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Yes. That’s right. I’m in need of a pedicure. Why? Because someone’s going to see my feet today and I want them to look beautiful - beautiful like the feet of Christ. When I look at Christ, I see the One who loves, gives, and gives even more and then loves again. There’s a pattern there and when I really look at the words of Jesus and His life’s narrative this pattern embeds itself into my life. This is the season of Advent and like no other year, I am compelled to reach others with the love of Christ.

Isaiah 52:7 | How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

My prayer tonight this morning is to have feet beautiful in the ways of the Gospel. Beautiful because of where they take me - to deliver good news. Peace is the presence of love where hate or indifference are prevalent and I am the presence of that love! Good tidings look like a smile and when I bring one it spreads! Salvation is found in no one else but Jesus and my story of salvation may be the prologue to someone else’s today. My feet are will be beautiful this season because I will make it known by the words of my mouth amplified by my life that God reigns.

So… who’s good with feet?

We’re thinking we might do something different this year…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU]

Yesterday, I headed out to the nearest Starbucks, grabbed a tall drip with plenty of room, and sat down in a comfy corner to study the book of Joel and write a little bit. It was a much needed time to focus on God. As I was studying though, something in my periphery caught my eye - a caricature. An artist called Illy sat there to my left with a stack of blank paper and a fine-tip marker and slipped me a finished portrait he quickly created while I was unaware. It’s a great drawing. I especially like the Detroit skyline in the background.

Once I received my drawing, I noticed almost everyone else in the shop had their own portrait thanks to Illy. He continued working through the stack of paper as though each sheet was meant for someone in particular and he didn’t want them to miss out. Most people were amused with the drawings. Some, a little embarrassed, but gracious to let Illy practice his talent. Other patrons were not very impressed or pleased he would depict them on paper without warning. One departing customer shucked Illy’s extension to take their unfinished portrait saying, “That’s not me!”

There’s something provocative about seeing your own image…
through objective eyes.

When you don’t know you’re being drawn, you don’t have the chance to strike a pose and the artist has nothing to go on except what is clearly seen. To be honest, I didn’t like Illy’s portrait of myself when I first looked at it. I was caught off guard and thought, “Is that really what I look like?” With nothing more than smooth paper, a black marker, and many inconspicuous glances my way, this artist showed me how I still have my father’s eyes, my mother’s nose, and more often then not, a look on my face that reminds me of them both. This is me.

As I continue to look, I have to ask myself: Do I see Christ? Are my eyes looking with compassion? Is that exhaustion I see or is my strength being renewed? Would I approach this person in the picture if I had never met them before? Are there words of hope waiting on those lips? I must remember, many will never see Christ unless they see Him in me. This portrait is a gift revealing the truth and the reality of who I am.

And I’ll tell you what I do see… I see love.

1 Cor 13:12 | Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Over the weekend, I had a conversation with a man from our city whose fallen on really hard times. His story included a recent car accident that left him in need of surgery and unable to work since. He and his family have been accepting anything they can from churches, etc. to keep food on the table mostly consisting of “bread and tea, bread and tea, that’s all!” Through it all he said, “But God helps me.”

Knowing his religious background as one where God is seen as an arbitrarily benevolent deadbeat, I knew he felt out of reach like this was just his life and there was not ever going to be more. It’s conversations like these where I realize just how shallow much of my thoughts are through the day. Truly, there is so much meaning in the words “bread” and “tea” that I would never have unearthed on my own.

I prayed as we spoke and asked God to give me words of real hope for him. We talked about Jesus and how many religions (including this man’s) respect Him as a man of God. My insight was to look at the narratives in other faiths that point to Jesus. I said, “They are telling a piece of the story, a small piece. The Bible as we call it tells the rest of it. The story itself though is all in Jesus.”

This seemed to connect in some way. After a moment of silence and a sip of tea/coffee I told him I had a family, too. I pointed out my wife and daughter and said their names and the name of my son. For the first time, he smiled. He looked down and then back up and said, “This is a good family.” It was as though seeing my family gave him some kind of hope. For this, I thank God and I hope for Jesus to make his hope complete.

Hebrews 1:1-3 in my own words. I read this out loud over the city yesterday afternoon.

