From the UCC Network: 07/27/2011 "Just a Smidgen"

Just a Smidgen

Excerpt from Mark 4:30-32

Jesus said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade." 

Refection by Ron Buford

Have you ever worked with a great cook who did not use teaspoons, tablespoons or cup measures? They might say, "Use just a smidgen of this or that — it's my secret ingredient."

"How much is a smidgen anyway?" the student asks.

She'd say, "Oh, about this much," grabbing "a smidgen" between her thumb and forefinger. 

The cooking lesson is nearly complete when the meal is served and the delicate balance of spices and ingredients is experienced, and understood. The student must then be able to replicate the recipe, connecting ingredients, technique, timing, and presentation.

It will take several tries for the chef in training to get it just right, replicating and perhaps even enhancing the original experience.

Jesus, the master teacher, teaches us that mixing prayer, Bible study, fellowship, work for justice, forgiveness, with just a "smidgen" of hopeful expectation, persistence, and love brings forth the Realm of God into our lives. With it, God transforms our weaknesses, failures, loneliness, disappointment, battles with illness, addiction and grief that seem too hard to bear...into life's greatest masterpieces.

From tiny seeds of hope, patience, persistence, love, and faith come great trees that when fully grown serve as a perch for others to come, sit, observe, and find the lessons they also need to thrive—and all because of "just a smidgen."

Prayer

Gracious God, I'm trying this recipe and it's not feeling like a masterpiece yet. Help me to keep cooking until my life is a masterpiece from your perspective.  Even if I cannot see it yet...I believe...a smidgen. May that smidgen make something of a masterpiece in my life today. Thank you. Amen.

About the Author Ron Buford, former coordinator of the UCC's God is still speaking campaign, consults with religious and nonprofit organizations, leads workshops, and preaches in churches across the U.S. and U.K. Ron also appears in the DVD-based progressive theology series, Living the Questions 2.0.

From the UCC Network: 07/27/201 "Sword Drill"

Sword Drill

Excerpt from Ephesians 6:10-18

"Take the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."

Reflection by Quinn G. Caldwell

How long would it take you to find Nahum in your Bible without the Table of Contents?  If it's greater than .0002 seconds, my childhood friend Tony would have you beat.  Once, he took me to Vacation Bible School at his church.  There, we did "sword drills."  The teacher would yell out a verse, and the student who found it in their Bible first would win.

Tony won a lot.  The teacher was kind when I asked how to spell "Matthew."

They did those drills because they wanted to be ready to unsheathe the right sword, or scripture reference, at a second's notice when called to spiritual battle.  That's not my theology of scripture or of the Christian life, but I'm still jealous of Tony.  I know my Bible pretty well now, but I still often feel like I'm trying to do complex math without having learned multiplication.  I suppose my 5th-grade teacher's admonition holds here, too: you'll always be able to use a calculator, but the more complicated stuff will be easier if you memorize your times tables now.

Why not commit to learning the books of the Bible this summer?  Why not commit to getting your kids, or your Sunday school kids, to do the same?  The Table of Contents will always be there, but your life of faith really will be easier if you get the basics down now.

Prayer

God, I'm not asking to beat Tony or anything, but can you please remind me how many k's there are in "Habakkuk"?  Amen.

Quinn G. Caldwell is Associate Minister of Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts, and co-editor, with Curtis J. Preston, of the just-published Unofficial Handbook of the United Church of Christ.