He walks among us

I went with a group of other American English teachers to shadow an English teacher at a Korean high school today.  The students' reactions were astonishing.  I've never seen anything like it.  While some of them clammed up from nervousness, and a few simply ignored us completely, the majority of them acted as if we were superstars.

Now, you have to understand that South Korea is the most culturally homogenous culture in the world.  Less than 2% of their population is foreign.  Some Koreans can go almost their entire lives without ever seeing someone from another country.  And to see 17 foreigners, all in the same place at the same time, is almost unheard of.  They were screaming, and running up and touching us, and trying to rub off our freckles, and practicing their English with us, and telling us how beautiful or handsome we all were, and giggling and staring and whispering from behind their notebooks, and all sorts of other things that I'm sure the average American would never even think would ever happen to them.

It was all very strange.  But at the same time, however, it was also quite flattering.  In an effort to improve their English curriculum, the South Korean government in recent years has made a strong push to put a native English-speaking teacher in every single school in the entire country - hence why we were all there today.  The students in these schools know that you have come a long way to help them and teach them.  You might be different, you might be strange, but they respect you for that.  They want to spend time with you, and get to know you better, and learn about your ways that are so strange from what they're used to. 

My experience today made me think about how people acted around Jesus when he walked on this Earth.  I get the feeling that the students' reactions today were very similar to some of the reactions that we might have found about Jesus.  Our Bible tells us that he had a small following of the crazy, "Jesus is a rock-star" students.  The twelve disciples didn't always understand Jesus' ways, but they wanted to, and were willing to sacrifice everything to learn.  But I wonder about the other people who interacted with Jesus.  Some followed Him.  Some knew that He was different, but still clammed up and did not approach Him.  And still others ignored Him completely.

A lot of times it's easy to forget, with all of the iPhones and MP3 players and touchscreens and advertisements and clothes and whatever else gets thrown at us, that Jesus still walks among us.  He did not disappear on that cross 2,000 years ago.  I wonder, if Jesus was the American, and I was the Korean student, which student would I be?  Would I be the one who focused on nothing else, whose sole objective was to get close to Jesus and to get to know Him better?  Would I recognize His greatness, but be too frightened and intimidated by it to approach Him?  Would I even notice Him?  It's an important question to ask.  Because the thing is, it's not a hypothetical question.  He really does walk among us.

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

God's recipe for contentment

It's so easy for us to forget how truly blessed we are.  We complain about the weather, our family, the fact that we can't afford all of the nice new things we want.  But we forget that there are people whose lives have been destroyed by the weather, whose families are dead or abusive, or who can't even afford to eat, let alone buy that new iPhone they've been eying. 

We truly are a blessed people.  "But," you say, "you don't know how badly I've got it."  That's true, I do not.  But you're alive and well enough to argue with me, and that right there is a blessing in itself.  I know a woman who is dying of brain cancer, and I've never heard her utter a word of complaint about her situation.  She's always smiling, always joyful, always praising the Lord and asking about your life, how she can help you.

That's the kind of contentment that a life with God should infuse.  I want to be so wrapped up in God, that the stuff of this world fades away....it shouldn't matter if I don't have a fancy car or a nice house, or even if my health is failing.  All that matters is that Jesus loves me, and I love him back.  Everything else is just icing on the cake.

But, on that topic, Jesus certainly does like alot of icing.  Sometimes, as my departure date for Korea marches steadily closer, I lament my acceptance of the scholarship, wishing I didn't have to go.  And then I slap myself, reminding myself what an incredible opportunity God has blessed me with.  Other times, like this week, which I've been spending visiting my grandparents in New York, my family annoys me to know end, and I find myself counting down the time until I can get away from them.  And then God gently chides me, reminding me of how blessed I am, in a world of abusive, neglectful, and broken families, to have one that loves me and helps me and provides for me.  They put up with all of my flaws...the least I can do is do the same for them! :)

Don't spend your life wondering what the grass is like on the other side, trying to keep up with the Jones, or wishing away this period of your life so that you can move on to the next one.  Every season has its ups and downs, and there is a time for everything.  Count your blessings, and learn to be content in the knowledge that the Creator of the universe loves you and IS looking out for you, even if it doesn't look like it.

John 1:16

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

Romans 15:29

I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.

Proverbs 10:22

The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.

1 Peter 3:9

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

Potential

I had a conversation today with a remarkable young man.  Five years ago, doctors found a brain tumor in his head.  They operated on him to remove the mass, but after the surgery he slipped into a coma for several months.  Long story short, after a long long struggle and many years, he lived to stand before me today.  But there was one part of his incredible testimony that just about knocked the breath out of me.  "I found Jesus because of that surgery," he said.  "I would never change a thing of that period of my life, and if going through it again could bring me more of Jesus, I would do it all again in a heartbeat."

We are all full of all sorts of potential.  No matter what our talents, gifts, abilities, or passions, I firmly believe that God has blessed every single person on this planet with the potential to be spectacular, the potential to make an eternal difference in God's kingdom.  But potential is not the same as achievement.  How many people do you know in your life who had such great potential, such wonderful opportunities, and they've done nothing with them?  I know more than my fair share.  Similarly, how many people do you know whom you would have never expected to do anything with their life, and by God's grace they have succeeded above and beyond anyone's expectations?

God is the developer of our potential.  He is the One who knows us best - our weaknesses, strengths, opportunities and failures.  And He is the only One who can make something of everything that we are - weaknesses and failures included.  My friend has every reason to be angry at God and bitter at the world.  I can't imagine going what he's gone through.  But instead of running from God, he ran to Him, the Author and Perfector of his faith.  And God has made more out of him than he could ever have been by himself.  I pray that someday I can have a faith like his.  Let God develop your potential.  He's the only One who can make your life beautiful - even the ashes.

John 1:35-42

³⁵ The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”  They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
   So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.  Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).