In the past God spoke to the human race through messengers. That is, until He spoke to us all through the Message Himself - His Son. The Son is the heir of the entire universe - everything - and everything was created through Him. He is the Light and Heat of God and reveals who God is all while sustaining reality and ensuing reality with the very words from His mouth. He gave purity and new life void of sin and now sits next to the King of Heaven.

[This post is in partnership with Blog Action Day '08 - Poverty. Add your voice.]

What does tomorrow hold? Many have enough trouble coping with today! Here in the West, we enjoy choice in how to spend our day (even if this includes going to work and getting paid). The more global experience, however, involves doing what one must do to survive. The idea of “tomorrow” can bring a lot of happiness to someone with all the options and great despair for the someone sealing shut one dark day only to open the lid on another.

Does anyone dread tomorrow more than those living in poverty? It’s true, hunger pangs numb over time. I’ve done an extended fast before (once again, though, it was by choice). After a few days of intense craving, the body almost forgets what it’s like to eat and most of the discomfort subsides. But this is only physical. At this point, the emptiness of the stomach begins to translate itself to the heart and soul - this lasts much longer. I cannot fathom what poverty even really feels like. It must feel cold. And even though the sun rises tomorrow, those living in poverty will barely thaw before the temperature falls again.

Where did this all start? Like most things, it all comes back to us.

Genesis 3:17-19 | “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

From the outset of time, humanity (you and me included) has striven to call God’s bluff and go our own way instead of His way. What does this have to do with poverty? Poverty is a curse - a curse conjured by sin. Curse is the perfect word to describe this but allow me to reframe the term. When God said the ground is cursed, He said it was “because of you.” Hence, this is not the product of a “grudge” God has with the world because we couldn’t play by His rules. It is the reality of our interests (wealth, power, glory, comfort, convenience, taste, thrill) getting in the way of the prosperity of others.

Last year, I read an article exposing corruption in the banana industry, specifically in South America. Discovering how my ability to purchase the fruit at a sub-$1.00/lb. price here in the States comes at the expense of countless lives and on the backs of impoverished farmers slaves created a deep shift in my thinking about sin. The truth is, it all spills over. Our world is broken and the livelihood of one will often bring about the poverty of another. We’re fighting over thorns and thistles, you see.

But there is hope, and only one.

2 Corinthians 8:9 | For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

Jesus the Nazarene lived a life of image on this earth. The image He conveyed was that of the Father. By His death, that is, imaging the fullness of the destruction of sin, He completed the will of the Father. His resurrection and ongoing vibrancy - LIFE - adds another layer over the image: redemption. Finally, the presence of Christ imaged in the Church (the community of those who will follow after Christ into death and resurrection) conveys the hope for poverty today.

Christ is richness. In His suffering and poverty He made us rich. Tomorrow can be beautiful for someone more because of what Jesus did yesterday - even more if you will join Him today.

I’ve heard the saying, “finding your hidden self in Christ” before and never really understood its meaning.  How can I find myself in Jesus Christ?  My story seems so off course with His.  My life looks nothing like His.  I supposed that’s why the saying says we find our hidden self in Christ - it’s lost.  Somewhere along the way of our everyday we lost our connection with God.  We - being all humanity (and you and I,  personally).  It was a beautiful connection we once had with the creator.  Our determined insistence, however, on creating and writing our own story has broken this connection and only through the story of Christ (which is still being written) can we be joined back with God.

Why does this matter?  Do the things of heaven above even matter here on the ground?  Yes.

Ever find out something amazing you never heard of prior.  Recently, I read a summary (wiki) of the Boston Molasses Disaster.  Here are some details:

The Boston Molasses Disaster, also known as the Great Molasses Flood and the Great Boston Molasses Tragedy, occurred on January 15, 1919, in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. A large molasses tank burst and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph, killing 21 and injuring 150. The event has entered local folklore, and residents claim that on hot summer days the area still smells of molasses.

We are coming up on the 90th anniversary of this great catastrophy this coming January.  Something so unlikely (molasses spill) took the life of 21 people and destroyed an entire city.  Wow!  This is what’s so amazing about history, and so tragic about ignoring it: we are all connected by our history.  This connection identifies for us the common threads of humanity and uncovers the motif of our existence.  Wherever you look in history, you will find an image or fragment of yourself.

