And, Then. Magpies installment 10
June 08, 2009
In each of the first five days of creation the story is told in a simple statement. And God said, ”Let there be… and there was.” Light. Sky. Seas and Ground. Vegetation. Sun, stars and moon. Fish and birds. Animal life. The phrasing is exactly the same.
On the sixth day however, God changes His phrasing. For the first time He includes the rest of the Trinity in a brief discussion about this process called creation. Take a look at the difference at the creation of Man.
1.Then
It may seem fairly insignificant but in each of the first five days of God’s work the scriptures record the word “and”, but on the sixth day it uses the word, “then”. I do that too.
When I get home at the end of a busy day Dawn may ask me, “Doug, what did you do?” I’ll answer her by saying, “Well, we had a staff meeting and discussed our next event. And I called these three business persons in regard to funding an aspect of the Farm. And I went to lunch, ordered training materials. Then I came home.”
It seems to me that all of the “ands” in our life build to the “thens”. It was true of God in creation. All of the ands were set in motion in anticipation for the then. The purpose of it all was to set the stage for the man. In a theatrical sense, lighting came first. Stage spacing, show times, background cast and scenery was all set before the central actor in this drama. Man.
Our time at The Farm has been a series of “ands” “punctuated by a few “thens”. All of the “ands” need to be right in order to get an appropriate “then”. For us, the “ands” roll at us like waves on the sea. Making plans, raising money, parenting our children, providing for their needs, hiring, firing, hellos, goodbyes, living and dying seem to be the purpose of our existence. There is a fulfillment in setting the stage for the great acts of life. Sometimes I feel a certain sense of completion in the tasks but they are not the meaning of life. They are the equation but they are not the answer.
Human history is a picture of God’s greatest “Then”. And He created man. And man sinned. And man rejected God. And God sent HIs Son. And man killed God’s Son. Then Jesus rose from the dead, redeemed all who believed, and embraced his new children.
I have very seldom wondered about the “thens”, but I realize that these are what I live for.
The barn is a daily reminder for me of the “thens.” After ten years of prepping the ground and building an infrastructure it appears that God is readying a “then” for us, but each day has become a series of “ands” for us.Each person that joins us on staff has been a “then”, preceded by the list of “ands”. Every birth of every child has been a “then”. Every student who has received Christ is a “then”. Most of us fail to see these momentous opportunities to celebrate because it is easy, especially when serving our God has become a series of “ands”. The Law was a list of “ands”, whereas the birth of Christ was the “then.”
I know that God was pleased with the “ands” of his art, but there was a completion and celebration to the “then” of Man.
In every day, I am flogged by the list of “To dos”. Sometimes as I drive into work or head to school, as I move toward church or take my morning shower, I am overcome with the repetition of seemingly meaningless tasks. When I discover what he end of my labors should be I don’t mind the “ands” nearly as much. After all. I, myself am a “then” to God.
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First, I would like to congratulate you on writing another installment to your book. I enjoyed this chapter it reminded me that all the “ands” lead up to a “then”. Sometimes, it seems like life is just full of “ands” and we never reach the “then”. So thanks for writing this.
Thanks Josh. I has been kind of an “and” week.