Shortly after Jesus’ birth, the Romans crucified 3,000 men in Galilee. The fatherless of that generation surely grew up poorer, lacking encouraging fatherly disciplines and haunted by nightmares, sins, failures, and doubts. They would appreciate Jesus’ Beatitudes, which flesh out God’s kingdom dynamics as nine joys rather than 10 commands, as blessings rather than earnings. He speaks values to famished hearts and ignites dormant hopes.
Flavored Life
Jesus says Christians are salt because we flavor our environment. Properly applied, salt is subtle. People just know the omelet tastes great. The flavor we add is not better conduct or more faith. We often fall short. The flavor we add is Jesus. He alone frees people from bland, stressful, fatal bondage to the impossible task of doing enough themselves.
Wholesale Shine
Light improves confidence in actions and reduces mistakes.I thought I knew our church building well enough not to bother with lights. I knew the stairs to the basement have a landing. I shut the lights off in the balcony and headed down the dark stairs. I was airborne. With a bang I realized, “Oh, these are not the stairs with the landing.”
God’s sunlight shines on us—and also on Turkana in the Great Rift Valley, Siberian Mongols, desert Bedouins, and on our president in the Rose Garden. Jesus said we are light to the world. You make your wife glow but not blush. You provide for your home. You are diligent to care for your children. You tenderly care for your parents. You manifest integrity on the job and competent care for enemies. People can see that, but what they will not see—until you shed light on it—is that only Jesus deserves credit for the good they see in you. |L
Gary D. Anderson is minister of Capitol City Christian Church in Boise, Idaho. He and his wife Joyce served Christ in Hong Kong for 18 years.
