Collections

For our Prime Timers Senior Adult Ministry lunch yesterday, I dragged out some of my model railroading collection. Yes, I’m a train collector of HO, O, and G scale models. Displaying my collection was difficult because I couldn’t unpack dozens of boxes and show off everything I have. I found it hard to pick just a few things that represent the entire collection. It’s like choosing your favorite child! I couldn’t do it! Somehow, I managed to control myself and filled a show-and-tell table with a few locomotives, some rolling stock, and maps and pictures of full-sized trains. It was fun playing show-and-tell with the Prime Timers.

I’ve spent many hours in my life modeling trains and playing with them. Jesus said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:3) Seems like Jesus is on the side of adults who like to be childlike from time to time. My wife seems to agree as she approved my renovating an attic storage room into a train room. I can’t wait to have an open house for church members to come play trains with me.

Many people have an instinct to collect things. What do you collect—toys, dollhouses, dishes, or porcelain figurines? Maybe you thought if you collected stamps, coins, or beanie babies you were “investing” in stuff that would make a big payoff in the future. Many a collector has been down the road of thinking their stuff was worth more than it really is.

The old joke is true, “Do you know how to make a million dollars with a collection of _________?   . . . . Start with two million dollars.

Occasionally there will be an anecdotal story about some art or toy collection that fetches a high price at auction. These stories are the exception to the rule. Collections are only worth something to the collector. No one else cares very much.

The instinct to collect things might be one of those things God planted in us. If we are made in the image of God, then at some level God must be a collector. God is not into trains, planes, automobiles or beanie babies, Hummels, or dishes. God is very interested in us, his children. I think God collects all the memories of you he can. God celebrates our successes and roots for us to do better when we fail. At the end of our lives, God, the Great Collector, gathers us up into his presence for eternity. The collection of his children in heaven is diverse and astonishing. I imagine we are all the favorites when show-and-tell time comes.

Collections are only worth something to the collector, and you are infinitely valuable to him.

Peace,

zack@madisonfumc.com

Is Easter Over?

There was a marvelous event in the skies this week – a total solar eclipse that made its way across our continent. There was great anticipation and excitement as large crowds travelled to the cities where there would be totality and the best visibility of the eclipse. News channels covered the event for days, with reporters spread all along the path. Here in Madison, we experienced about 80% totality, and for a short time, it was magnificent. For a just a few moments, most of our country came together, putting our differences aside. In unison, we looked up and saw an event in the heavens that no human could have set in motion. We saw something bigger than all of us. But now, the eclipse is over. We are all just back to business. The news has moved on to other topics. All that excitement has passed, and our attention has naturally moved on to other things.

But what about Easter? Is it over too? Easter Sunday, in all its glory, beckons us to live like Easter people. But sometimes, we treat Easter a bit like that eclipse, don’t we? During the 40 days of Lent, we prayed, and we reflected on the sacrifice and suffering of Jesus. We grappled with the reality that He paid the price for our sin and we wondered if we were worthy of that kind of love. In the darkness of Good Friday, we remembered with hope that Sunday was coming. And so it did! On Easter we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord with great joy! We ran to the tomb and we saw for ourselves that it was, in fact, empty. We sang our Hallelujahs and we rejoiced with peace and love in our hearts. We all looked up together. It was magnificent. But now, a week or two later, are we still acting like Easter people? Are we living our days as if the tomb really is empty? Or, after all the excitement and the celebration, have we found ourselves edging back into the routine of daily life – back into the tombs of our own making? Oh, they come with many different signs above the door: Stress, Fear, Anger, Hurt, Worry, Pride, Doubt, Resentment, Hopelessness, Grief, Regret, even Unforgiveness. All the things. Whatever we call them, those tombs can hold us captive.

We know Jesus came out of the tomb. We believe it with all that we are. But do we know that means we can come out of ours too? We struggle so mightily to get out of our tombs by our own strength. We push that stone with everything we have. Or we pretend it isn’t there. Or maybe we just settle in and dress it up, trying to make ourselves think we like it there. But here’s the thing: We don’t have to move the stone. It is already done. When Jesus died on that cross, we were set free. We are no longer captives. We just have to be willing to walk out of the tomb and into the Light.

Living as Easter People doesn’t mean life won’t be hard. It doesn’t mean we won’t experience difficult circumstances. But those feelings and circumstances don’t have to define us. They don’t have to hold us in bondage. Jesus Christ, the risen Lord, defines us. He holds us in the very palm of his hand and He bids us to come out of our tombs. Jesus said to the disciples in the upper room, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” As Easter People, it is our time to heed the SENDING. He calls us to go, right now, and build His Kingdom, be His Church, and serve his people with love and humility. Jesus’ death on the cross brought healing and hope to THIS side of heaven. We don’t have to wait until we get there. Let that tomb crumble. Let that stone roll away. Christ has risen from the dead and our sins are forgiven. We are free and Easter has only just begun. Let’s go tell somebody.

Guest Writer: Ruth Bearden, beardenrmb@gmail.com