Compassion

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December 6

Wednesday, December 6th, 2023

When I was a young ‘un growing up, I will admit (now) that I looked forward to Christmas. I’d like to be spiritual and say that it was because of the focus on the birth of Christ, or I truly believed it was more blessed to give than to receive, but would not be telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I had no idea how cash-strapped my parents were; I just know it was a magical time of the year.

Part of that magic (before I knew better) was SC. No…not Scott Calvin. Santa Claus. The big guy. Part of Christmas Eve in the young Grandi household was watching an animated version of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (15 minutes) followed by a 15 minute retelling of the birth of Jesus.  Later it was the Peanuts cartoon with Linus’ famous rendition of the Luke 2. I know…I’m really telling my age. 🙂

Anyway, SC was part of the magic. Stories abound in my head of scenes from my childhood of the ghost of Christmas past. SC is intriguing though. Little did I know, as a child, of the history and legacy of his coming to be. The person we know as Saint Nicholas (Saint Nick) was born around AD 270 to a wealthy Grecian family.  Tragically, his parents died when he was a boy, and he lived with an uncle to loved him and taught him to follow God. When he was a young man, legend says that he heard of 3 sisters who didn’t have a dowry for marriage and would soon be destitute. Wanting to follow Jesus’ teaching of helping those in need, he took his inheritance and gave each sister a bag of gold coins. Over the years he gave the rest of his money away feeding the poor and caring for others. Down through time he has been honored for his generosity and held up as a standard for giving.

Sadly, many today want to rail against the commercialization of Christmas (with some merit I might add) and SC, the symbol of that commercialization. Rather than rail, let’s refocus on what he represents-giving, and in a sense, the spirit found in Matthew 25:24-40. (Please take a moment to look it up).

It is much better to give than to receive, especially when it is for and to someone less fortunate.

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Again, please let me remind you to check out my other blog (link to the right of this post) and subscribe for totally different content than this daily devotion. Thanks.

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May 17

Wednesday, May 17th, 2023

I’m continuing my series of posts on the ladies spoken about on Mother’s Day by several of our ladies.

Lady #1- Mary of Bethany

Lady #2- Tamar

Lady #3- Sarah

Today is Lady #4: Lydia

What is it like to be successful? Further even: what is it like to be successful as a woman in a male-dominated society?

Hmmm. We could ask Lydia…if she was alive.  🙂 In Acts 16 we read of a woman named Lydia, a seller of purple goods (v.14).  Industrious. Hard worker. A worshiper of God. Just being a seller of purple goods was enough to show her success. She also had servants. She had a house. She opened her home to Paul and Silas. After their release from the Philippian jail, they stopped at Lydia’s house on the way out of town to see her and the others who met at her house.

It takes a lot to be successful. Sure, there are those who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth, but not for a women, especially in that day.  Lydia had to be industrious. She had to be innovative. She had to be unafraid. What is interesting to me is that she actually operated with a double whammy: she was female and a worshiper of God. One was bad enough, but with both of those “on her record”?  Man or woman being a worshiper of God often meant isolation and loss of income.

One thing she cannot be accused of is being lazy. The Bible calls it sloth. Think of a sloth and the first thing which comes to mind is the animal that does everything in slow motion…very slow motion. But consider this: sloth doesn’t just mean sitting around all day watching TV and eating junk food.  It also means indifference. Apathy. It’s like standing on a street corner and watching all things go by and not giving a rip.

We have too much of that going on in our society these days. If it doesn’t affect me and my circle, why should I care? An earthquake in Turkey or California? A tornado in Oklahoma or Texas? (Big difference when one lands in your own “back yard” as it did here less than 2 months ago). A flood in TN. A shooting in NYC (and elsewhere).  If it doesn’t affect me it is “out of sight out of mind.”

It is too easy to get apathetic when it doesn’t involve us or people we love. Lydia shows us the importance of hard work. Her concern for others and their spiritual lives (see in Acts 16:15), and her concern for Paul and Silas show us how important it is not to be self-consumed. Let’s not forget who we are and how to serve others.

Then we must might learn what true success is all about.

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April 17

Monday, April 17th, 2023

Several weeks ago our community and surrounding areas experienced something we had never really experienced before-a tornado. We are more prone to flooding caused by the White River than a tornado. High and straight-line winds uprooted several huge trees-their roots made weaker by rain-saturated ground- in town. The state park just outside of town saw its campground destroyed-not by a tornado landing, but by the vortex, the suction of one passing over. Campers were flipped over. Tree-multiple trees-were uprooted and flung around like toothpicks, landing on campers and vehicles. And sadly two folks, who didn’t hear the warning to evacuate and head to the bathhouse were found dead in their camper. The tornado did land and wiped out multiple homes.

The Monday following the tornado, our Youth Pastor, Ryan, took two days to assess the situation, meet with some of the homeowners and offer help. He put feet to that by delivering over $600 worth of huge totes that the elders okayed for him to buy. But it wasn’t a one-and-done.

This past Saturday, after a special class presented by a group called IDES (International Disaster Emergency Services)-which ironically had been rescheduled from a few weeks earlier, several of our folks put on gloves, boots, and dirty clothes and spent over 3 hours helping some of the homeowners who solicited and accepted help.

I was proud of those folks. They became the hands and feet of Jesus. The common thing is to express sympathy and grief for a situation or loss and to say, “We will pray for you” and then go on our merry way. These folks said, “No. We will do more than that.” James 2 speaks directly to that. What good is it to say I’m sorry to hear you are hungry and without a place to lay your head, and then send them on their way with a “be warm and well fed.”

I believe those who helped were examples of what James 2:18 says, “You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” We are saved by faith alone, but like James says our works should follow that salvation.

Big or small. Show your faith by what you do.

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