Candy Grandpa

Nearly every congregation has one. A Candy Grandpa (or sometimes grandma). Think of the one you know—the smiling elder who always has a pocket full of candies—lifesavers or smarties or peppermints. The children learn quickly who it is, even if the adults don’t always pay much mind.

A few moments after the “Amen” is said, the Candy Grandpa is surrounded by children. Some of them come up to him boldly, grinning, with hands outstretched. Others approach him quietly, almost shyly. None are disappointed.

There are some children, often the younger ones, who don’t venture out to find the Candy Grandpa. I’ve noticed some Candy Grandpas who still find these little ones and offer them the treats they’ve handed out to the others.

My mind goes to the Bible and the verses where we are directed to be childlike. Do I bring my petitions humbly before God? Do I have the courage to ask for good things?

Often I get stuck in the same old prayers—“Lord, just help me make it through the day” or “Please forgive me again.” Wouldn’t it delight God to have me ask Him in faith for something my heart desires?

“Ask, and it shall be given you” (Matthew 7:7a). It’s so hard for me to take this verse to heart. I’m afraid to ask for things, afraid I’ll be turned away. I falter in my faith that God has anything for me other than necessities.

But we serve a good God, a gracious God, who delights in us and wants us to have good things. “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:11)

Sometimes we give God one chance. We ask Him for something we really want, and when He tells us “no” or “wait” or “I have something better in mind,” we decide we can’t trust Him enough to make another request. Next time we desire something, we try to find a way to get it for ourselves or we begrudge God a bit for not giving it to us when we haven’t even given Him a chance to do so!

How unlike children and the Candy Grandpa. If the Grandpa runs out of candy for one Sunday, does that mean the children will never ask him for candy again? No, of course not. They’ll try in a week, just like normal. They trust that the source of good things will not suddenly disappear.

There are many, many times when God simply walks up to us and hands us beautiful gifts. But God also likes to hear our hearts. He loves the humble, childlike spirit of the one who kneels before Him and expresses exactly what it is that is wanted.

Maybe we picture God as righteous judgement. That is part of who God is, but He is mercy and gentleness and love. He will not give us a stone when we come asking for bread (Matthew 7:9).

I tend to feel unworthy to ask for good things. I know God has already given me the ultimate gift—His Son, who died a tremendously cruel death, the death that I deserved—and so I determine that I won’t be a bother and ask Him for more. But how silly that mindset is when we think about it.

Imagine yourself, pouring all of your love and care into someone in need. Hypothetically, suppose someone’s house is destroyed by fire. Because you are, in this scenario, a very wealthy person and the victim is someone you care about deeply, you give them a large sum of money to rebuild. You also volunteer time and effort in the planning stages and construction. The house goes up on schedule. It’s a lovely home, with a gracious porch and a welcoming front door.

One evening, after your friends have settled in, you stop by and notice the living room is dark. When you flip the switch by the front door, nothing happens. Confused, you turn to your friend, who stands there blushing. “We couldn’t afford lightbulbs,” he says, “and we didn’t want to ask and be a bother.”

What would you do? I’d do one of two things. I’d either go out and buy lightbulbs or leave them money to do the same. I think you would, too. Because this house feels like your project. You’ve invested in it. You care about what goes on there. What is the sense of gifting a beautiful dwelling, then letting the occupants sit in the dark? You have plenty of money at your disposal. You wouldn’t even miss the price of a lightbulb or two.

But that’s exactly what I do to God. I refrain from asking the things I want because I forget He’s invested everything in me. He has an intrinsic interest in each one of us as His creation.

And so I want to learn to ask God for good things. I want to be trusting and humble and childlike. I want to be vulnerable in expressing my desires. I want to walk up to Him with faith and open hands. Even if He does tell me no, our relationship is more beautiful because of the sharing of my heart with His.

And He rejoices every time His children, in a simple, open, childlike way, kneel before His throne.

“Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” (2 Corinthians 9:15)

Sacrifice of Praise

"Not vain words of honor praising You above, but true humble service in unselfish love, proves my heart’s allegiance and my love proclaims, causing men to glorify Your name.” –Chad Goossen, “Sacrifice of Praise” in the book He Goes Before

Praise is a glorious thought. It’s fun to receive and fun to give. It brings to mind thankfulness and adoration and poetic beauty. But the Bible doesn’t just mention praise.

In Hebrews 13:15, we are instructed “…therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually…” Something about that verse caught my attention one morning. I realized I’d always just focused on the praise. I’d assumed that the sacrifice of praise just meant praising God even when things looked difficult. But was that really all there was to it?

True praise from a pure spirit requires more than just words in the hard times. It requires action. It means laying down my wants and desires—maybe even the things I think I need—and trusting God enough to fully believe His goodness. So, yes, praising God when things are hard, but having such a grounded faith in Him that the hard things don’t send us spiraling into discouragement. A grounded faith that allows me to follow His gentle nudging rather than bitterly taking my own way. A heart attuned to His will, even when nothing makes sense.

I think perhaps the sacrifice part is in letting go of my own opinions and will. Maybe even my own logic. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” (Psalm 51:17) It’s so easy to get attached to our emotions and thoughts. Letting them go is a humbling thing.

What are some of the things I may need to sacrifice? 

I might need to lay down on the altar my opinion of myself. Sometimes we see ourselves as “pretty good,” an attitude that affects our ability to love and work in harmony with others. 

I might need to forego my desires to be something different than I am. Many of us have parts of ourselves we don’t appreciate. Why wasn’t I created to have a different temperament or talent? Accepting how we’ve been made is a sacrifice of the pride that says I would have known better than God. 

