Category Archives: Day At A Time God-stories

With Him

Day At A Time God-stories

My friend is a bookbinder. We lived across our village from Georgio and his family. I met him at our Fratelli (that means brethren) Church; but, he knew everyone and I would have met him eventually, even if he didn’t show up at our men’s Bible study. Georgio is truly one-of-a-kind.

The first time he invited me into his basement shop, I was spellbound by the smells, the multicolored and textured leathers, the different stages each project had reached at his hand, and the finished product. A book easily discarded or shoved away from use or view, was now both useful and a work of art.

I visited him in his basement shop on the rocky ledge overhang of the Angrogna River in our village when I could. But not often enough. Because if I spent time with him, I could have learned to bind books. That’s how you become a bookbinder. Spend time with a bookbinder.

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus called disciples to join him on a mountainside; and he called them to “be with him.” Read Mark 3:13-19 and, as you read each verse, think through the who, what, when, where, and how of this passage. Consider how important it is that they were “with him.” They spent time with Jesus and he invested his life in them.

How important is your choice of people to hang out with, or for that matter, who’s art, writing, movies, music, and lyrics you will “be with?”

And for the Jesus-followers, how valuable is your time invested in one other person’s life. Time spent praying, encouraging, studying, being real and honest – in one person’s life at a time. Just being with him or with her. That is the call of the disciple-maker.

Each person is valuable and, though we get beat up and scarred, and our days (read: “pages”) don’t always hold together well, people are worth the investment. We disciple when we work with one person and bring them back to life, with a purpose, and for the beauty of how God has made that person. The work of art can then reflect and give applause to the Creator. That’s the goal of discipleship.

I might be a bookbinder right now if, in my friendship with Georgio, I was “with him” more and with a goal to learn and grow into a bookbinder. And I would have enjoyed a deeper friendship with a great guy who, last time I visited, has become quite the Christ-follower. He found out more about Jesus and what happens with we are “with him.”

Tough Crowd

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Preachers and worship leaders can read a room, so I’m informed. We stand before the crowd and can tell if they are tracking with us, indifferent, or just don’t like us (not that the third option ever happens in church!) Jesus was invited to a Pharisee’s house (read Luke 14) and the place was filled with an audience not-so-favorable toward him or the message of the Kingdom. My guess would be to not expect much from a dinner party crowd like this (maybe like going to a Hillary rally wearing a Feel the Bern tee.)

Jesus turned the Sunday dinner soiree into a masterful time of teaching – about not living for crowd approval (he was experienced with this,) about humility and the urge to seek honor from others (don’t take the box seat unless it’s offered), and about lifting up those who can’t improve one’s status or power (toss the pre-approved invitation list and bring in the hurting, blind and invisible.)

And, he healed a man with a visible case of renal failure (his arms and legs were swollen with fluid.) Jesus noted the man’s illness and asked the crowd if he should heal him, even though it was the Sabbath. (I’m sure the host was asking, “who let this guy in? Next time, screen for dropsy!”)

Of course, the crowd of Pharisees refused to answer – and of course, Jesus healed him.

But the next exchange is what grabs me. Jesus addresses the room and  asked, “Who here doesn’t do some kind of work on Sunday? Fix a tire? Empty the trash? Rescue a cow? Really?”  Silence from the room. (Cue the crickets.) And they couldn’t answer.

Not “refused” or “chose not” to answer. They couldn’t. Their world view simply would not give space for a reasonable answer. They were so entitled to their Sabbath day, that they couldn’t answer. The rules that governed their Sabbath ruled out their ability to speak aloud what was true and made sense. That God desired healing on their holy-day couldn’t penetrate their dogma … or their faith.

What we’ve experienced, good and bad, and what we’ve clung to that seems culturally acceptable might be exactly what stops us from believing … and being healed.

Comedians can read an audience, too. I read that some entertainers choose to beg off shows at colleges – they say it’s too dangerous. What they say is each word is always under scrutiny. And being recorded.

What a shame that dogma of the culture has the power to stop the healing and, today, might stop the laughter. And everyone needs a good laugh.