Jesus or Bill Clinton? No comments yet

One of our ESL teachers shared a quote today from her class:

She asked them, “What people work everyday all the time?”(i.e. doctors, policemen, etc.)
A cute little Korean kid answered, “Jesus.”

This reminded me of the children’s sermons that used to take place right before the kids were dismissed for sunday school at Woodland Presbyterian.

The kids would all go forward and someone would share a short interactive message and would invariably ask them a question or two that whose answer was Jesus.

So my college friends and I would sit in the pews, chuckle and whisper “Say Jesus” when a kid was called on to answer and groan quietly if they got it wrong.

Then one time the teacher asked, “Who is the president of the United States?” This confused us because the answer to this question was obviously not Jesus, but Bill Clinton.

So from then on, whenever a question was asked during the children’s sermon, we would confer amongst each other in hushed tones about whether the answer to the question was Jesus or Bill Clinton. “I think this one is Bill Clinton…No, no, this one is definitely Jesus…” And then we would wait expectantly for the answer.

Because He First… No comments yet

Today at church the Collect for the 12th Sunday after Trinity was read:

Almighty and everlasting God,
you are always more ready to hear than we to pray
and to give more than either we desire or deserve:
pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid
and giving us those good things
which we are not worthy to ask
but through the merits and mediation
of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

This reminded me of that famous snapshot of the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel, the Creation of Adam, and an observation a friend of mine made. If you look closer you’ll see that God is fully outstretched, straining every muscle in reaching out to Adam. You can even see His angels pulling him back, like an anchor to keep Him from falling out of Heaven. Meanwhile Adam is reclining, his wrist limp. He could easilty traverse the distance between himself and God, but he is not willing to put forth the effort.

I found myself humbled and convicted as the Collect was read this morning. How unworthy am I to receive anything from God, yet how richly does He bless me?