Making Jello

I took care of my aunt, my mother’s youngest sister.
She was never married and worked as a legal secretary.
She was smart, funny, opinionated…and domestically challenged.

When my grandfather died, my grandmother lived with my aunt.
Grand-mom was failing in health, so my mother would drive into the city every day.
She did the grocery shopping, the cleaning, and the cooking for her.
My aunt reaped the benefit and came home to a delicious meal.

My mother always felt she was helping her own mom and never complained.
When my mother died, my aunt had to figure out how to do things she never did before.
One of those things was making jello, my grandmother’s favorite dessert.

We may roll our eyes and find that unbelievable, but it was very true.
My aunt called me to go over the directions for making jello.
She had the box…she read the words…but she needed assurance.
I talked her through it and we hung up.

A few hours later, she called me and told me she did something wrong.
The jello looks like water!
I went over the steps with her on the other end of the phone.

I did all of that!
It should be jelled when you take it out of the refrigerator.
Refrigerator? You never said anything about putting it in the refrigerator!

You can’t take anything for granted.
We omit a little detail thinking that it is obvious and doesn’t need to be said.
But it does!

To those who are learning…to those who are young…baby steps are necessary.

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)

This is something we have to work on as Christians.

We all know people who are questioning, seeking the Lord, looking for answers.
We, who are further along in our faith, are very good at “Christian-ese.”
We throw terms around and expect that other people understand them.

Salvation. Justification. Sanctification.

We never notice the glazed look in the eyes of the person asking the question.
It is clear to us.
It must be clear to them.

They are frustrated before they even get out of the gate.

I always loved the book, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
Barbara Robinson did an excellent job telling the story of the Herdmans.
The Herdman family consisted of six unruly children, who lived alone most of the time.
Their mother needed to work long hours to support them, since their father left the family.

The annual Christmas pageant will be ruined because the Herdmans want to be in it.
They never set foot in a church, and only came this particular week because of the promise of cookies and juice during Sunday school.

The Sunday school teacher, who receives the job of director by default, begins to talk about the details of Jesus’ birth.

It is assumed that everyone knows the story.
Not the Herdmans!
Who is Mary? Who is Joseph? What is a manger?

Surprised, the teacher gathers everyone around to hear the story once again.
There are groans and eye rolling as the “tired” old story is repeated.

It is not a tired old story to the Herdmans.
It is new, and fresh, and exciting!
They were hearing things they never heard before!
The teacher assumed nothing and took nothing for granted.

That is a good thing!
We all need to preach the Gospel to ourselves.
We all need to go back to basics when we are telling the Story for the first time.

We cannot leave out even the smallest detail of the Gospel.
That amazing Story is life to someone who has never heard it!
That amazing Story is life to those of us who have heard it over and over!

Know the Gospel…inside and out…backwards and forwards.
Share it in its entirety…but be creative in how you share it.
Don’t use Christian-ese that will frustrate and intimidate.

Pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten your heart and mind.
Pray for fresh ways to tell the Truth of the Gospel.

We should never be tired of hearing the Story.
We should never be tired of telling it.
Someone needs to hear it.
Tell every detail…in the simplest terms.

How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’ (Romans 10:14,15)

Tell the story.
Be excited about every living word.
Do not presume that people understand.
We are all baby Christians until someone comes alongside and helps us grow.

Do you have beautiful feet?
You do, if you bring the Good News to others!

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The Gospel in a nutshell:
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)