Jesus’ place in history marks a place many of us intersect with because of our faith.  Even still, those of us who claim to have no such faith in Christ find ourselves in between the lines of the Word.  His miraculous birth, unknown years, public ministry, sufferings and execution, and re-entry to life are gates into a story in which we all find ourselves.  In fact, we don’t just find pieces of our story there - but the whole thing.  Following Jesus includes partaking in the elements of His Story - be they sufferings, joys, or triumphs.  The great reengineering of humanity happens in us when we give up our small ambitions and take up the life and death of Christ.  This is how the story continues - His Story.  It is here where our story does not simply intertwine or ricochet with the story of Christ…

… His story is our story.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  (Colossians 3:1-3)

Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.’  (Luke 9:23-4)

Remember those “No Fear” T-shirts, bumper stickers, and decals everyone used to display so proudly back in the ’90s.  I do.  Being a bit of a typography nut, I was always a little annoyed by the jagged edges and this-is-a-good-name-for-an-energy-drink design of the No Fear mantra.  Design tastes aside, the logo/message was clear and menacing.  If I held any preconceived notions of fearfulness about the driver of that enormous, heavy-duty pickup truck speeding past me on a country road, the No Fear decal on the rear window would set me straight:

“This guy’s not afraid of anything!  In fact, I should probably be afraid of him.  I wonder if he goes to the gym?  Of course he does!  And his bench press must be somewhere in the don’t-mess-with-me range.  Wow.  I wish I was him.  Then, maybe I wouldn’t be so afraid.”

Honestly, many of the people toting a No Fear emblem are/were likely to be very strong and fearless.  At least, fearless of most things.  Yet, everyone has something they’re afraid of.  Even the bear-wrestling types can find fear in the smallest things.  I, for one, cannot stand insects.  Seriously, leave me alone in a room with a bunch of badgers and I’ll fight them off with gusto - let one stinging insect (or even one that just looks kinda mean) near me and I’ll freak! (For anyone who shares my feelings for insects, you should seriously watch this video - and proceed to cry.)

Many of the fears we hold are irrational fears - meaning, our intense fear is out of proportion with the actual danger of the thing we fear.  Most fears are really expressions of the greater fear we all have - fear of death.  When I think about insects, my fear is not necessarily being stung (though it hurts).  My fear is being stung enough times to kill me!  The same is likely true of most of your fears.  This fear of death can become the dictator of our entire life if we’ll allow it.  I’ve known individuals so fearful of hurt they cannot speak or connect with other people in anyway.  Often, abuses or tragedy in a person’s life can create an unshakeable fear of this kind.

So, are we meant to remain paralyzed and contained by our fears - the fear of death?  No. While all humanity is prone to fear death at every turn and possibility, Jesus came and lives to set people free from fear.  How does He do it?  By facing what we all fear most - head on.

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.  Hebrews 2:14-15

His incarnation - that is, joining humanity - made it possible for Christ to die a human death.  He faced the same fear of death you and I face everyday.  Then, Jesus did it.  He died a gruesome and dishonorable death.  Fear loses its strength, however, in the next scene.  Jesus is resurrected.  His fearless submission to an unwarranted death at the hands of fearful humanity is given power when He comes back to life.

Jesus invites us to share in this death so we can also share in His resurrection and life - conquering the fear of death - even death by insects!

• What are you afraid of?
• Is your fear irrational?
• Do you fear death?
• Have you asked Jesus to release you from fear?
• “Perfect love drives out fear…” Does your love overcome your fears?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5)

If Jesus really is the Word that was with God, and everything in front of us was made through Him… shouldn’t He have something to do with our daily lives? I suppose this is why He is the Word. While the world offers wisdom in many forms, life is meant to be read through the life of Christ. He is the text which gives meaning to our context.

Jesus is the Word. In Him, there is Light. What does the Light reveal? Jesus, the Word. This is what we call a circular reference. Usually, such logic fails. The same is true in this case. Yet, if those of us who follow Christ will live illogically in the pattern of Christ in every aspect of life, then this life will become like the emphatic underlinings found in a well-perused book. Life is meant to be read through the text of Jesus and we are the pages… and the people around us are certainly reading!

So, how do we do this?

Read Romans 12:1-2:

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

As we fix our sight on Jesus and His life, we move against the current of this world and break through the mold and default settings of humanity into a new setting where God is worshipped with every moment - and we are changed!

Lord Jesus, be the Text of my life and may your Word change me and redefine the world around me. As I am read, may my life tell Your story and shine light to reveal You as the Original Word.