Not Me

“Who left crumbs on the kitchen counter?” It wasn’t me. Funny, but you just made a sandwich on that counter space.

“Whose hair is all over the bathroom sink?” Not mine. Odd, but you combed your hair five minutes ago standing in front of the necessity room mirror.

“Who tracked mud onto the kitchen floor tile?” Not me. My, who could it be? The only person here to use that door in the last 24 hours was you. Those shoes of yours look like they have seen cleaner days, too.

“Not me,” is one of my favorite responses. It shifts the blame immediately away from me and toward whomever else can qualify for suspicion or guilt. It has often served me well.

The Christian life begins with repentance and faith. We turn from sin and turn in trust to Christ. This is at the core of what it means to be Christian.

The life of following Christ is lived just as it was begun – in repentance and faith. There is often something to turn from and Someone to turn to. We live as we were born.

In all of life we are challenged to admit our failures and correct our faults. It is amazing to me how often in Holy Scripture God calls on His people to repent. It is not just the message to those still living apart from faith. It is also the message to those who have begun in faith. It is the plea to continue.

“Not me,” is not a very helpful or holy response. “Yes, me,” will take us farther from sin and closer to the loving God who prompts us there.

Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
South Haven Baptist Church
November 24, 2009

David and the Giant (Chair)

I had stopped to visit at the home of a family whose yard backs up against the church property. While chatting out in the side yard of the house with a visiting uncle I noticed activity taking place across the chain link fence. Near the back edge of the church parking lot someone was hauling a piece of furniture to the church dumpster for easy removal. Is that supposed to happen? Is the church’s jumbo trash bin there for this purpose? Can just anybody rid their home of unwanted junk and expect the church to deal with it?

After completing my conversation next door, I drove into the church parking lot through the back entrance. My arrival time overlapped the time it took our furniture hauler to complete his transition of the overly large stuffed chair from his pickup bed to the concrete pad beside the overly large green steel bin.

Imagine my amazement when I discovered that one of our own church family was the mystery man with plans to load up the church trash receptacle with worn living room equipment! What was David doing there? And what were the reasons for his actions?

David had spotted the lumpy monster at the front edge of the church property. Instead of leaving it out by the road in plain view for everyone to squint and scowl at, he had chosen to remove it to a more discrete location far removed from that more public vista. The bum whom I thought was dumping his trash on the church lot was actually the courteous fellow cleaning the place up.

David’s actions with that giant chair served well to remind me that not all is as it seems. And that not just in the negative. I am used to thinking of perceptions that turn out not to be as rosy as at first blush. Here I saw a situation that was far better than I had originally pictured.

Things are often not what they seem. Sometimes that is very, very good.

Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
South Haven Baptist Church
Nov. 17, 2009

God Can Wait

“Would you care for a topping with your frozen yogurt?” or “That particular sofa is available in brown leather.” or “Super-size your fries?” or “There are several optional add-on features with this model.” Some of this must sound familiar.

I think we have done the same thing with God. There are days when God becomes elective. Life is full and we have so much going on. God can wait. He has to date.

The list of obligations is long and our calendars are full. Where will we find time for spiritual life along side family life and work life and social life and community life and…? Well, you know how this one goes. “Get a life!” I don’t need one; I already have more life than I can manage now.

In this present climate there isn’t room for God. That is, unless He is willing to take the role of an optional add-on. We could consider Him when we do find an open slot, when something gets cancelled, or when moving Him up the list ahead of someone else appears feasible.

We are missing the point. The great truth is that God IS life and all the rest addendum. There is not an arena in which we function where God cannot go with us and make it better simply showing up with us. God recognizes us ahead of everything else in all His creation. We are healthy and whole when we view Him as the main attraction.

Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
South Haven Baptist Church
Nov. 3, 2009