But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?” When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” [Mark 2:16-18 (NLT)]
While editing photos, I came to one of a pipevine swallowtail. Seeing it on my computer rather than the camera’s viewfinder, I realized it had seen far better days. Its once beautiful wings were tattered and torn, only one “tail” remained, an antenna was missing, and, with many of its scales gone, its wings were more translucent than iridescent blue. Perhaps it had a close call with a predator, the wind had tossed it around, or it simply was old. In any case, it was damaged goods and no longer beautiful.
We tend to discard broken things, battered items, and damaged goods without giving them a second thought and I was ready to delete the less than perfect butterfly. What if God tossed us away because of our imperfections, scars, and defects? What if He stopped caring for us because we were scratched, broken, dented, or wearing out? Unlike the butterfly, it’s not birds, hail, or blowing twigs that leave us ragged and torn; its things like illness and injury, betrayal, loss, dysfunctional families, abuse, mental illness, broken relationships, addiction, financial crises, and sin. Even though the resulting damage isn’t always visible, we’re marred with pain, shame, regret, rejection, disappointment, disgrace, anger, apathy, loneliness, and fear. No one gets through life without getting a few bumps and bruises along the way and we all are damaged goods. Our scuff marks, scars, and brokenness may not be as obvious as the butterfly’s; nevertheless, they are there.
Jesus came for the less than perfect. Think of the people he loved, touched, healed, welcomed, and forgave. Sinners all, they included hated Samaritans and disparaged Gentiles, pariahs like lepers and the bleeding woman, the blind and crippled, an adulterous woman, some traitorous taxmen, political zealots, people with sordid pasts, the demon-possessed, a repentant thief, a prostitute, the disciple who denied Him, the one who doubted Him, and even the one He knew would betray Him! Jesus didn’t come for the perfect; He came for the defeated, damaged, disheartened, and sinful. While the butterfly’s wings will never heal, Jesus can heal the brokenness in our hearts and souls.
Originally, I hadn’t detected the butterfly’s damaged state because it flitted about so quickly that I barely had time to focus before it flew off to another flower. While it may have been damaged, that pipevine certainly wasn’t defeated. In God’s wisdom, He made butterflies more resilient than they appear. While the loss of an antenna means they have some trouble navigating, the loss of scales changes their aerodynamics, and the loss of much of their wings makes flight slower and more demanding, butterflies can thrive and survive, as that battered pipevine proved! It never allowed its tattered wings to deter it from making the most of the sunny day or the remaining days God allotted it. Instead of hiding under a leaf feeling sorry for itself and complaining about the unfairness of life, it was dancing in the flowers and sipping sweet nectar! Rather than being deleted, it belonged in a butterfly hall of fame.
Now, whenever I come across a damaged butterfly, I’m reminded that God loves all of His beautiful children, imperfect and broken creatures that we are. No matter how flawed, He will never discard us or toss us in the trash heap! God made us even more resilient than a fragile butterfly. Because of His power, we never need surrender to life’s challenges. We may be battered by this world but, because God’s grace is more than sufficient, we can carry on. If tattered wings can carry a battered butterfly through the flowers, we know that God can carry us through anything.
Because the nearby bird sanctuary/swamp gets its water from rainfall, the size of its lakes fluctuates substantially with the seasons. During the dry seasons of winter and spring, the swamp’s lakes gradually recede until the summer rains begin. When this annual dry-down occurs in springtime, the wading birds congregate in the shallow lakes. With the fish having no place to hide the shallow water, it’s as easy as catching fish in a rain barrel for the birds!
Whenever we play Yahtzee, my younger grands blow on the dice to ensure their good luck. Like Yahtzee, life often seems a game of chance where sometimes we’re lucky and sometimes we’re not. Luck, however, has nothing to do with it. For example, King Ahab seemed to have incredibly bad luck when a soldier randomly shot an arrow and accidently hit him right between the joints of his armor. In spite of appearances, however, that wasn’t because of Ahab’s bad luck. Before going into battle, God had pronounced the evil king’s doom through His prophet Micaiah.
In Acts 6, Luke writes about a problem with the Hellenistic Jewish believers. Meaning “to speak Greek” or “to make Greek,” Hellenism describes Jewish assimilation to the Greek language, manners, and culture. The process started in the 4th century BC with Alexander’s conquest of Palestine when Greeks settled into the land and, at the same time, Jews dispersed throughout Greek empire.
When reciting the creeds as a youngster, I wondered why I said we believed in the catholic church when we didn’t go to one. My family didn’t attend the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our priest was married, and our service was in English, so why did we attest faith in the catholic church? It wasn’t until my confirmation class that I clearly understood that the creeds weren’t referring to the Roman Catholic church. Coming from the Greek katholikos (derived from kath holos, meaning “throughout the whole”), catholic simply means universal! The term originates from the first century and the words of Ignatius of Antioch: “Where Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic church.”
Can worship be fun? In various translations, Hebrews 12:28 tells us to worship God with reverence and awe, honor and respect, or deep reverence. No where is there any mention of fun. In fact, except for the somewhat cynical and world-weary words directing us to eat, drink, and be merry in Ecclesiastes 8:15 Scripture uses the word “fun” in a negative way—that of “making fun” of someone. Hagar was sent away after she and Ishmael made fun of Isaac, Delilah accused Sampson of making fun of her with his lies, and the fertile Peninnah made fun of Hannah because of her barrenness. So, if, by “fun,” we mean mere amusement (especially at another’s expense), it doesn’t seem that fun and worship go hand in hand. On the other hand, if by “fun” we mean something deeper than light-hearted entertainment or diversion, perhaps it does.
Devotions of the Heart 