Richly Blessed with Sticks

I have never felt as blessed by a bundle of sticks as I did last Sunday. They were gifted to us, along with a lovely glass vessel to arrange them in, some stones, and several goodies neatly packaged and labeled, by a volunteer at the church we have been attending for about 6 weeks. There were many more to be given out, and the way the bouquets of branches were displayed was picturesque perfection. There were enough for every child’s family to take one home. The gift itself is a devotional for the two weeks leading up to Easter, with all of the necessary items to go along with the family activities. When we got home and unpacked the goodies, I realized how much care had been taken in preparing this blessing for us. It warmed my heart to think of the collecting, shopping, packaging, cutting, printing, counting, labeling, and arranging that went into this precious gift. I don’t know how many hands put these gifts together, it may have been 2, it may have been 20, but for those hands and hearts we are so thankful.

Although decorating with sticks totally speaks my language (you can ask Brad about all of the unwieldy branches he has had to tolerate over the years), I know it was more than the branches that made tears spill over when my family finished exploring the objects, and left our kitchen table. I tried to keep them in, because it’s just weird to be crying over these goodies isn’t it? Maybe it is… but it isn’t so weird to be spilling tears over grace. Grace, an undeserved gift. Being so new to this community, we have contributed very little, and I know this is a big part of why I felt so underserving of the gift, and all the more thankful for it. Coming from the church culture we are accustomed to, this was such a refreshing and sweet gesture. I see regularly, and I’m certainly guilty of it myself, Christians stumbling over one another, seeking out the neediest person they can find to serve. We end up searching for the lost, while a bruised follower is right at our feet, quietly in need. How can we love others well, and truly show the world what the gospel is about, if we aren’t tending well to our brothers and sisters in Christ? We are all broken and in need of people in our lives who reflect the love, compassion, and grace of Jesus. As much as I believe in, and engage in, the Christian mission to tell the world about Jesus, we must also notice and tend to the fellow serving by our side, or we will both tire. We need to remind each other of what this message of grace is, and this gift of sticks was the perfect reminder to me.

Matthew 25:40

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'

Often this verse is used to motivate service to the lost and unreached souls in the world, but if you read carefully, you’ll discover that Jesus is telling us to love our fellow believers. “..the least of these brothers and sisters of mine..” are not simply the weak, poor and marginalized, they are followers of Christ. Of course we should reach out to those that need our love and care, and even more so need the love of Jesus, but we must not lose sight of the tender needs of our “brothers and sisters” right beside us.