The Riches of Christ – by MVC Pastor Dave Nieuwsma
As I think about what is going on around us, in our time of both relational uncertainty and financial uncertainty, I am reminded of a time in my past. In the early 80’s Deb and I lived in Minnesota, I held a staff position at a church. We were both in our 20’s and as some of you remember, a deep financial crisis hit certain pockets of the country. We were in one of them. Parts of that crisis included, banks closing, generational farms going bankrupt, suicides, etc. We had numerous friends who lost everything and in the middle of this we had 2 children with a very limited income.
During this time, in having our 2nd child, we did not have the resources to pay for everything surrounding the birth and as you can imagine money was difficult for everyone. However, much to our surprise a friend basically paid for the expenses of the birth. We had not let anyone know about those expenses, but as it is with God, He loves to surprise us. How big of a sacrifice was it, for our friend to do this, I am not sure. Though, he helped supply what was needed. But just as importantly as supplying a need, he left us with a memory of God’s faithfulness and it helped deepen a foundation for our life together.
Which reminds me of something Paul says in Phil. 4 where he states “ and my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus”. In the crisis we are facing, we are presented with a challenge and the challenge is, how can we be distributors of the glorious riches of Christ. How can we be those who surprise others, how can we create foundational memories, because we believe that there are riches that Christ has to give to the world around us? So the challenge I place on myself and want to ask you is… In simple and small ways how can we show the riches of Christ?