Feast2
Tree
of Life Lessons
Level
1
FEAST
2
"Lord, be with the ministers of Thy table, who
serve to Thy children the Feast of the Flesh and Blood of Christ Jesus, that all
may become, not merely like unto Him, but actually a part of His Living Body
here and now!"
"Let us not fatten up Thy congregation unto
complacency with the misguided fare of self-indulgence, or pseudo-spiritual
food, but let us give them of Thy true nourishment, which worketh unto wholeness
and perfection of junction, that they may better perform Thy Mission in vigor
and strength."
Jesus said to Peter: "Feed my sheep." He
did not mean fed their self-satisfaction as churchgoers with the spiritual candy
of flattery. Neither did He mean to get them so bogged down with their own
fatness of self-importance that they became valueless as Christ's servants.
Let us rather give them the real nourishment of
Truth, and feed their hunger with "wholiness" and the seed of health
-- curing their indifference with the vitality of involvement in Christ. Let them be nourished with
His Love, His Grace, and His Word.
Let not our spiritual service become a
"habit" of schedule and form -- to make an appearance for appearances'
sake and always there on time. Neither do this just to greedily gulp down any
religious fare in sight just because it is there and we enjoy it.
True -- new students are as little children and
"have to" come to the table every time and partake under discipline.
But let their servant at that table -- their teacher or priest -- make sure the
food served is not mere warmed-over scraps, or sizzling with spice. Let them
serve that healthful food that will bring forth their perfectness -- giving them
balance as their part in Christ.
Do you ministers stuff your congregation with the
pastries of platitudes and the hors d'oeuvres of intellectuality? These are all
right for embellishing the meal, but God's Truth is the real meat. His
instructions are the vegetables, which are always for your benefit.
If you follow after these things, the fruits of
attainment cannot be far off; for all sustained and faithful effort must be
rewarded. He who endures to the end shall inherit a crown.
Do you admonish them with great flourishes of
dramatic speech because it is expected of a minister, while secretly chuckling
with delight at the great show you are putting on for their benefit -- playing
the "heavy"? After the sermon is over, they will shake your hand and
compliment you on a bang-up speech; but
do they change? Or, have they witnessed a good show -- breaking up the
weekly routine?
Or worse, do you still hurl fire and brimstone upon
them -- threaded with fear and damnation -- to the point of driving them forth
from what should have been God's house -- not yours -- into the street, hopeless
at the fate in store, with no place left to turn -- not even the assurance of a
loving God?
The only alternative to hell offered to them in cases
like this is to align themselves with the hell-and-damnation shouters - a fate
which hardly seems the lesser of two evils. They would rather take their chances
on living now, and to gamble that day of accounting at the end of the road far
distant. By the time they arrive there, they will have thought out an answer, or
a way out.
There is a way out without the gamble. This is up to
you to teach. They do not have to condemn everyone to death or join those who
do. They can live and follow the Christ. They can become One with Him and live
as He lived -- loving, giving, and doing. His joy was full in God. He knew God
loved Him, and He loved in return. In loving God, He also loved His fellow man
and acted thereupon.
His sharp speech was to those who taunted and tried
to trap Him -- who would not listen to the Truth. He did not go about
indiscriminately threatening people.
Let us, as true ministers, invite them to the true
Feast -- the Lamb of God which was slain for us. The Marriage Feast is even now
being prepared.
IT
ALL BELONGS TO HIM
As
each event or person comes along --
Unbidden
-- see it not as bleak or wrong,
Or
fraught with weed or thorn.
Let
not the burn of critic, nor the blast
Of
cold, hard doubt to wither Good Unborn,
Hid
like a Seed therein, by God's own Hand.
But
seize each happening, and make it blessings yield!
Proclaim
potential Good, and dedicate the field.
Acknowledge
but the Best, and cultivate its Root,
Hovering
over it with Love, lest others blight.
Give
full attention to the unseen Light;
That
God may reap His Spirit's fruit.
In
this which He designed. This is your chance.
Less
evidence brings greater exercise of faith.
Rejoice
and welcome opportunities to "dance";
To
co-create with Him, through care
In
thought and work -- Divine Results to share.
