Intimacy
was one of those words my family didn’t jump at the chance to talk about. This
was partially a family thing, but also a cultural challenge. Too often intimacy was misunderstood on
television, the movies, or just the basic understanding. Just as last week, we broke down the
understanding of genius, this week it is more an understanding of intimacy. I
am sure when you think of intimacy you think of a story of a man managing
money, right?
Yeah,
right! But this week we examine one of
the toughest parables in Scripture. This
is not just because I want to challenge myself to preach on a parable often
misunderstood, but honestly, it has to do with the depth of our intimate
relationship with God. Jesus continues
to bless us with many things, but unfortunately we often treat them poorly. It is through the depth of our relationship
with Him that we form intimate relationships with the gifts He gives us, and in
turn, learn the depth of His blessing.
This
week Jacob’s godfather arrives in town.
Derek and I became friends during our final year of seminary. He was telling a story about a girl. Soon that became a common theme in our
lives. We shared stories about girls and
the dream of intimacy. These were
stories with white picket fences and kids that ran through the backyard. We never anticipated our stories continuing,
but sure enough, our first calls put us 20 miles apart. In the LA area this meant more of a drive
than it would in St. Louis; but even so, Friday after Friday our lives were
joined together. We began to live and
breathe the depth of ministry, while wondering what God would do next in our
lives. Mindy and I married soon after,
and then little Jacob came along. It was
an easy choice to make Derek Jacob’s godfather, and he carries the title well. He is always one to send birthday cards and
gifts to help prepare for the financial burden of college. The hard part is that Jacob has to learn who
Derek is every time he visits. But the
last time he was here, we made some great memories. Derek and I spent the day with Jacob playing
baseball on a small field. Jacob was just beginning to love baseball, a love
Derek has had for a long time. Jacob was
quick to jump on his lap every morning before Derek truly had a chance to wake
up. The final most intimate moment was
their farewell. Derek went to say
goodnight to Jacob the night before he left. Jacob called for one more hug from
him, and as Derek returned to the living room tears poured down his face. That is intimacy. Derek hadn’t seen Jacob in two years, yet the
memories of his being in the hospital when Jacob was born are certainly
something that Derek treasures. His
relationship with a baby who is now a young boy has grown even though they are
states apart.
We
want to picture intimacy with flowers on beds, champagne bottles, kisses on
doorsteps, and date nights. Yet,
intimacy involves a much deeper definition than moments of romance captured in
time. Intimacy grows in each of our
relationships with our interactions. So
if we were to think about our intimacy with God, with Jesus our Savior, what
does that look like? If Jesus is
described as Love, and if His deepest act of Love—generosity--was to rescue us,
then wouldn’t it make sense that the more we act on love, we act on generosity
as we care and give to others? Then we begin to grow in our intimacy with God,
and realize what Jesus did for us.
As
Jacob grows up and learns to love baseball more than he already does, he will
see something that his godfather is passionate about. He will hear stories about how Uncle Derek
got Jacob’s dad back into baseball. He
will listen to accounts of Uncle Derek playing fantasy baseball with his
dad. Jacob will discover how something
Uncle Derek was passionate about changed his story. Yeah, you heard me right.
I
had no real passion for baseball until Derek got me back into it. Because of that Jacob and Gavin have memory
after memory of going to baseball games with me. It changed Jacob’s story because of Derek’s
intimacy with him. The goal is that God
would do the same for us. The story of
Jesus’ generosity will help us grow in our intimacy with Him. We will see the way He gave and how it
changes our story. And then we can’t
help but become a Genius of Generosity!
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