Tuesdays with Morris

A couple of weeks ago, I was doing some brainstorming for my messages coming up over the next two weeks. While making plans for my message for November 23rd, I felt God leading me to talk about how he calls us to certain things (like loving one another in practical ways) and expects appropriate responses (like actually loving one another…helping people meet their basic needs). I then found myself thinking about how so God has richly blessed many of us in numerous ways. When God blesses us, it’s not really for our own pleasure. While we often do experience great pleasures and joy from God’s blessings…the real purpose of His blessings are to share those blessings with the world around us. Any time I find myself wrestling with properly using God’s blessings, I find myself recalling the stories of those who have mishandled God’s blessings. Let’s just say it’s not good. Sometimes the very things we’ve been blessed with can end up leading to a curse.

Given that we’ve just come out of an election season, I was also spending a lot of time thinking about all of the “Christian nation” talk that goes on in the United States. I found myself struggling through the idea that we often use the Christian faith to justify political maneuvers. And, I’m often bothered because I sometimes feel that we have mishandled God’s blessings throughout the years.

While struggling through all of this and trying to get my heart and mind prayerfully settled on a direction for a sermon, I came across the following passage in Rob Bell’s book “Jesus Wants to Save Christians.”

“America controls nearly 20 percent of the world’s wealth. There are around six billion people in the world, and there are roughly three hundred million people in the US. That makes America less than 5 percent of the world’s population. And this 5 percent owns a fifth of the world’s wealth. One billion people in the world do not have access to clean water, while the average American uses four hundred to six hundred liters of water a day. Every seven seconds, somewhere in the world a child under age five dies of hunger, while Americans throw away 14 percent of the food we purchase. Nearly one billion people in the world live on less than one America dollar a day. Another 2.5 billion people in the world live on less than two American dollars a day. More than half the world lives on less than two dollars a day, while the average American teenager spends nearly $150 a week. Forty percent of people in the world lack basic sanitation, while forty-nine million diapers are used and thrown away in America every day. One point six billion people in the world have no electricity. Nearly one billion people in the world cannot read or sign their name. Nearly one hundred million children are denied basic education. By far, most of the people in the world do not own a car. One-third of American families own three cars. One in seven children worldwide has to go to work every day just to survive. Four out of five American adults are high school graduates. Americans spend more annually on trash bags than nearly half of the world does on all goods.”

These facts can be staggering. They can bring tears to ones eyes. But, if that is all it does…then the stats are useless. And, if we see this kind of need in the world around us…and we do nothing about it…I wonder what that says about our understanding of Jesus’ teachings???

This is just a little glimpse of the kinds of things we’ll be dealing with on Thanksgiving Sunday at Center Chapel. Are you intrigued to hear more? Join us on Sunday morning at 8 or 10am. We will have a fellowship meal following the 10am service. Amazing coffee will be available in the cafe before and after each service.