Big tables, War stories, and Chimney Sweeps
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| The 12 |
Last night, 12 humans from 5 different countries gathered in a wine cellar in Vienna. Around a table large enough to seat us all comfortably, we nibbled on meat and cheese and spoke of intimate things. The table hosted a young couple expecting their first baby to a not so young couple expecting their 51st year of marriage. Everyone else fit somewhere in the middle. Stories of journeys walked through the past year filled the air. As we talked, we marveled at the goodness of God, the hardness of life, and the joy of being able to be connected through relationship with one another.
The highlight of the evening came when our host, Alfred, the most noble of men I've ever met in my life, began to tell stories of his childhood. His father, a German nationalist, joined the War in 1943. Alfred, then 3-years-old, was left with his three siblings and mother. Because of the danger of living in populated cities, Alfred and his family were evacuated to the countryside where they resided during the war years in a Pension (small hotel). That winter, as the inhabitants of this Pension gathered around a Christmas table, his father, suprising his family by his unexpected arrival, joined the celebration. As his father drank wine and celebrated what would be a small reprieve from the realities of war, Alfred took his father's military issued belt upstairs to reenact a scene with which he had become mesmerized. As a 3-year-old, the work of the chimney sweeps caught his attention. These workers in black outfits would clean the soot from a designated spot in the attic. While laughter and music filled the downstairs, Alfred cleaned the soot from the spot in the attic with his father's military issued belt. His father allowed Alfred the privilege of imaginary play and gave him a warm memory of the last time he would ever see his father again. Two years later, the family would learn of his death in a Russian prisoner of war camp. They had no idea their Christmas together in the small countryside Pension would be their last moment together.
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| Alfred |
As we went around the table, taking turns sharing about what we had seen God do in our lives during the past year, she opened her monologue with this statement. Putting delicate hands on her husbands arm and motioning toward him, she said, "I knew there was one Ambassador for Jesus in Vienna. I never knew there were so many!" For Helga, this was her first introduction to many who put feet under the wine cellar table. Hearing their stories of how God had used them in work places and living spaces in which they did life was like a vitamin B12 for her soul.
As I sat with windows wide open this morning to capture some of the cool morning air, I read Numbers 15 and 16. Aaron has come along way from bashing his brother. He's becoming a person (said in my best Jewish mother from Brooklyn accent). Some 250 rebels have tried to overthrow Moses. God shakes his head as if these kids of His are never gonna get it. He then, being just, punishes the rebellion. Aaron stands between the dead and living and ends a plague of destruction. Aaron, offered incense as a pleasing aroma to God, on behalf of those who really didn't deserve to live according to their performance.
All Christians, like Aaron, have the same assignment. We have the ability to stand between the dead and the living, halting the plague of death. We get to bring "incense" into atmospheres and change them by the power of the Holy Spirit in us. Our position in Christ qualifies us. This is what Helga was referring to in her statement.
You see, in the Old Testament, adherence to the laws and commands of God were reflective of where the heart was in alignment to God. Obedience to the laws was an outward expression of what was taking place inside. It was not outside behavior (performance) trying to establish position. Position had to influence performance!
When we strive for performance to be the indicator of position it's empty religion. Performance for approval is easier and often times feels safer. Why? Because doing something ticks off boxes for my humanness and makes me feel like I've done something. However, faith says I am OK based on position despite performance. That's necessary because believe it or not, despite the ravishing creature I most often display in front of a watching audience, I can be a beast. I can't base who I am and what my position is in Christ by my behavior (performance). God knew this about me ... and you. He knew our struggle between performing to earn affection and resting in our position and receiving affection.
When we realize our postion, we can then begin to be effective with our assignemnt to bring Christ into the spaces we occupy. Others need to know this freedom we live in Christ. It's a matter of literal and eternal life and death. To the degree I am secure in my positon is to the degree I will be a life giver and saver of others from death.
Again, like fresh rain water on desert ground, this new space of time in Vienna is affording me new moments to reflect and ponder those things that my heart needs to soak up. Be blessed. We are loved by a good Father. Just like Alfred's father allowed him to take his belt and transform it into the imaginations of a 3-year-old chimney sweep, our Father delights in us. He delights in knowing we don't have to strive and perform. He loves us. We are safe.
Cleaning chimneys,
Christina
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