HUMILITY

"Humble yourself in the eyes of the Lord, and in due time He will lift you up."
- 1 Peter 5:6

One of my favorite shows, AMERICA'S GOT TALENT, had its finale last night. There were five finalists: Voices of Glory, The Texas Tenors, Recycled Percussion, Barbara Padilla, and Kevin Skinner. Voices of Glory were a family of three African American kids who got their start singing for a seriously ill mother who was in a coma. Their voices and love brought healing to their mom, who was present that night. The Texas Tenors were three brothers who got together less than a year ago and began singing in part to honor their father. Recycled Percussion were bunch of crazies from a small town in New Hampshire--and they repeatedly shared the message, "Kids of America, you should not let small beginnings stop you from following your dreams." Barbara Padilla was a mother who survived cancer, went back to get her Masters degree in music, and sang out of a heart of faith to encourage other cancer survivors to never give up. Kevin Skinner was an out-of-work chicken catcher (you heard me right)who used his down time to sing and to spend time with his family, who were always a centerpiece in his life.

What impressed me was not simply the talent--incredible talent ... Barbara was a classical opera singer who will soon travel the world ... Kevin was a country singer whose voice astounded us with its heart and clarity ... what impressed me was the humility of each of these finalists. They didn't start out polished. A dream moved them but not a greedy ambition. They were supportive of one another. They were grateful for their opportunity. But most of all, they exhibited an incredible humility that never seemed to leave them. The two ultimate finalists - Barbara and Kevin seemed genuinely stunned by their success, and were filled with tears of joy.
No fist pumps, high fives, not a touch of arrogance. HUMILITY.

In a world of self-promotion, self-serving manipulation, celebrity arrogance, hard core drive for success ... genuine humility is both refreshing and itself a powerful lesson.

By the way, country won out over classics. Kevin Skinner was the winner of a contest that originally had 110,000 contestants.

This devotional is published on behalf of the Church of God of Landisville and its friends. (C) 2009 by Stephen Dunn. All rights reserved. www.coglandisville.org

THERE IS JOY IN JESUS

"There is Joy in Jesus"
Reading: Philippians 4.2-11

Why is this man laughing?

Because he's Jesus. He is Jesus the Joy-Bringer.

Ironically, His joy comes from sacrifice--from serving. His joy comes from investing His life in giving others a new life. His joy is rooted in an unconditional love that surrenders temporary happiness for ultimate significance.

Where does YOUR joy come from?

HE'S LOSING IT !

Psalm 78

Last Sunday I preached a sermon called "Working Smarter." It's core illustration was the story from last week's devotional about my adventure in plumbing. I spoke in detail about the scriptural understanding of working smarter found in Colossians.

The sermon was well-received by some but sparked a little controversy or concern in others. "Didn't he just use that story in another sermon recently?" was the comment my associate, Pastor Barry heard in his Sunday School Class. Similar comments were expressed in other quarters. But the gist of it was "is he losing it?" Losing it professionally, as in getting a little careless in sermon prep or losing it mentally, as in the early onset of senility.

The humor in all of this was that I had not previously it used in a sermon. (Pastors do repeat illustrations when they preach in one congregation over a long period of time. That is generally intentional, because some illustrations should be repeated for effect--or because there is a new generation who has not heard that story that is now in the audience. I have three, a moose story and a flower bed story and one about a lady named Emma that even get requested.) No, in this case, I had simply used it with a smaller audience -- my devotional subscription list -- as I was preparing to preach to the much larger audience which would be my Sunday morning congregation.

It is nice to know my stories are remembered.

Stories, we know, are part of the way God reveals Himself ... stories intended to be repeated over and over from audience to audience and generation to generation.

"O my people, hear my teachings; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old ... We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord ..."

This devotional is published on behalf of the Church of God of Landisville and its friends (C) 2009 by Stephen Dunn.All rights reserved.

WORKING SMARTER

"Whatever you do in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord ...." - Colossians 3:17

I am not always the most efficient worker. Sometimes it takes me twice as long to get something done as I think it should. Many years ago I decided to replace the faucet in our kitchen sink. It had been leaking, much to Dianne's annoyance. It didn't annoy all that much--but when she told me we were wasting money--that motivated me. As a homeowner with little money, I thought, "Go to Sears, buy a faucet, and put it in." So off to Sears I went.

The salesman assured me it would be a simple task. It would take me maybe 30-45 minutes to accomplish. Since I am not much of a handyman, I decided to wait until I had nothing better to do. So one night around nine o'clock I decided to tackle it. First problem, I had to find the wrench needed (I had everything else I needed in the kit.) Once that was located, I started to take off the old faucet, only to find that this required me to get under the sink to do so.

There I found that the depth of our sink did not accommodate my short-handled wrench. I needed a long-handled one. Since I did not own one I went next door to my neighbor's house. Dick WAS a handy man and he had almost every tool imaginable. He had the needed tool. By now I had easily killed the salesman's "30-45 minutes."

Dick followed me home. There I discovered that no amount of effort with new tool would budge the old faucet. "Let's just take the whole sink out," suggested Dick (now we were past the first hour of this project.) That made sense, so we started -- only to discover that the sink was anchored into the cabinetry. Whoever had put the sink in must have feared earthquakes or just had too much time on his hands. He had anchored it in MORE THAN 30 PLACES. Now we had to remove drawers, wedge ourselves into many small place (and did I tell you? Go in search of NEW TOOLS).

Finally, after three hours--we got the sink out, the old faucet removed, the new one replaced and the sink back in place (this time with perhaps a dozen anchor points). Guess what?

You guessed it--the new faucet leaked, as well.

After that I determined that you can work or you can work smarter. There is little satisfaction in work that requires a lot of effort and produces minimal results. And there's no merit in working faster if the job still isn't done right. It's not about the work--it's about the results.

Jesus reminds us that the best results for our work come when we work according to His purposes, following His plans,and doing it to help people honor Him. In the end that is the work that will be effective and whose results will be lasting.