Bursting Bubbles
Good Morning Friends,
Vanity is a temptation we have our entire life whether we are Christian or not. Sure we may get better at managing it but it has a way of blowing everyone off course and away from the truth. Vanity makes us way too complacent in our isolation from God in some cases and our sequestering of the Holy Spirit in others. We see it in churches and but also throughout culture but especially in sports. Here as a cultural community we have created Cabals that might have an element of faith but typically are too comfortable in believing the people staring back at them in the mirror are better than we really are. That happened to the Immokalee Indians in a double overtime football loss last night. I can happen in your church services on Sunday morning. But have faith God is good and has the long view. That is one of the reasons I have come to the conclusion that improving the community, the culture and the country can only happen if we experience Bursting Bubbles.
2Scripture: Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher,* vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 1:2 (NRSV)
3Do not adorn yourselves outwardly by braiding your hair, and by wearing gold ornaments or fine clothing; 4rather, let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight.
1 Peter 3:3-4 (NRSV)
4Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ 4But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ‘5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ‘ 7Jesus said to him, ‘again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ‘8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ 10Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ‘ 11Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him
Matthew 4:1-11 (NRSV)
Message: Are you embarrassed to admit you are a Christian? If you are then vanity might be separating you from being used by God to help change lives and transform the way we all interact. You see we all have got bubbles — cultural bubbles, social bubbles. And we all have areas of comfort that we don’t like leaving. Well, it’s time to burst that surface of very colorful thin reflection and get to the truth of what the Father really sees in us. Yes when those boastful bubbles are burst we might just be able expand our reach and impact. A bubble is like our life. It just lasts a moment. The really big life is about going out into a world where the majority of people will disagree with what you are saying and what you believe, where you are not surrounded by people who have the same life views and morals, and they will not care for you and pray for you when things are hard like the church family will. Real life is about going where you know people will reject you. It’s about all of this, and it is about doing it while loving the people who oppose you with everything you have. It’s about loving the people you serve with, loving the people you’re serving and most importantly, loving God. Now that is a team to play on. You cannot do that in a bubble. If you are serving and seeking Him in every decision the bubble has to burst. The problem is that vanity sows wicked anxiety and takes away the peace God desires for us. The problem is we believe in the colorful reflection and not the truth beneath the surface. Friends, inside of us is the Holy Spirit just waiting to come out. It is time we accepted the grace we all need and then share the love of the reality of who we really are.
Pray we not fall into temptation to make ourselves seen better than we really are. Pray we not live for appearances. Pray we experience the gentleness of love in a soap bubble that exists for a time in the tension of world and then pops into forgetfulness taking away our sins as if to another world. Pray we realize that Jesus burst bubbles about who He was and that in doing so begins to open up the mystery of His true identity in a way that engages us in the story. Pray we burst those false images of vanity. Pray we experience grace. Pray we share that light inside the bubble as it pops.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 