Yesterday, I spent a chunk of the day teaching about hunger and homelessness at the inner-city school where I worked to establish the weekend food program. The Washington Post just ran an article about how DCPS is adding a third free meal to the day, an early dinner. All of the children know hunger. Some of them know homelessness. That was a delicate dance, and I am one who with two left feet. However...not when teaching. Never with teaching. The politics of being a teacher...well...not so much success there. Teaching itself...pure joy and always a beautiful thing!
Young minds seeking. Wooing reluctant learners with my voice and expressions as I read. Querying them so as to lead them to an answer. Delighting in their discovery of something new. Oh, how I savor any small opportunity to be a teacher once more!
The children walked for hunger and homelessness afterward, chanting, garbed in their Help the Homeless t-shirts. The tiniest ones had shirts to their ankles. Many were holding hands as they milled about afterward. My other joy that day was getting to take photos, trying to capture the moment for others to understand. Out of dozens, a few are usable. I am out of the habit of looking at the world through the eye of a camera lens. I miss that, too.
"Manna" gave me some beautiful Luther the other day:
People don't earn God's approval or receive life and salvation because of anything they've done. Rather, the only reason they receive life and salvation is because of God's kindness through Christ. There is no other way.
Many Christians are tired of hearing this teaching over and over. They think they learned it all long ago. However, they barely understand how important it really is. If it continues to be taught as truth, the Christian church will remain united and pure--free from decay. This truth alone makes and sustains Christianity. You might hear an immature Christian brag about how well he knows that we receive God's approval through God's kindness and not because of anything we do to earn it. But if he goes on to say that this is easy to put into practice, then have no doubt he doesn't know what he's talking about, and he probably never will. We can never learn this truth completely or brag that we understand it fully. Learning this truth is an art. We will always remain students of it, and it will always be our teacher.
The people who truly understand that they receive God's approval by faith and put this into practice don't brag that they have fully mastered it. Rather, they think of it as a pleasant taste or aroma that they are always pursuing. These people are astonished that they can't comprehend it as fully as they would like. They hunger and thirst for it. They yearn for it more and more. They never get tired of hearing about this truth. Similarly, Paul admits in Philippians 3:12 that he has not yet reached this goal. In Matthew 5:6, Christ says that those who hunger and thirst for God's approval are blessed. [AE 14:26]
Definitely a Myrtle selection. I certainly want to hear the Gospel again and again. I certainly need to hear it again and again. As much as I know it to be true, I oft do not understand the whole of it, recognize the shape of it, but oh how I long for the sweet, sweet taste of it.
Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!
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