Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Following in my Daddy's footsteps...

Today I spoke at the morning assembly for middle and high school at Hebron. I wanted to share with these precious students the same message that my dad has shared at high schools and colleges in Ecuador and the United States. It is a message that involves fruit with funny faces, often a blue checked apron, a lot of humor, and a profound truth.
(Note: I have had to block out/change some words in this blog because of the sensitive area I'm in. I don't want any search engines finding words that could compromise anyone's ministy. So bear with the awkward language as you read!)

My dad and his fruit :) He thought this idea up all on his own, my sisters and I helped him make the faces, he borrowed my mom's market apron, and a chapel talk was born. The theme of the message is our value in the sight of G-d. Just as the price of a fruit is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it, so our value is determined by how much G-d thinks we are worth. And the amazing thing is, G-d's son, who is G-d Himself, died for us. That gives us INCREDIBLE value. Not because we deserve it. Far from it! We all have rotten patches, bruises, and ugly spots just like an old banana. But G-d still did it. And because he did, we have infinite value.

This is a crazier truth than me dying for my handsome pineapple here. No way I'm dying for that fruit! But I sure am glad that G-d decided to die for me so that I can live forever as his kid. And no other fruits should be able to diminish my value. So often we let the other fruits around us, who really know no more than we do about the world, affect our view of our own value. Because we might not be great at sports, the most beautiful/popular/skinny/funny person at school, or the one with the richest parents, we think that our value is less. That is a lie! G-d was willing to give his Son for us, to pay our price. That's what we are worth. And the coconuts, mangos, and grapes whispering in your ear that you really aren't worth that much are totally, completely and utterly WRONG! Stop listening to them, and start listening to G-d who has this to say about YOU!
Gen 1:27 - "So G-d created mankind in his own image, in the image of G-d he created them; male and female he created them." You are made in the image of G-d. My pineapple friend here is made in the image of a pineapple. He is meant to be food, to make more pineapple plants eventually, and to serve as a teaching tool. We, on the other hand, are a reflection of G-d. Yes, we all look different, have different parents, different gifts, different abilities. But we all have the capacity to think, to reason, to love, to judge between right and wrong with our G-d-given conciences. These are things that all other plants and animals in the world cannot do. God made us to reflect characteristics of himself, to be "like" him.
Psalm 139:13-16 - "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." You were carefully fashioned in your mother's womb. Not an accident. Not a mistake. A work of art. Made by G-d himself!
Rom 5:6-8 - "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Ch rist died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But G-d demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Ch rist died for us." While we were still gross, rotting, and dead Ch rist died for us. Nothing about us was desirable. But he did it anyway, in in so doing, made us worth his very life!
I'm sure you could go much deeper into the theology in the verses above, but in 15 minutes all I wanted to do was to help the students grasp their true value in Ch rist.

And that is a summary of the market stall talk. It was interesting to hear my dad's thoughts, and even hints of his voice and the way he said things, come out of my mouth as I was sharing his fruit analogy. I am so blessed to have had a teacher like him for a father, and am so excited to keep his messages alive. I am sure I don't do them justice, but I pray that they bless those who hear them.
I always loved having my dad come and speak at places where I lived or went to school. He gave the commencement address at my high school, came to my Bible school several times to teach a class or give a chapel talk, and spoke at my sister's high school as well. I was always proud to be known as his daughter, and am humbled to have been given the blessing, challenge, and opportunity to keep proclaiming the truth. I sure do miss him though!

Doing his talk brings the reality of his death home again, and that is hard. Thinking about the fact that I can't see him make eyeballs for a watermelon anymore or get a laugh from the audience for being in a frilly apron brings tears to my eyes. I would love to be able to sit under his teaching once again - taking better notes this time! - and absorb more of his wisdom. I am not ready to head off into life on my own, and kind of feel like I was pushed out of the nest a little too early. But slowly and surely, and with many crashes along the way, I am learning how to fly. And funny looking fruits with googly eyeballs keep popping up along the way - reminding me that my value is not in how well I minister in India, how well I interact with the girls in the dorm, how much people like me, or even if I teach just like my dad, but in the simple fact that Ch rist died for me.