Relentlessly Seeking Signs of God's Grace
During this season of Lent leading up to Easter, our congregation is engaging in a unique group learning experience. We're soaking up the video teaching of Ann Voskamp, author of the book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are (Zondervan, 2010).
In her presentation Ann shares how the simple practice of keeping a gratitude journal has been transformative in her life. She traces its liberating power back to scripture, and the New Testament Greek word for "thanksgiving," EUCHARISTEO. Within this word is the Greek word for "grace," CHARIS...which is related to another key biblical word CHARA, which means "joy."
It's not too much of a stretch to come up with a formula that captures the essence of this powerful word:
grace + thanksgiving = joy
The daily practice of maintaining a gratitude journal helps us to
- Notice the gifts and signs of God's grace in our lives (God's blessings)
- Be thankful for them, valuing them enough to record them and give thanks to God in prayer
- Experience the joy that results from doing the first two steps
I'm adding a dimension to our study that looks at this process as an exercise in treasure hunting. The gifts of God's grace are the treasure, and we need to seek them out in the midst of our lives - for we often overlook them for one reason or another. Each of the next four weeks we'll learn a "Lesson from Treasure Hunters" gathered from a treasure-hunting movie. Here's the first one:
Lesson from Treasure Hunters #1
An Invitation to an Adventure
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Watch the following clip. At the beginning of the series of three Hobbit movies, Gandalf invites Bilbo Baggins on a treasure-hunting adventure.
It turns out that initially Bilbo has no interest in going on an adventure. He would like life to stay just the way it is, thank you. After all, adventures bring change to the patterns we've adopted for our lives, or as Bilbo puts it, they "make you late for dinner." Although he closed the door on Gandalf's initial invitation, he ends up going...and his life is changed forever.
Are you ready for an adventure? You will see amazing things along the way as you daily record signs of God's grace in your life. But, then again, it is inconvenient to have to get a journal (or an app) and remember to write those blessings down. Perhaps this is more than we bargained for. But remember the treasure-hunter's motto: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
Extra Help from the Hobbit -
If you've seen the movie or read the book, you may recall what Bilbo's role was on the team of dwarves he was drafted into. That's right, he was their BURGLAR. He was on the team to slip past defenses unnoticed to grab the treasure. Now, it turns out that the treasure the burglar would burgle was actually the rightful property of the dwarves that had been claimed by their fierce adversary, a fire-breathing dragon named Smaug. Think about it: how has our adversary - a fire-breathing dragon of a different name - kept us from claiming the blessings God has poured into our lives abundantly? Evil is happy as long as we remain blind to God's gracious provision in our lives. So, if it helps, when you're seeking out the treasure of God's grace, consider yourself a burglar like Bilbo Baggins, rightfully claiming what the dragon doesn't want you to have.
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Kurt
*Next week...The Goonies strengthen us against settling for false treasure
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In New Testament Greek: εὐχαριστέω (eucharisteo, you-car-ees-tay’-oh), meaning thanksgiving
εὐχαριστέω
(eucharisteo)
|
Thanksgiving
|
χάρις
(charis)
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Grace – unmerited favor or kindness (a biblical concept expressing the essence of salvation in Christ)
|
χαρά
(chara)
|
Joy
|
χάρισμα
(charisma)
|
Spiritual gift
|
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