Shasta Lamb Park & Westgate Lambding

Wednesday nights over the levy and Thursday nights overlooking the lake always seem to feature brokenness and restoration.  Christ tears apart the fragmentedness of hearts, yet passionately mends them all together within a few hours of love, support, prayer, worship, and beauty.  I am reminded that the sacrifical lamb wasn't easily, or painlessly, executed, but died an excrucriatlingly uncomfortable death fraught with asphyxiation and toppled with loneliness.  Campers, staff, families become enveloped with this picture and come face-to-face with the face of Jesus and are introduced/reminded of the torture he endured.  But, within the same hour, just as Christ was relieved from the sting of death, we see the celebratory tears of victory, acceptedness, and belief fill our eyes.  During that Response Time, or by the end of the week, we see ourselves and others "Yield[ing] to His victory" with honesty, coming clean, coming as they are, and throwing themselves on Jesus (23). 

Chapter One reminded me of the amazing humility of Christ-particulary, the following quote.  "Sin is the universal addiction to self that develops when individuals put themselves in the centre of their personal world in a way that leads to abuse of others and self" (15).  Teaching has provided me with the opportunity to be the most non-humble and impatient person I have ever known.  I have seen myself act and say things to the students I teach, coworkers, or my roommates that fail to reflect the humility of Christ, but instead reflect the "importance" of myself.  DJ reminds us that Christ could have alleviated himself from the situation He was in, but in humility remained silent, allowed himself to be lashed, verbally and physically, without retaliation, and forced no judgment or requirement of acceptance from anyone He encountered.

As a teacher but more importantly a follower, I am reminded to 1) count others better than myself, 2) draw all attention away from me and give it all to Christ, and 3) do everything without complaining or arguing.  But, then again, as a Sonshine staff, I am called to do 1,2, and 3.  As a follower, I am called to 1, 2, and 3.  It seems that in everything I do, or we do, we are called to act in humility of Spirit, remembering Christ as that sacrificial lamb who was given up at the altar as he conquered and broke the back of evil, suffered, delivered us from slavery, made the way for the Kingdom by bearing the world's infection into the wilderness, sealed the everlasting covenant, and fulfills all the promises we read about in the OT.  What am I doing to sacrifice, conquer in the name of Christ, suffer, deliver others from slavery by sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, showing others the loving heart of Christ that bears and infects himself with our infections, acting in response to the covenant, and fulfilling the decrees of the Sermon on the Mount-loving God and loving others? 

I need to give it all up to Christ, metaphorically and literally, while sacrificing my comfort and well-being for the comfort, well-being, and service of the students I teach, the people I work with, the rest of the Admin, Driver, Trainee, and Barnabas teams. I guess that looks like everything the world would expect it to NOT look like... unconditional, sacrifical love that is only capable of doing such things in the name of Jesus Christ.  I want others to follow me as I follow Christ, learn from me as I learn from Christ, and recognize the love in me as I am daily encapsulated by the love of Christ.