For a few days, I’ve woken up with a song in my mind. This is a common thing for me but usually I can figure out what the song is pretty quickly. This time, though, I couldn’t…just the lyrics “what you’re worth”. I could hear the sound of a gravelly voice singing but couldn’t make out any of the other words in my head. 

I have been planning on writing this for a couple of days but every time I sat down, I didn’t know what to write about. So again, this morning, I got up early with the intent of writing something and I was just blank. So I laid down, snuggled in my blanket here on my couch and just snoozed as I asked the Lord what I was to write about. The story of the hidden treasure came to mind. “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure in the field, which the man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.” Matt. 13:44 Then the song, “You Are Worthy of it All” came to mind. 

A little earlier in the book of Matthew, Jesus was talking to his disciples about what they were granted to see and hear that so many before them had longed to see and hear and never got to. As those who follow Jesus, we have a treasure in jars of clay. We are fragile and lose heart. We are often overcome with grief and struggle. We face trials and disease. We can start to only look at the outward appearance of things and forget the treasure buried under the surface or hidden inside the jar. To us, it can start to look like a cracked pot or a field of dirt if we don’t remind ourselves of the immense treasure that we have been given as a priceless gift. The gift that so many all around us don’t see or understand… but it is available to them also. This treasure of surpassing worth is ours. Nothing in this life can take away from or compare to the glory and beauty of just knowing Jesus…He is truly worthy of it all. 

Living Legacy just celebrated 20 years as a local congregation in God’s kingdom, by thanking and praising God for His care, instruction, and using us in His work. What this looked like was a festive lunch, a joyful reunion, a get-together with new, current, and old friends . . . brothers and sisters. Our building was filled with people who are and were on the scene here, ministering, serving God. While we recognize and count God to be the focus of celebrating 20 years of Living Legacy Church, our attention was dynamically on one another. For some of us, it was an afternoon of greeting old friends, of catching up, of personal fellowship. This was a fully appropriate way to thank and to praise God.

As in all truth, there’s theology behind why delighting in each other’s company is thanking and praising God - the Trinity is the reason we serve God by serving His people, love God by loving His people, enjoy Him by enjoying His people. I got to sit with both Tony Beard and Will Gonzalez for most of the afternoon. When Tony was at LLC we simply hit it off, we were of a similar temperament and shared a variety of things in common (like my son, Mickey Jr). When Will was at LLC we spent many hours working through ideas like sanctification, sanctification in a very existential way - as in, how God was working in Will’s life at a very crucial time.

Since their time at LLC, Tony has gone on to found and operate a ministry with college students and Will has gotten married and is raising a family . . . both their circumstances are what they hoped for, longed for, and did diligent work for. Their diligent work very much included trusting God for His grace in blessing their efforts. Our Father entrusted work to His Son and His Son entrusted the Spirit to apply the fruit of His accomplished work to all in fellowship with Him. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are united, in fellowship with one another - and through the Father’s plan, Jesus’ obedience, and the Spirit’s work God brings us into that fellowship. Amazing grace. And here’s the thing; just as the Triune God is bound together in perfect unity, His gift of salvation not only unites us, binds us to Him, but unites us, binds us to one another as well. 

We join God, the Trinity, as a family of His own making. Just as we are called to love God, we are commanded to love each other - this is how we serve God by serving one another, and we love God by loving one another. Too glorious for mere words, too lovely an experience to properly describe . . . amazing grace how sweet the sound.