Here I raise my Ebenezers

Preparing to go horseback riding

Lizzy on Haley; Ada on Bud Lite; Maddie on Jackson…and me, on Jelly Biscuit.

Caleb has been a bit more of a reluctant Harry Potter fan than some of the rest of us (it’s a good thing my love for him is unconditional—Caleb, that is). I just finished reading him The Prisoner of Azkaban.

Sitting around a leisurely summer breakfast/lunch/munchie one day with the kids, I commented, “You know, I wanted to name one of you Hermione, but Dad wouldn’t have it.” 

Even Lizzy appreciated her father’s judgement. 

Jason also ixnayed Anastasia and Ebenezer.

I don’t remember what inspired Anastasia, maybe the Disney movie; but I do remember my argument for Ebenezer.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;

Hither by Thy help I’m come;

And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,

Safely to arrive at home.

An ebenezer was a big stone raised as a monument to a time when God specially met with and helped His people. The Israelites set them up occasionally so they would remember the help God gave them in that place and to inspire their children to ask what it was for.

Is it entirely fair that we use “Scrooge” as an epithet? At the end, thanks to the ghosts, Ebenezer Scrooge remembers ever after to keep Christmas as he should, thereby living up to his first name. 

An exciting announcement!

Fair or not, my children recoiled when I told them I wanted to name them Ebenezer (just the boys, it’s not like I was going to name them all Ebenezer)—probably thanks to Scrooge’s infamously iniquitous early life.

But joke’s on them. Whether I call them that or no, they all are Ebenezers. 

Each of them is a monument to God’s faithfulness to me. He has given me four children. And He has been faithful to them too, giving them living and growing faith. My children are like living stones, reminding me of His great grace to us. They are Ebenezers all.

* Robert Robinson, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”

Glory and beauty

You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty…And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen…You shall make a breastpiece…You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row…They shall be set in gold filigree.

Exodus 28:2, 6, 15, 17, 20

God told Moses to make fancy clothes for Aaron the high priest, “for glory and for beauty.” 

Holy drip, one might say.

It was literally made with woven gold and other regal stuff, including a breastpiece covered with gemstones.

It doesn’t sound like it was machine washable.

Can you imagine the pressure? Ok, so we got this new outfit. It took some collecting among the people to pull together enough gold and jewels and meticulously dyed cloth.

Aaron, do not eat spaghetti in this shirt.

But God’s instructions go on in the next chapter:

Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

Ex 29:21

Aaron didn’t once get to minister in front of people with his fancy shiny clothes before they got stained with blood and anointing oil (and grease stains never come out).

And that was kind of the point. Just when Aaron was getting proud of his new look (Oh yeah, who’s the high priest? I’m the high priest!), God covered him in blood. The “glory and beauty” wasn’t complete without the blood of the innocent one. Those garments were never meant to stay shiny and clean; they were a palette for the blood of the sacrifice, pointing to the blood of the Sacrifice to come.

All to say, God cares more about His gospel preached and shown than physically spotless shiny stuff. Which is really good news for all my earthly possessions. Because family life is full of opportunity to make Christ known and show the love that covers a multitude of sins; and if the crumbs and stains and what-even-IS-this detritus that cover a multitude of surfaces are the price to pay for knowing Christ and making Him known, then they too are for glory and beauty indeed.

But

 

There is a time for butt jokes, and a time not for butt jokes.

~ Jeddy Miller

A few weeks ago our pastor preached on Jesus’ farewell discourse from John 16 and the hope to be found in verse 33:

“And it’s captured in that strong adversative: in the Greek it’s αλλα [allá]. It’s translated in verse 33 as……..BUT.

Αλλα…..BUT. 

And what a great conjunction it is. How much of our heart and soul is wrapped up in that little conjunction?…How many times has that little word kept our hearts from despair?”

I kept a straight face by avoiding eye contact with Jeddy, who was determinedly staring straight ahead next to me my exemplary and holy maturity.

Pastor went on to quote verse after verse in which, temptation to snicker notwithstanding, that little word “one-T-but” captures a Christian’s entire hope.

Genesis 50: 

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.

Psalm 49:

Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell. But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol.

Psalm 73:

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Acts 10:

They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree, but God raised Him on the third day.

Romans 5:

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 2:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

Jeddy wearing his new hat still in the wrapper. If she marries him, her face is gonna freeze that way.

The chefs of Italiano night

And in this case, John 16:33:

In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

Butts are for sitting, and in proper context, laughing about. 

But buts in Scripture are for hope and glory, for courage and salvation.

Αλλα…..but. 

Praise God for the biblical but.