Ensign: Where Sharing Is It's Own Reward
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 2 December 2016
A local radio station in my hometown (KHRT, 106.9 FM/1320 AM, www.khrt.com) uses this slogan to promote its annual “Horn of Plenty” program that raises groceries to assemble food baskets for families at Christmas who apply (check that, you can’t apply yourself but you can submit someone’s name to receive such a basket) along with a ministry gift to introduce the Word of God – the Bible – to that family. My minor quibble is with the slogan itself, from today's title.
It’s a minor quibble because, if you remember your English classes, the phrase should NOT have a contraction in it. Expand the contraction (stay with me, this is not cosmology) and this slogan reads “where sharing is it is own reward” ... there should not be an apostrophe. I don’t know if this has been pointed out to the radio station or not, but we often don’t think even when we’re speaking and writing (largely not in school’s “Standard Written English”) whether we’re describing something rather than telling you who or what it is.
The three times the word “Christian” appears in the Bible – in Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28, and 1 Peter 4:16 – it’s always used as a noun. You may remember the boilerplate definition (again, from your English classes) that a noun is a word that refers to a person, a place, a thing, or an idea. Too often, at least I notice this, we hear the word “Christian” in reference to a follower of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as a modifier in the sense of something with (or what someone pictures to be) the overtones Jesus presents.
Christian music, Christian author, or Christian anything is hardly an incorrect term to use, but when the title you and I who are Christians (I know not everyone who reads this is, so bear with me) bear gets tacked onto what we do as an adjective, it loses something. Back to the classroom, an adjective is a word that MODIFIES a noun and answers one or more of three questions: which one, what kind, or how many. This may not come across as a devotional, but it’s something to think about.
Are we nouns or are we adjectives? Do we tack “Christian” onto everything we do, even when what we do is not honoring Jesus Christ as we know Him because we’re just seeking God’s, and by extension the Son of God’s, blessing? We’re called to live a life that entails our seeking God all the time, and if this comes across as finger pointing three fingers point back at me, but we have to not be afraid to stand out for that. The call to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8) doesn’t stop at the end of the day.
Jesus’ parable regarding the Pharisee and the publican in Luke 18:9-14 also comes to mind. Do we put on a good show when we come to God in prayer like the Pharisee and brag about what we’ve done that looks like the good and right stuff to do, MODIFY ourselves? Or are we abasing ourselves before God and asking for mercy because we know we’re sinners and we’re not afraid to STATE that. Adjectives modify; nouns state. When we acknowledge before God who we are and don’t glorify what we do – others can do that – we become the statements, the faithful, the Christians this world needs. And sharing who we are is it’s ... pardon me, ITS own reward.
Sincerely yours,
David
P.S. I write this devotional to keep in touch with you, and I hope it encourages us too! If it's not or you want me to get lost, please let me know. Thank you.
Thank YOU, Lord, that we can come to You in prayer and that we can count on You to provide for all our needs, even when we don't know what they are. And let us come to You in prayer for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence and all over the world.
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 2 December 2016
A local radio station in my hometown (KHRT, 106.9 FM/1320 AM, www.khrt.com) uses this slogan to promote its annual “Horn of Plenty” program that raises groceries to assemble food baskets for families at Christmas who apply (check that, you can’t apply yourself but you can submit someone’s name to receive such a basket) along with a ministry gift to introduce the Word of God – the Bible – to that family. My minor quibble is with the slogan itself, from today's title.
It’s a minor quibble because, if you remember your English classes, the phrase should NOT have a contraction in it. Expand the contraction (stay with me, this is not cosmology) and this slogan reads “where sharing is it is own reward” ... there should not be an apostrophe. I don’t know if this has been pointed out to the radio station or not, but we often don’t think even when we’re speaking and writing (largely not in school’s “Standard Written English”) whether we’re describing something rather than telling you who or what it is.
The three times the word “Christian” appears in the Bible – in Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28, and 1 Peter 4:16 – it’s always used as a noun. You may remember the boilerplate definition (again, from your English classes) that a noun is a word that refers to a person, a place, a thing, or an idea. Too often, at least I notice this, we hear the word “Christian” in reference to a follower of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as a modifier in the sense of something with (or what someone pictures to be) the overtones Jesus presents.
Christian music, Christian author, or Christian anything is hardly an incorrect term to use, but when the title you and I who are Christians (I know not everyone who reads this is, so bear with me) bear gets tacked onto what we do as an adjective, it loses something. Back to the classroom, an adjective is a word that MODIFIES a noun and answers one or more of three questions: which one, what kind, or how many. This may not come across as a devotional, but it’s something to think about.
Are we nouns or are we adjectives? Do we tack “Christian” onto everything we do, even when what we do is not honoring Jesus Christ as we know Him because we’re just seeking God’s, and by extension the Son of God’s, blessing? We’re called to live a life that entails our seeking God all the time, and if this comes across as finger pointing three fingers point back at me, but we have to not be afraid to stand out for that. The call to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8) doesn’t stop at the end of the day.
Jesus’ parable regarding the Pharisee and the publican in Luke 18:9-14 also comes to mind. Do we put on a good show when we come to God in prayer like the Pharisee and brag about what we’ve done that looks like the good and right stuff to do, MODIFY ourselves? Or are we abasing ourselves before God and asking for mercy because we know we’re sinners and we’re not afraid to STATE that. Adjectives modify; nouns state. When we acknowledge before God who we are and don’t glorify what we do – others can do that – we become the statements, the faithful, the Christians this world needs. And sharing who we are is it’s ... pardon me, ITS own reward.
Sincerely yours,
David
P.S. I write this devotional to keep in touch with you, and I hope it encourages us too! If it's not or you want me to get lost, please let me know. Thank you.
Thank YOU, Lord, that we can come to You in prayer and that we can count on You to provide for all our needs, even when we don't know what they are. And let us come to You in prayer for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence and all over the world.
Thank You as well, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life through You by Your Son Our Brother, Jesus Christ.
And I pray that we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.
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