Reading
“you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:19 (NRSV)
“you started out as dirt, you’ll end up dirt.”
Genesis 3:19 (The Message)
Reflection
This week at Acts 2, we hosted Rev. Adam Hamilton the founding pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS. Adam is someone Mark and I have admired since we planted Acts 2 in 1999. I think the most unique thing about Adam’s church planting story is that he boldly started a church in a funeral home. His entrepreneurial spirit has led the church from that funeral home to a campus that has 23,000 members.
I admire entrepreneurs. I grew up with parents who each owned their own businesses that they started from nothing but a dream. That entrepreneurial spirit was cultivated in me as I tagged along with my parents while they did their work and was put to work in their office from a young age. I joined a sorority that had closed but was attempting to re-start the year I began college. The recruiting promise was that I’d get to hold a leadership position immediately that would shape the organization. I also got to move straight into the sorority house bypassing the dorms which was obviously the tipping point!
It is no surprise then that I married someone with a giant entrepreneurial spirit who was not afraid to start something out of nothing. God called both of us to a dream that was bigger than we could think or imagine. After 26 years of tagging along and working alongside Mark as he planted our church, I’ve seen the hardships and successes. In our youth group, we might refer to this as the highs & lows or the happy & crappy. Mark has loads of tenacity. Tenacity has also been referred to as “grit.” If you want to know more about grit, there is a famous 2013 TED Talk out there about grit by Angela Duckworth. Grit is a trait you need for church planting.
I love to follow entrepreneur’s careers. I was inspired years ago by the founder of the company Spanx, Sara Blakely, when I learned of her story 20+ years ago. She has since sold the company and started another. In January, she posted a photo on Instagram that grabbed my attention. It was a metal work of art with this message: “Don’t Forget That You Are Going To Die.” She tells the story of seeing it in an art gallery in 2016 in Soho, NY and immediately being drawn to it. She bought it and hung it in her personal office at Spanx. As you can image, people were a little freaked out by it and her longtime assistant tried an intervention. In Sara’s Instagram post on January 21, she writes this, “I’ve always had an interesting relationship with my own mortality. I use it often to put things in perspective, help manage my nervous, and help me take more risks throughout my life that scare me. It was simply a reminder. Sitting at my desk, in back-to-back meetings, frustrated, stressed, making exactly 100000 decisions every hour that always somehow felt like life or death…I would look up at that quote, and it would put things into perspective. It was a stark reminder not to take life (and work) so seriously. Because it’s true…we’re gonna die.”
At our Ash Wednesday worship service, I received ashes on my forehead and was reminded, “from dust you were created and to dust you shall return.” It puts life into perspective. It was a reminder to me that God was with me at the beginning of my life, is with me now, and will be with me at death. Because of this, I can live full out. I can be fully alive right now. I don’t have to be scared or overwhelmed by risks or mistakes I make. The cross of ashes on my forehead was a somber reminder, yes, but also an inspiration that I have one big, beautiful life to live. Why not make the most of it? It’s kind of like having church in a funeral home!
I’ve been committed to bringing beauty to the world through my life. At times, I’ve wondered if this was just a fluff thing to be about. Shouldn’t I be about something a bit more serious or cerebral? As soon as I have this question come to mind, I’ll be confronted with someone or something that reminds me this is a noble pursuit. I’ve been moved by Dallas Willard’s description that, “Beauty is, above all, a manifestation of grace, of abundance and generosity. It’s why God placed flowers on the earth.” So, I think I’ll keep planting flowers. I hope you will keep living into all that God created you to be during this journey of lent.
Prayer
Creator God, you made us out of dust. Your Word brings life. Help us live lives that bring glory to you and bless others. Show us how to live fully this one big, beautiful life you have given us to live. Amen.
