July 22, 2024
On Sunday I preached a message on the necessity of being willing to let go of old baggage to make room for, or to be open to being made into something new by God. It plays off the metaphor we often use of ourselves as vessels into which things are poured in, or out of which things are poured out, or flow through when both occur at the same time.
It got me thinking about the question of what we are full of? That is when I saw the image above. It is a cup of coffee that has been bumped or jiggled. The contents, that which it is full of, are sloshing and in danger of spilling out.
It begs the question: If you are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you, or shakes your arm, making you spill the contents,
Why did you spill the coffee?
Your most logical answer is probably, "Because someone bumped into me!"
That answer, however, is not correct in this context. You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. Had there been tea in your cup, you would have spilled tea. Had there been water in your cup, you would have spilled water.
Whatever is inside the cup is what was spilled out. Whatever is inside your cup is what you will spill out.
Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you - and it will - that is pretty much the definition of normal life - whatever is inside you will come out!
It is easy to fake it, until you get rattled - all shaken up. When you get rattled, whatever is inside you will come out!
So, we have to ask ourselves - "what is inside our cup?"
When life gets tough, what spills over? Is it joy, gratitude, peace, humility? Or is it anger, bitterness, victim mentality and quitting tendencies?
Life provides the cup, YOU choose how to fill it!
In the 13th chapter of Acts Paul and Barnabas travel to Pisidian Antioch. Some were happy to see them, but in the end they were expelled., so they went on to Iconium. What spilled out when they hit this bump in their travels?
Acts 13: 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
And Paul would instruct the Colossians to
Colossians 3: 15-17 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Likewise to the Ephesians, Paul would write,
Ephesians 5: 18-20 ... Instead be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And to the Philippians, Paul offered this prayer:
Philippians 1: 9-11 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God.
One of the interesting aspects about Paul's prayer for the Philippians is that expectation of continual growth. He prayed that their love would "abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight." It is not a one time and done kind of thing. It is almost as if the other aspect of being filled with the fruits of righteousness is that we should also be growing. The cup should be getting larger and larger, holding more and more. We are to be growing deeper in knowledge and insight in our love and service to Christ.
So, it looks like we have been given a three-fold challenge:
Clean out the old baggage, making room, becoming vulnerable to being made new.
Fill up with grace, gratitude, the Spirit, and the fruits of righteousness, so that when you are rattled, it is these things that get sloshed on those around you
Grow the cup
Much like the construction on all the streets around us, sometimes our busy schedules, or even just plain summer, make it hard to maintain the discipline of regular study and meditation on the Word of God. People go on vacation, some of our regular activities that keep us fed take a break. If you are one of those people that need a little extra inspiration, or a resource you can access on your schedule, not someone else's, a couple of us have been working on a new ministry that might help.
We are in the process of developing a video-based series of Bible studies that can be viewed individually or as groups, complete with discussion questions aimed at how the various points in each lesson might be applied to our current lives. At this writing, we have completed three lessons in our first project - The Gospel of John. While our recording may have to work around various construction projects, we do plan to add additional lessons as often as we can.
If you are not currently involved in a study, the one you are has taken a break for the summer, or perhaps, you just would like to augment what you are already doing, we invite you to check this new ministry out and see if it might help you, or someone you know, grow in "knowledge and depth of insight" into the Scriptures. You can LEFT CLICK the linked image below to get started (be sure to bookmark to come back for future lessons):
Finally, I leave you with Paul's final words in his second letter to the Corinthians,
II Corinthians 13: 11 Finally brothers, aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
Amen.
Please feel free to share this DeacoNote with a friend, or post a related thought in the Comments below.
Your Brother in Christ,
Warren
Warren J. Ayer, Jr.
Chairperson, Board of Deacons
United Church of Colchester
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