I’m teaching piano to the grandkids. Last week, I gave one an assignment to practice. We worked on it, and he was ready. Today, he came to the piano, sat down. Looked at the music. Looked at the keyboard and said, “Am I supposed to press the keys?” This doesn’t bode well.
If your theology requires that you be served, whether at home or anywhere else, it isn’t of Christ. He didn’t come to be served, but to serve. He calls us to imitate him specifically in that area. It isn’t about authority and power. It’s about service and love. Put on the apron. Quit subjecting others to your whims.
The occupation of mocking others for being “stupid” is not something I can get behind. I used to join in easily, but then I was convicted. People make mistakes. People have different gifts. People sometimes don’t see what others see as obvious. Calling another “stupid” merely exposes one’s own pride and desperation.
Rahab’s father, mother and entire family were brought into her house, under her “umbrella of protection” and were saved because of her faith. God delights in turning the norms of a patriarchal society on its head. This merits some mulling over. He didn’t tell her to go to her father’s house. He told her father to go to her house.
The scripture teaches that riches and poverty do not come by chance, but by the hand of our heavenly Father. We have no idea what drives some into poverty while some prosper. Riches are a matter of “dumb luck” more often than not. Can we honestly say that the world’s richest people are smarter and harder working than others? Or were they rather “at the right place at the right time”.
I don’t say this out of envy, for I have no desire to be wealthy. It is not my goal. I say this so that we will stop considering wealth as the measure of a person. Success on earth and success with God are entirely different things.
Because, as I said, God delights in turning the norms of the patriarchy upside down. He delights in those who fear him, not those who know how to squeeze a buck or make fortunes. Will he who made the gold and diamonds be impressed with the one who knows how to collect them?
The album “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” has many delights and deserves it’s place as one of the greatest. I am awestruck every time I hear “I’ve Seen That Movie Too.”
Be thankful in prosperity and don’t forget to share. Be patient in adversity and don’t forget to rejoice that your name is written in heaven. And for what is future, have good confidence in your heavenly father, that nothing can remove you from his almighty hand.
My Only Comfort 
My mother had a high school friend. She had a 16 yr old daughter. They didn’t live near us and we saw them a couple times a year. The daughter Nancy was obsessed with Elton John. I had no idea who he was because I was probably under 12. But wow let me tell you Nancy played that music loud on one of those huge consoles. And her mother was a crockety old hag in my opinion and did not shut up about how she hated Elton John. So every single time I hear an Elton John song I’m brought right back to that house and the never ending battle between Aunty Thelma and her daughter Nancy. I could never figure them out. Because if I acted like Nancy toward my mother I would have been dead. Anyhow, I liked Elton John then and to this day all his songs give me the warm fuzzies.
I learned how to play hymns by studying Elton’s use of chording. I told a church lady that once and her head almost exploded.
She backed away slowly and I never saw her again. It was sad.
Wow! That’s almost as off-putting as telling a Baptist that when you scramble the letters in “Presbyterians” it spells “Britney Spears”! 😂
Great post! And not just for the Elton John references.
😂
Pastor I always love your music references and how you weave them into your posts :-).