Some time ago, I re-read the story of the Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams to my two youngest daughters. They are older now, but it sure brought back memories. It is a great story about a stuffed animal rabbit that wants so desperately to become real. 

Here’s just a short snippet:

“Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’

‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit. 

‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’ 

‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’ 

‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” 

Let us pray: Loving God, we want to be real – to the people around us. We want to be loved deeply. Smooth our sharp edges and give us the courage to risk being hurt. Help us to give deeply of ourselves and to love others with all we have. And in that process may we experience love and grace abundant. Amen.

In the early 1900s, The Times of London sent an inquiry to a number of writers asking the question, “What’s wrong with the world today?” The Christian apologist G.K. Chesterton was among them, and his response was profound. It read in part: “In one sense, and that the eternal sense, the thing is plain. The answer to the question ‘What is wrong?’ is, or should be, ‘I am wrong.’ Until a man can give that answer his idealism is only a hobby.”

Often we are too quick to place blame on others. Often we look for a scapegoat. But the Gospel makes it clear that change has to begin on a personal level. It has to begin within. And it has to begin with us.  

Jesus once said, “Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye?  (Matthew 7:3). This is ever a reminder to me, whenever I find myself judging or blaming others, to reflect first on my own life, my own heart, my own attitudes, and my own selfishness. If I can just work on myself, that is enough for the day.

Let us pray: We thank you, O God, for loving us just as we are right here, right now. And thank you for loving us so much that you ever invite us to grow and change. We pray for healing in our own lives and hearts, that we would be channels of your love and grace. We long for your peace. May that peace begin with us. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Norman Vincent Peale once told of a cruise he was on that had to skirt a hurricane. After the imminent danger had passed, he had a conversation with the Captain. The Captain related that he had always lived by a simple philosophy: If the sea is smooth, it will get rough; and if it is rough, it will get smooth.” Then he added, “But with a good ship, you can always ride it out.”

The Captain’s philosophy reminds me of something my grandmother always said. When confronted with the latest problems, concerns, or worries, she would regularly remind us all, “This too shall pass.” She lived to be 97 and indeed saw much in life come and go. As they say, change is the only constant. 

In our own lifetimes, change is happening rapidly, some of it good, and some of it really difficult. We all face times of failure, heartbreak, sickness, or uncertainty. We also enjoy great blessings and beauty. 

It is the second part of the Captain’s philosophy that hits home with me. It raises the question: What is it that will carry me through the sometimes tumultuous journey of life? Am I building a solid ship – a ship that is well-formed by prayer and service to others; a ship that is undergirded with support from friends, family, and a faith community? Because the Captain was right, wasn’t he? A good ship can make all the difference.

Let us pray: Loving God, I pray today, especially for people who are in the midst of stormy seas; for those who are afraid and uncertain, for those who are feeling depressed or unloved; for those who have come to believe that this storm is all there is. I ask that you would give them courage and strength. Help them to see beyond the day, beyond the darkness. Help them to trust that your hand is at work even now to deliver and rescue. For each of us this day, strengthen and reinforce our faith which is our ship. Amen. 

In his autobiography, Breaking Barriers, syndicated columnist Carl Rowan tells about a teacher who greatly influenced his life. Rowan wrote: Miss Thompson reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a piece of paper containing a quote attributed to Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. I listened intently as she read: “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans, aim high in hope, and work.” More than 30 years later, I gave a speech in which I said that Frances Thompson had given me a desperately needed belief in myself. A newspaper printed the story, and someone mailed the clipping to my beloved teacher. She wrote me: “You have no idea what that newspaper story meant to me. For years, I endured my brother’s arguments that I had wasted my life. That I should have married and had a family. When I read that you gave me credit for helping to launch a marvelous career, I put the clipping in front of my brother. After he’d read it, I said, ‘You see, I didn’t really waste my life, did I?'”

It is important to know that we are appreciated and that our efforts matter. It is good for the soul to hear words of thanks from someone whose lives we touched. How beautiful would it be if we all made a habit of regularly reaching out to those who have made a difference in our lives or who have served us, to express our earnest thanksgiving?

On many occasions, the Apostle Paul wrote, “I give thanks to God for you…” (Check out Philippians 1:3; 4:6; 1 Timothy 1:3; Ephesians 1:16, 1 Corinthians 1:4, etc, etc.). Paul seems to have made this a habit. It is a habit, I want to adopt.

Let us pray: Thank you, O God, for those people who have touched our lives and for those who have served us sacrificially. Show us how we might be a blessing to them on this day. Amen.

Many years ago, we had two foster daughters come live with our family. They were sisters ages four and six. They came from a really rough neighborhood – a really rough family situation. But I remember one day driving down the road – coming home from school. Lili, the youngest starts to sing this song we’d sung in church… “Open the eyes to my heart Lord. Open the eyes to my heart. I want to see you.” I can still see her sitting in the backseat – in my rearview mirror. She had this huge smile on her face and singing in full voice. And I found myself praying with her… Please Lord, if anybody needs to see you… if anybody needs to know you… She does…

Not long after that, the sisters went back to live with their mom. And, I’ve lost touch with them over the years. But I am just so thankful for my church family that helped plant that seed of faith. God knows she’s going to need it. 

Yesterday we reflected on the promise from Isaiah where God promises: My word will not return empty (Isaiah 55:10-13). 

And I do believe it. Not always when I’d like, or even how I’d like. But I can tell you there have been plenty of times people have said after a Sunday message, Pastor your message really touched me… it felt like you were speaking right to me. But, when they tell me what I said, I didn’t say it. It wasn’t part of my message. Surely the Holy Spirit is at work beyond us… 

And we can apply that to ministry in general. I think about Vacation Bible School or many of the other ministries our church participates in. We don’t often get to see the results of our work. We can’t possibly know the bigger picture.

But God promises, my word will not return empty.

The same is true with the mainline churches that are growing older… We lament: there are fewer and fewer children coming. But again, I do fully trust that the Spirit is at work beyond us, that the seeds of faith that we planted, will make a difference. And however the church looks in the future, there will always be people who are longing for nourishment, longing for salvation, longing to come home to God. 

My prayer for you today, is as it was yesterday: that you would come to see that whenever you share God’s word with others, however you might do it, a seed is planted… and you’ve done your part… For it is God who brings the rain. It is God who knows the seasons of the heart… And it is God who brings the seed to harvest.

Let us pray: Gracious God, as we receive your word, so may we be nourished. As we are nourished, may we in turn nourish others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.