Magic Erasers or Dirty Clay

Sitting here thinking about what the stories of our life would be like if we could take a magic eraser to the the marks wounds and bruises of life. As we erased the eraser itself would discinegrate along with the troubles and trials we try to say good bye to.

It is not like that though. If we were so easily able to erase all the things we didn't like there would be no room for growth and strength as well as the character needing molded. We would not be pulled stretched and pounded to become something beautiful. Essentially we would be a soggy useless clump of clay lying in its own puddle of sorrow.

We must be willing to not just be wiped away and covered over but dug up, thrown down, kneaded and beaten, before we can begin to have the masters gentle hands begin to cup around us smoothing out the rough edges while he builds us up.

The work however, does not stop there. Once formed he lets us sit rest and catch our breath knowing he is not finished with us. There are better things coming but not without out pain and sorrow and a lot of heat. In order for our pots to be perfected in beauty and be used they must be fired in the refiners fire. It is there in all of the heat of life when we wonder how much we can withstand and if the cracks have all been sealed or if we will crack some more.

But the masters knows his work and the beauty he is bringing about no matter how painful the process is. It all cannot happen without be willing to not erase but embrace the trials of life. Just a lump of clay is not all that beautiful. The real beauty comes from being walked on, picked at, dug at, and beaten down before being chosen to be used.

Magic erasers would only rid our lives of the ugly dirty clump of mud that seems to offer nothing. The dirty spots of life that come with cracks and shattered pieces. We can truly be thankful we are not the master or have easy acess to the magic erasers to life.

Misfits and Apples

Our church recently had a 20th Anniversary celebration.  As I sat back in awe and wonder at how the church began and how far it has come, my heart beamed with pride.  You see this little church in a little community was termed the misfit church.  Why, one might ask?  Simply because they were not afraid to be different and stand out.  They were not afraid to be real and relevant in a transparent sort of way.  Of course my mind continued to wander.  Many of us whether we would like to admit it or not are misfits.

What is a misfit? If we look at a dictionary definition it is something that fits badly or able to adjust to its circumstance or surroundings.  How many of us have been in places where we just don't seem to fit?  How many of us for the sake of morals made a willful decision to stand out and not fit in?  Society even places all of us as misfits one time or another.  There is the you are too pretty or not pretty enough, your too poor or too rich for my taste, your too smart or your intelligence is not what I am looking to connect with, your too perfect or your disabled, to you have too much baggage for a friendship of my kind. 

So what made this little church so different was they were not afraid of the misfits nor afraid to be a misfit.  You see at one point it was a "biker" church.  What people show up with a bunch of motorcycles for church?  You see it is not what you come in on or the clothes on your back that make you fit or unfit for the love of Christ we are to extend to a fallen world.  Must one always feel that in order to find a church they must establish a good wardrobe?  Must one get their act together before coming to find a way to pick up their broken pieces?  Of course not!

While we all go through life looking for glue to hold our world together, or a strong back bone showing our outer strength because we are too afraid that there are times in life that are difficult, we all look to strive to make sure we have a place we will fit in, in one way or another.

Jesus himself was a misfit from conception to birth to his death.  What of his life was normal?  Conceived from mere thought and intervention of someone greater than any could imagine without even an earthly father involvement who happened to be informed after the fact.  Then he never got the ideal conditions for an ideal birth.  He was born in a stable.  A stinky unclean stable to host animals not people at the worst time of year where it was all about political fair share of tax reporting.  He walked his whole life sticking out like a sore thumb sharing stories and teachings, preforming miracles, and calling himself the Messiah the I am.  He walked among the poor, the rich, the healthy and the sick.  He made the lame walk and the blind to see.  What person could do this and not be counted as a misfit?  After all it would make people talk and it certainly did, that such a person could preform such feats of deeds.  Where did he come from they probably asked?  What group of people did he come from?  What he was born in a stable?  Who is this person?  Yes a misfit at his finest.

Did he let it stop the work that God had brought him to do?  Certainly not.  Did the little church I attend let the fact they were different and not afraid to be different stop them from being real to do God's work.  Certainly not!  So many times we miss prime opportunities of quiet ministry from trying to be the perfect apple in the bushel.  You see, I often refer to the group of people at my church as a bunch of odd apples.  We are all different.  Just as apples come in different varieties we come with different personalities and families.  Apples come clean and polished, just like people.  Of course then their are the apples that come from the tree with holes the worms have eaten their way through from the core.  They may be badly bumped and bruised.  Many of us come with bumps and bruises and holes that feel like they have been eaten in our heart.

There is something special to be said about misfits and apples.  They were all put here for a purpose.  A purpose to be different.  A purpose to stand out.  Sometimes the greatest ministry to a hurting world is the real relevant people who have walked the ups and downs of life.  It is the hurting people who can relate to those who have hurt before them.  The misfits looking for more misfits with happy endings.  The bumped and bruised and almost rejected apples still looking for their purpose.

Apples with tough shiny skin beaming under a bright light in your grocery store are just like those who appear to have it all together.  Their personalities offer the sweetest most delicious taste.  One that most would desire.  What happens if the apple sits too long without a purpose greater than itself?  It becomes misfit and broken down.  An apple that begins to feel the bumps and bruises of life.  Just like people we often times start off the perfect way appearing to have it all together until one day we have been dropped or left to sit idly unwanted for too long.

Then of course there are the apples packaged in bags.  They are not quite perfect to show their best side under a beaming light, but they serve a purpose for a better price.  They are on the smaller side, maybe a hidden imperfection hidden from the label of the bag.  Again like people placing themselves amongst crowds hoping to hide some of their imperfections.  Not quite perfect to stand out as a leader but good enough to not appear too different from a crowd, hoping to keep attention away from themselves. 

What about the ones who don't fit in at all.  The ones who never make it past the orchard.  The ones the worms have nested in the flower waiting for the day to eat their way out.  The ones who have been eaten and bruised from the outside from the locust and other destructive insects.  The misshaped, poor skin color, wrong variety.  Misfit apples for sure.  Who wants them?  What good are they?  Can they even serve a purpose?

Some of the greatest examples of the Bible came from the misfits that God used for a greater purpose.  Ruth a widow, Esther an orphan, Rahab a harlot, Leah unwanted wife.  David a giant slayer, Sampson with rare strength, Noah and his ark, Daniel with lions, Paul and Silas praises taking down the chains of prison, as well as many others.  We already spoke earlier of the misfit life of Jesus.  God used those who stood out and went through some rough terrain and even the most brutal of circumstances to make a difference. 

Just as the unused and unwanted apples seem to have little purpose they all get put together for a greater purpose.  As we know the best apple cider does not come from one variety of wanted apples but from many varieties of unwanted misfits.  They must go through the most brutal of circumstances and be brought to nothing in order to serve their greatest purpose of delightful fresh squeezed apple cider.  Just as examples from the Bible in order for the misfits to come to the greatest purpose of God's plan they were brought to nothing of themselves to be brought to the greater purpose of God.  The sweet reward of lessons and examples of character and strength gone before us.  For Jesus himself, he suffered the greatest undeserving death any could have suffered for the greater purpose.  However, as we all know his death did not stop there.  He was left to rest before he was risen to new life.  Just as the misfit apples turned to apple cider when left to sit and ferment, new life begins to form to bring a new purpose in time of apple cider vinegar.

So when asked about being part of a misfit church who is always looking for more misfits, it is always with a greater purpose of being real and relevant, that we could all sit back and learn about reaching out and extending a hand to fulfill a greater purpose of God's misfit apples.