"Tight lines" is a blessing fishermen offer each other, a wish for lines taut with the weight of good fish. May God grant that the lines written here be taut with His blessings.
Tuesday, 20 April 2010 | |||
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Scattered Seasoning | |||
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It was one really salty bite of eggs. Our family enjoys
scrambled eggs and I take pride in whipping them up, then cooking them in
butter with plenty of wrist action as I flip and dice them in the pan to
come up fluffy and yellow. I always add salt and pepper before cooking.
One morning I shook in the salt but forgot to stir and whip the eggs
before dumping them in the pan. All the salt stayed in one part of the
batch and one of us took that unfortunate bite. The rest of the eggs were
bland and needed salt added. The seasoning needed to be distributed,
scattered throughout the whole batch. Though Joshua 21 looks like one more ancient geography lesson, its description of the distribution of cities and pastureland to the Levites contains a lesson for us. Those who represent God and serve others on His behalf need to be scattered around in our world so that the "salt of the earth," as Jesus called us, might season human life everywhere. It's not too big a leap to see ourselves as Christians as Levites for the cities and towns in which we live. The Levites scattered around Israel taught people the Law of Moses, consulted with those who were trying to discern God's will, and played something of a local judicial role. Their very presence across the land reminded the various tribes of Israel that they all had one God and that they were not to worship other gods. As rich and deep and close as Christian community in the Church ought to be, it is not meant to be an isolated fellowship huddled in a fortress. When the members of a typical local church depart from worship on Sunday morning, they are going out into their various neighborhoods to represent and communicate the presence of God in the places where they live and work. The ideal and hopeful verses at the end of Joshua 21 seem to me to display the state of affairs which comes to communities, and ultimately to the world, when God's people are functioning well in their role as "Levites" or "salt," dispersed representatives of God's grace and presence. "The Lord gave them rest on every side. . .. Not one of their enemies withstood them. . . Not one of all the Lord's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled." May we learn how to give room to God's presence in our own lives, and then learn to be God's presence among the many lives we touch each day. | |||
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Profile |
I am the pastor of Valley Covenant Church in Eugene, Oregon. I love to flyfish and hike along the beautiful rivers in our area. I welcome your comments as I share sermon work in progress and occasional other thoughts.
Thank you for visiting this blog. I invite you also to visit my web page.
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