The Cup
Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Although it looked different for years passed, last week we enjoyed celebrating the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. I hope you too celebrated the great news that CHRIST IS RISEN!
Many, many years ago, I was a teenager and received a coffee cup from my mom as a gift. Below is a picture of that coffee cup. I imagine my mother was at a gift shop one day, noticed a display of coffee cups with names on them, and hunted for one that said “Shay.” She loves to give gifts, and she intentionally found this one for me. I was grateful for this gift. I was so grateful that I took this cup and put it up on a shelf in my bedroom, and it stayed safe there for many years. It never broke, never got chipped in the sink, it never got lost, and outside of a little dust, it never got dirty. And that’s where the problem of my story begins. I sat there and looked at that coffee cup on the shelf for many years until it finally hit me…that cup was made to be used! It was designed for a lifecycle of holding hot beverages and being washed. This was a coffee cup and not simply a piece of art. So, I took it off the shelf, put it to use, and to this day, it still functions exactly as it was designed to do. I learned something important from my experience with this coffee cup. God gave me gifts to use.
The Holy Spirit used a coffee cup to teach me a valuable lesson. I’m a Christian, and I have many tools that can be used to share the gospel with others. I have a Bible, I have access to praise and worship music, I have heard testimonies, I have my own personal testimonies, and I have been given spiritual gifts. I know the story of Jesus, I’ve heard how He was born of the virgin Mary, I know He died on the cross, and yesterday, I celebrated His resurrection! This is all good news! I need to be sharing this good news! But if I do, I may get ridiculed, I may get dirty, I may be fired from a job, I may lose friends, I may lose the respect of family members, I may put my family in danger, and I may even face death simply for sharing God’s story. God gave me the gift of Jesus Christ, but He also wants me to share the news of that gift with others. In Matthew 28:19, He asks us “to go and make disciples of all nations…” He does NOT say, “Here is Jesus. Hide Him in your heart and never speak of Him again.”
Last week, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We donned our finest clothes, we invited friends to online services, and many of us posted pictures of our celebrations on multiple social media platforms. That’s great! Let’s keep that up! Let’s not put Jesus back on the shelf until around Christmas time. Let’s keep sharing the Good News of His birth and resurrection every single day until the last ear on earth has heard it! God gave us Jesus; let’s keep sharing that glorious gift!
Here is the fabled coffee cup! It still serves its purpose!
Mr. Shay Bernard, Central Church of the Nazarene, KS; Lay Leader Men’s Ministry
Published: 04/20/2020
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