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WHAT ARE YOU KEEPING?
Chaplain Michael Mann
Luke 2:19, 51
Whether we realize it or not embedded in this yearly ritual are decisions about the past that flavor everything in the future. Decisions about what to keep. We often make these determinations unaware but how we move into the future will be either advanced or hindered by what we keep.
While reading the Christmas accounts last month, two verses about “what we keep” caught my attention. After the shepherds reported what the angels told them, while everyone else was amazed, “…Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
Moving ahead 12 years Luke 2 records the story of an annual trip to Jerusalem by Jesus’ parents. When the time came to go back home, unknown to his parents, Jesus stayed in Jerusalem. Thinking He was with other family members they didn’t look for Him until the end of the first day. Not finding Jesus, Joseph and Mary returned immediately to Jerusalem. Only a parent who has had a child go missing, even briefly, understands the gut wrenching turmoil such times cause. When one of our sons was young he went missing. In the first few minutes you think, “I’ve just missed him…He’ll turn up.” As the minutes turn to 30…then 60…your stomach goes to knots, a lump forms in your throat, your mind races as you try desperately to resist thoughts of the worst and you start looking every place you can think of and some places you never would. After a few hours you’re pretty much a basket case so, when His parents found Jesus in the temple, Mary’s outburst was predictable. “Your father and I have been half out of our minds looking for You!” Jesus replied (apparently calmly respectful)…“Why? Didn’t you realize this is where I had to be and what I had to be doing?” “They did not understand but…Mary kept all these things in her heart.”
As we enter this New Year…What are you keeping? What are you taking into 2010?
What we keep says a lot about us…here’s three thoughts.
It defines our priorities. Some translations say that Mary “treasured” these things. Think about what you treasure and keep. That painting or drawing by your child or grandparent… That chipped china that’s been handed down for generations… That commendation you received or award you won… That memory, tradition, thought, attitude… What’s so important about them? They’re important because of the value we place on them and what we value…what we keep, by definition, shows our priorities.
What we keep requires resources. Whether it’s tangible or intangible, what we keep has to be…kept-up. It has to be maintained. And any maintenance means resources… money, strength, energy, time.
Since I’m reasonably sure none of us is God each of us is limited in the resources we have at any point in time. The resources we devote to keep one thing by necessity mean fewer resources available for everything else we are keeping.
What’s it costing you to keep that thing? What resources is it requiring? How much money or time are you spending to keep it?
What we keep can “crowd” us. Jesus told a story of a farmer who planted seeds that fell on four different types of soil. One soil was so hard packed that no seed could penetrate it and, consequently, the seed was “stolen.” Another was so shallow that young plants could form no root and, so, died in the sun’s heat. The final soil was rich, deep and fertile and produced a bountiful harvest.
But it’s the third soil that has my attention…Mark 4:7 says, “Other seed fell among thorns which grew up and choked the plants, so that they bore no fruit.” Unlike the other three (hard, shallow & rich) there’s no specific description of this soil. Apparently, based on the fact that weeds and thorns grew, it was good soil.
But it produced nothing because, “overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get, the stress strangles what they heard.” (v 19)
If kept in proper perspective, the thorns…what they represent…are not evil in and of themselves. For the most part they represent life on this planet… “things they have to do,” “all the things they want to get.” None of those is wrong… but problems can occur if they get out of perspecitive and we allow them to distract and consume us. When that happens… the seed…that new thing that God wants to do in us and for us…gets crowded out. (That’s one of the meanings of “choked.”) We don’t kill God in our lives… we just displace Him.
We each have a certain amount of room in our lives… if our lives are too crowded by things we keep there is no room for anything new God wants to bring us.
I find it significant that nowhere does Jesus imply this individual “goes to hell.” What this does say is when we try to keep too much… we become unfruitful… unproductive… ineffective… non-impactful.
What are you keeping? Is it something that should not be kept?
Father, show me… Give me eyes to see… The things I need to keep That I may live the life You desire… A good life, A fruitful life, A life full of Your grace and peace… In Jesus’ Name. Amen
More on all this keeping stuff next time. Blessings , MM PS…After several heart pounding hours we found our son exactly where he was supposed to be – happy and unharmed.
By now I suppose most of us have gone through the process of looking back over the past year.