Occasionally it’s good things we need to lay down. Maybe we feel more needed and rewarded when we dash about helping others rather than doing the daily drudgery of caring for those in our own families. Are we willing to sacrifice something that looks good and feels good in order to praise God?

“I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah 17:10) Many times in the past, when I’ve heard this verse, I assumed it meant God testing us to see if we would follow His direction. But I am so ignorant, and the real meaning is much more beautiful.

Strong’s concordance entry says this: “inmost being: heart, mind, spirit, the seat of thought and emotion of the inner person.” I can hardly grasp the meaning and the love in this. The Almighty Lord searching my heart, taking into account my inner man, choosing to adore me, even though I’m often a wreck of a person, because He is looking at the things I hold inside and reaching out to hold my hand even as I falteringly walk through life.

How could I help but praise the One who is so full of goodness?

Sacrifice of praise is not a one-time altar. It’s a place returned to many, many times throughout our lives. It’s a place to lay down shattered hearts, bleeding wounds, broken spirits, and anguished tears. It’s a place where we, with the help of God, pluck out the things of our proud, selfish, human nature and learn to be clay in His gentle hands.

Only when we realize the love of He we claim to worship, only when we throw our doubts, fears, and distrust on the altar and lean into Him, only when He sees our hearts are completely submitted to His will—then is the moment of beauty where praise can truly begin.

“May the life I live resound and sing in deep adoration to You my King; I present my life as a sacrifice, Living off’ring praising Your name.” –Chad Goossen, “Sacrifice of Praise” in the book He Goes Before

Sedentary

“Sedentary living allows people to accumulate material goods which can lead to jealousy, power imbalances, and violence.” –Sam Kean, Dinner With King Tut*

This quote is worth reading again. “Sedentary living allows people to accumulate material goods which can lead to jealousy, power imbalances, and violence.” Maybe, at first glance you don’t see anything remotely connected with our Christian lives. There’s not a lot of jealousy, power imbalance, or violence, is there? Probably not.

But sedentary living? I’d have to say yes.

This quote comes from a section of the book comparing hunter/gatherer societies with societies who settled into an agricultural way of life. The idea, whether right or wrong, was that a group of hunter/gatherers were so involved with the hard pursuit of daily sustenance and living, that they worked together in a more connected way and were less likely to become involved in fighting among themselves.

On the other hand, agricultural societies were able to begin laying up excess. This led to comparisons of who had more. It gave way to time to refine skills which could be traded for more and better goods. This focus on accumulation soon led to all sorts of negative behavior towards others within the group.

How many of us lead a sedentary Christian life? We go to church on Sunday and nod along with the message, but we don’t necessarily pursue change throughout the week. We know we lack a little charity toward those we come in contact with, but it’s just a little failure; there are a lot of things I’m doing OK in. We understand that we struggle with trust, but don’t most people?

And so we become comfortable. We start to accumulate these human traits, becoming lulled to the reality that we are also becoming stagnant.

As we become mired in our comfortable spot, we start losing our dependence on and appreciation for those around us. We look at what others possess—maybe their talents or social position—and become jealous that they have what we perceive as more. We become frustrated when others won’t listen to our thoughts or ways of doing things, and feel like anything outside of our comfort zone is outside of our control and a threat to our very existence. Our thoughts and words about others begin to contain elements of violence. No, we’re not going out and attacking people with knives, but we are apt to cause them pain in other ways.

Hardship can be a catalyst for growth or we can refuse to rise to the challenge and stay in our sedentary state. This is a choice we have to make. It’s an opportunity to choose the “hard right over the easy wrong.”

When we become focused on our own relationship with God and on improving our obedience, faith, and connection with Him, we are so busy going out hunting and gathering, we don’t have time to devote to the critical spirits that would like to sneak in. We become steadily closer to His heart and learn to lean into trusting Him rather than giving in to doubts. We feel His grace and love so keenly in our own lives, we are compelled to give them freely to others.

1 Samuel 3:19 says And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. Samuel is one of only a few characters in the Bible who is mentioned specifically as growing. I’m impressed with the follow-up thought that the Lord did not let any of his words fall to the ground. I believe that refers to the fact that none of his prophecies were faulty.

However, I think this can also be true for us. As we keep our eyes on Jesus and work to grow our relationship with Him, we will find that He does not ignore our efforts or let them be in vain. Real relationships take work. Our relationship with God is no different. It isn’t a passive thing, but an active step of faith, of obedience, of taking responsibility for our own choices.

In our Christian lives, sedentary living is a choice we too often make unconsciously. It just sort of happens.

I want to become more conscious of my choices. I want to be in control only of giving my control to God. I want to learn to lean so heavily on Him that I dare not face one moment, one conversation, one thought process without His presence near.

Maybe we could say this: Active living allows people to remain unattached to material goods, which can lead to more connectedness, trust in God and those around us, and a healing atmosphere.

Or maybe I’m wrong. That’s OK, too. I just hope you will tell me if that’s the case. We know leading a sedentary lifestyle is dangerous to our physical health, and it’s even more so to our spiritual health because we possess an eternal soul. It might not be fun to hear that I’m wrong, and it may not be fun for you to tell me so, but having that difficult conversation will give both of us a chance to break free from the bonds of sedentary and grow together into a more true relationship, connected through our shared desire to pursue a connection with God.

 

*This is not a book recommendation. I have not yet finished Dinner With King Tut so I have no idea what things may pop up in future chapters. What I can say is that I have enjoyed it so far. It is a mixture of stories about experimental archeology (which some archeologists protest is not archeology at all) and fictional scenarios demonstrating the lifestyles of the historical people who would have used the techniques explored. Read at your own risk if that sounds interesting to you.