On Sunday I bought some Coffee containers from Starbucks and we went door to door giving out free hot coffee. It was a great opportunity to be a neighbor and to treat others the way I would want to be treated. "Jesus said 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind' This is the first and greatest commandment and the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the law and the Prophets hand on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40 I know he had in mind hot coffee and a willing shovel when he said that. Instead of huddling around our own fireplaces, like homeless men around a barrel, Christians go out into the cold world to bring warmth to others.

GRACE

As I was shoveling the snow I realized snow is kind of like sin. It is heavy, it does not go away on its own and everyone has it. To get the snow off of your driveway is a lot of work. But ultimately without the warmth and heat of the sun we are just moving it around and not really diminishing it. Jesus is like the sun. In fact he is the Son, of God. His light and heat are the true solution to the freezing burden of our sins. Religion tells us to get out our shovels and go to work removing our sin. This is not what the Gospel says. Instead, the Gospel tells us to bask in the reconciling love of the cross of Jesus and to let his grace melt it away. When we do this we will find underneath the snow not the rock hard heart we had remembered but a new heart altogether. As Scripture says "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come. All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." 2 Corinthians 5:17

Praying you remember your dependence, love your neighbors, and receive God's grace to melt your sin and make you new.

Pastor Rich

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