November 2017

I have made it no secret that one of my favorite dishes at our church potlucks is deviled eggs. This treat has always tasted just a tad better when they were made by Janis Durant who must add something no one else does because although others in our church make delicious tasting deviled eggs, hers seemed to taste a little better (at least to me). My mind turned to deviled eggs for two reasons. One is that that November second is deviled egg day and the other reason is that Thanksgiving celebrations are around the corner and a Thanksgiving feast without deviled eggs, in my opinion, is like a three-legged table. As pretty as it may be, it is missing an important part. 

Thinking of Thanksgiving celebrations naturally takes many of our minds to a meal with friends and family where laughter is heard, relationships strengthened, memories made, and where we sometimes catch up with fami-ly we do not see often enough. I was blessed by the fact that Pam’s parents embraced me as their own. Therefore, I came to cherish the memories of Thanksgiving with Pam’s family. Years ago when the kids were small and there was a whole generation of family living of which only one remains now, we could hear the banter of the older gen-eration sisters as they worked in the kitchen preparing the family feast. Later we could hear the banter of the younger generation sisters as they cleaned up. You may have noticed it was two different generations of women doing the cooking and cleaning while no men were involved which leads me to one of my favorite parts which was that as a guy, I just had to show up. Perhaps I would be called upon to give an ear tug or two to one of several children who had gotten overly rambunctious but for the most part it was eat, laugh, and perhaps catch a little tur-key induced nap. However, whatever the volume of all the activities, once food was served, pretty much the only thing heard was the sound silverware makes as it comes into contact with a plate. The biggest compliment one can give a cook is to focus on eating what they have prepared and we all worked hard at complimenting the family cooks. Sometimes, the treat was that a family member had discovered a new way of making a dish and they want-ed to share their discovery with the rest of the family. Sharing something good we have found with others is a nat-ural way of communicating two things; (1) what I found is great and (2) you are important enough to me to share it with. 

​In the fifteenth chapter in the Gospel of Luke, we read three parables that deal with the joy of finding something that was lost and sharing the good news of that discovery with others. A shepherd tells his friends “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost” (Luke 15:6). A woman tells her friends “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.” (Luke 15:9) and a father says in Luke 15:32 “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found”. Good news is naturally shared with others. The Good News is a term given to the gospel of Jesus Christ that is that “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the Lost”. (Luke 19:10) An old church song that is known to many of us includes the words “I once was lost but now am found”. The premise that finding something good is to be shared with those we care about can be extended to include sharing the good news that we are no longer lost. We are no longer lost because we found Jesus Christ and all He offers. Such news naturally is to be shared with those we care about. We at SLCC are called to care about the people who are lost. We know their stories vary but they all have this in common, they are lost because they do not know Jesus Christ. What is natural is that we who are no longer lost because we have been found, share what we have discovered communicating two things: (1) What we have discovered the (Good News of Jesus Christ) is wonderful and (2)we care enough about you to share it with you. The Good News of Jesus Christ is not like Janis’ deviled eggs (something you reluctantly share when there is only a few left). It is something wondrous and eternal that keeps on giving. This month, as we celebrate things that we are thankful for, let us demonstrate our thankfulness for being in Christ by sharing Him with those who do not know Him. Have a wonderful November. 
Vic