March 2021 Monthly Mobile Mission Pack – Audio Version
Copyright Kat Silverglate 2021
Welcome to the Ridiculous Hour Foundation where we exist to inspire lives ridiculously responsive to the promptings of God. My name is Kat Silverglate and this is our March 2021 Mobile Monthly Mission -- Go loved, Go gloved. Here’s the story:
Sometimes after we hear a sermon or a message about God that stirs us deeply, we say things to the preacher or speaker like -- “your words really moved me” or “you nailed it.” I don’t remember now if I said words like those after a particularly moving sermon or if I was talking to the pastor after he preached about this kind of compliment as part of his message, but a brief exchange with him forever shifted my perspective on the topic of praise.
Out of view from others who were leaving the sanctuary, he reached inside his pocket and showed me the edge of a surgical glove. He said he preached with one of these in his pocket to remind him that people may see him in the pulpit, but it is God who reaches hearts. God who is doing the moving. God who gets the glory.
I don’t remember how the surgical glove fit his analogy on a micro level, but here’s how his point grew in me over time as I meditated on it. We can’t see the hand inside a surgeon’s glove; only the fact that the glove is filled with movement toward physical health. We know the glove is involved in the healing process; yet we wouldn’t praise it for the result. While we may be grateful for the role it played in keeping us free from infection, praising it for the outcome would seem, well, absurd, wouldn’t it?
Likewise, when a heart opens or heals in some way following the delivery of God’s Word, the Lord is the open-heart surgeon. Yes, we see the speaker (the glove) with our eyes, but the miracle of heart transformation comes from the One who fills that glove with the Word.
I love the analogy and the truth it contains (it is an absolute wow for me); yet it stirs up other questions. Honest questions. Related questions. Like, is it wrong to be grateful to someone for their part in God’s work in my heart? Do I dishonor God by thanking them for answering the call or for working so hard to create a clear, articulate message? Is any form of focus on the “glove” appropriate or does it always give to man what rightfully belongs to God – praise?
As we live through this historic pandemic, we can’t go much of anywhere without seeing gloves, can we? Not just the opaque surgical kind, but also the transparent ones. The type used in the food service industry. The kind that looks almost clown-like in shape and size. Rather than hide the hand within, they expose just how very small it is compared to the glove that covers it.
The frequent appearance of those two gloves – the opaque and the transparent -- has stirred afresh that pastor’s analogy. Two encounters in particular opened me to deeper questions and glimmers of truth.
The first happened while driving through throngs of intense-looking people holding political signs as I tried to reach the early voting site. It was more than a little unsettling. When I opened my car door, I saw a discarded surgical glove on the ground. Empty and dirty. The glove analogy came flooding back. God fills. With what others need. He fills. I prayed God would fill me with whatever I might need as I navigated the scene. More than anything, though, I think I just wanted to be hidden behind that opaque glove rather than visible to others as I found my place in line. I wanted to reverse the analogy in a good way -- Him on the outside and me on the inside. I wanted cover.
The second happened as restaurants were avoiding complete closure by offering “pick up only” service. We ordered from one of our favorite spots and arrived fully masked to pick up our order, only to find a giant sign on the front door that said something like this -- “please put these on before opening the door or signing your check.” Below the sign was a table covered in transparent food service gloves. I looked at my gloved hand as I opened the door and as I tried to hold the pen to sign the check. It was clumsy and awkward.
And then, this started to happen. Glimpses of how that transparent glove reveals a related truth. The truth about why we so often say no to God’s nudges and prompts to serve others or follow a call. We feel so ridiculously small, like we are wearing a suit that’s ten times too big. We know God can do anything. Why on earth would He include us in his work? And then 2 Cor. 4:7 comes to mind. He uses earthen vessels -- jars of clay -- “to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
When we GO LOVED, God covers us, like a glove -- a transparent glove that doesn’t make us invisible. Indeed, a glove that reveals our weakness. People don’t see the glove. They see the tiny hand inside. When impacted, in a good way, they look for someone to credit. Seeing only us, they compliment or thank or praise or glorify or something similar. That’s the opportunity to point to the cover they don’t see with their eyes, to the Lord. Glory belongs to Him alone.
But there’s more to it, isn’t there? More to how we think of the clay’s role in that circumstance. Perhaps it’s a question of terminology or of motive or of both, but God tells us clearly in Scripture to “encourage one another” and to build each other up. 1 Thess. 5:11. Can’t we celebrate how someone’s ridiculous responsiveness has blessed us while still praising our Father for His work in and through them? The first is an act of encouragement and the second, an act of praise. Subtle, isn’t it? Yet God clearly tells us to do both: encourage the clay and praise the Father.
As these nuances become clearer, I find myself more thoughtful about compliments – both the ones I receive and the one’s I give. I say words like, “that really encourages me” or “God used you to encourage me with that.” When I’m struggling with praise or wondering whether credit is coming my way that doesn’t rightfully belong to me; sometimes I point to God and talk about His cover, and other times, I simply say, “thank you, I receive it” knowing that God will sort it out. I have to trust that God works through perfectly imperfect jars of clay to encourage and build us up in appropriate ways. The wrestling match to get it right is healing and revealing, while also awkward and clumsy. The more I wrestle though, the more distinctions I find in these related truths.
gLOVED PART 1: So, our mission this month is, you guessed it, simple. In your mission pack, you have a clear glove with a small hand inside. Ask yourself when you feel the slightest nudge from God, do you hesitate because you feel small? God says that’s OK! God wants people to know that the all surpassing power to transform hearts comes from His hand, not ours. The next time you feel a nudge, look at that glove compared to your tiny hand. It’s covered, right? Way bigger than yours. Invite Him to be the strength in your weakness. To reveal Himself in your response. He’s always working in the place we don’t see with our eyes; in the heart.
gLOVED PART 2: In part two of our mission, we invite you to think on this. When someone glorifies rather than encourages you, do you tell them about God’s hand? The part they can’t see? What about the opposite situation? When someone gives you a genuine expression of gratitude, do you receive it as encouragement from the Lord? Do the two gloves shed light on the difference? Will you ever look at a glove the same way again? Will you keep this one to remember that LOVED is the biggest part of the word gLOVED? When we go with the Lord in our hearts, we go gLOVED: covered but not invisible; weak but not powerless; shining but not gods. The Christ shines in and through jars of clay, not so others will glorify us, but so that our Father in heaven may be glorified.
If you are listening to this message and you don’t know where to start with God, will you remember something? He started with you a very long time ago. He won’t stop knocking. The question for each and every one of us is this -- will we respond? That is our mission after all -- to inspire lives ridiculously responsive to the promptings of God.
Amen.
POST SCRIPT: If you are hearing this and you have not received your mission pack this month, don’t worry, it’s on the way. This particular pack is a twofer -- your equipping piece for April is arriving in this pack with March’s glove and small hand. Hold on to that smaller envelope for April. You can send us an email and ask for the audio version alone or you can get the written piece. Or both. It’s up to you. Please note that both March and April have small parts and plastic, so keep these safely way from babies and children. They aren’t intended as toys but as symbols to remind us of a message.
