VBS and the Puzzle with a Missing Piece
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
- Jesus (Matthew 7:7-8)
Friends,
If you have been anywhere near the church this week, then you have heard and seen that it is Vacation Bible School week. The theme this year is "Gotta Move" and sometimes it feels like the building might be in motion with all the energy and excitement of the participants. Hundreds of kids are hearing about God’s love and grace, they are singing songs of joy and hope, they are serving the community by ensuring that hungry kids get fed, and they are having a ton of fun while they do this.
Tuesday I had the privilege of leading the storytelling rotation. The story was about Noah and the great flood. We talked about how God had made a good world, but things and the people charged with taking care of the world went wrong early and often. The activity for the lesson was for their groups to put together a puzzle. They dove in quickly and worked together well before running in to a challenge. We had taken a piece from each puzzle and swapped it with another group's set. So they were missing a piece, and they had an extra piece that didn’t fit. They eventually figured this out and started working across groups and got the puzzles completed. We then talked about how we are all missing something that only God can provide, and how God often uses people around us (and us for them) to share God’s grace and spread it around.
One group went a different way. They managed to flip over their non-fitting piece and mash it in to the puzzle in such a way that it looked OK unless you looked closely. The ingenuity is respectable, and we had a good laugh together about how they had ‘solved’ their problem with what they had. I recognized myself in them instantly.
In too many seasons of my life I have tried to solve the deepest problems of my heart and life by my own effort and ingenuity. And you know, unless you looked closely, it looked okay. It could fool people. But it never fooled me. I knew. It can be hard to admit, but our freedom and healing come swiftly when we are honest with ourselves and open to God. I no longer want a life that just looks okay. I want to live into the abundant one Jesus came to offer to anyone who admits they have a piece or two missing.
In the name of the One who is still on the move,
Pastor Ben