Maybe you’ve figured out where the time went,
or gained the perspective we each try to find at such times; and,
now look toward the upcoming year with ideas of what you might like to see accomplished, and
what new tasks you want to undertake.
Whether we realize it or not embedded in this yearly ritual are decisions about the past that flavor everything in the future. Decisions about what to keep. We often make these determinations unaware but how we move into the future will be either advanced or hindered by what we keep.
While reading the Christmas accounts last month, two verses about “what we keep” caught my attention. After the shepherds reported what the angels told them, while everyone else was amazed, “…Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
Moving ahead 12 years Luke 2 records the story of an annual trip to Jerusalem by Jesus’ parents. When the time came to go back home, unknown to his parents, Jesus stayed in Jerusalem. Thinking He was with other family members they didn’t look for Him until the end of the first day. Not finding Jesus, Joseph and Mary returned immediately to Jerusalem. Only a parent who has had a child go missing, even briefly, understands the gut wrenching turmoil such times cause. When one of our sons was young he went missing. In the first few minutes you think, “I’ve just missed him…He’ll turn up.” As the minutes turn to 30…then 60…your stomach goes to knots, a lump forms in your throat, your mind races as you try desperately to resist thoughts of the worst and you start looking every place you can think of and some places you never would. After a few hours you’re pretty much a basket case so, when His parents found Jesus in the temple, Mary’s outburst was predictable. “Your father and I have been half out of our minds looking for You!” Jesus replied (apparently calmly respectful)…“Why? Didn’t you realize this is where I had to be and what I had to be doing?” “They did not understand but…Mary kept all these things in her heart.”
As we enter this New Year…What are you keeping? What are you taking into 2010?
What we keep says a lot about us…here’s three thoughts.
It defines our priorities. Some translations say that Mary “treasured” these things. Think about what you treasure and keep. That painting or drawing by your child or grandparent… That chipped china that’s been handed down for generations… That commendation you received or award you won… That memory, tradition, thought, attitude… What’s so important about them? They’re important because of the value we place on them and what we value…what we keep, by definition, shows our priorities.
What we keep requires resources. Whether it’s tangible or intangible, what we keep has to be…kept-up. It has to be maintained. And any maintenance means resources… money, strength, energy, time.
Since I’m reasonably sure none of us is God each of us is limited in the resources we have at any point in time. The resources we devote to keep one thing by necessity mean fewer resources available for everything else we are keeping.
What’s it costing you to keep that thing? What resources is it requiring? How much money or time are you spending to keep it?
What we keep can “crowd” us. Jesus told a story of a farmer who planted seeds that fell on four different types of soil. One soil was so hard packed that no seed could penetrate it and, consequently, the seed was “stolen.” Another was so shallow that young plants could form no root and, so, died in the sun’s heat. The final soil was rich, deep and fertile and produced a bountiful harvest.
But it’s the third soil that has my attention…Mark 4:7 says, “Other seed fell among thorns which grew up and choked the plants, so that they bore no fruit.” Unlike the other three (hard, shallow & rich) there’s no specific description of this soil. Apparently, based on the fact that weeds and thorns grew, it was good soil.
But it produced nothing because, “overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get, the stress strangles what they heard.” (v 19)
If kept in proper perspective, the thorns…what they represent…are not evil in and of themselves. For the most part they represent life on this planet… “things they have to do,” “all the things they want to get.” None of those is wrong… but problems can occur if they get out of perspecitive and we allow them to distract and consume us. When that happens… the seed…that new thing that God wants to do in us and for us…gets crowded out. (That’s one of the meanings of “choked.”) We don’t kill God in our lives… we just displace Him.
We each have a certain amount of room in our lives… if our lives are too crowded by things we keep there is no room for anything new God wants to bring us.
I find it significant that nowhere does Jesus imply this individual “goes to hell.” What this does say is when we try to keep too much… we become unfruitful… unproductive… ineffective… non-impactful.
What are you keeping? Is it something that should not be kept?
Father, show me… Give me eyes to see… The things I need to keep That I may live the life You desire… A good life, A fruitful life, A life full of Your grace and peace… In Jesus’ Name. Amen
More on all this keeping stuff next time. Blessings , MM PS…After several heart pounding hours we found our son exactly where he was supposed to be – happy and unharmed.
Comments & questions: mike.mann@prccompassion.net