It's over, but not really

Funny how 7 weeks of challenges can stretch over an entire summer.  This was my second read of 7: an experimental mutiny against excess.  This past May I had just written a blog post about wrestling through some questions from the first chapter when I happened upon the blog hop for “Summer of 7.”  It seemed too convenient to be a mere coincidence, so I took the hint and jumped in, and just three months later, here I am at my final post.

This experience has been life-changing for me.   It came at a time when my heart was crying out, “I want to live more like Jesus.”  Which led me to the question, “How did Jesus actually live?” and motivated me to read through the gospels again.

If you want to have your heart wrenched out of your chest, I challenge you to do the same.  Start at Matthew.  Read a chapter a day.  Slowly, not like they’re the same words you’ve heard since you were a child.  Meditate on the words of Jesus.  Start letting Him guide you to actually live them.

I’m not saying that I have this all figured out or have the exclusive bead on what it means to live like Jesus.  But I am foolish enough to believe that I can change the world. And to try to accomplish just that.  I am fortunate to be a part of a church whose members already have the poor and hurting on their hearts, and who already reach out in so many different ways.  So I recruited the help of some of my dear friends, and here are some of the exciting things we’ve started:

Community Lunch- This month our small group teamed up with the Young Adults Small Group and the woman who does our Adopt-A-Block outreach to provide a meal for members of our body who are unemployed and underemployed.  We invited and brought people living in the run-down motels close to our church to come eat with us and worked on building relationships with them. 

We have as our example Jesus, who ate with the marginalized and the sinners.  He said to invite those who don’t have the means to repay you when you host a dinner.  (Luke 14:12-14) When you eat with someone, you share more than just a food.  You invite them to be a part of getting to know you and you them.  We loved it so much we’re going to keep doing it once a month.

Swap Meet- In just a couple of weeks our Women’s Council is hosting our very first Swap Meet to encourage people to purge their excess and share with others.  We are going beyond the traditional swap with friends and inviting all to participate whether or not they have stuff to share, using the early church as our example who shared with each other so that there was no one in need among them. (Acts 2:45)  Not only is this event reducing excess in the areas of possessions, spending, and waste, but is also another opportunity to show the tangible love of Christ to others.

I suggested the book to my friend who has hosted the Summer Book Clubs at our church, who in turn read it and forced encouraged others to read it.  She happens to make little girl’s dresses which are oh-so-adorable and an opportunity to serve others using her gifts fell into her lap.  (You can read more of her amazing 7 God story here.) Suffice to say that when I want to buy my girls new dresses, I will be calling her because that’s exactly the kind of person I want to support with my dollars.

Personally, I have made changes or am working through changes in all of the areas that Jen Hatmaker addresses in her book.  Not exactly the same way she did, but the way God is pulling and tugging at my heart to change.  I could probably make this post twice as long as it is right now, but let me sum up the rest for you.  Reading 7, reading the words of Jesus, and making a decision to actually do something about it has changed and is changing my life and the lives of my friends.  Because you know what, Jesus actually knew what He was talking about.