Up Up and Away!

I just finished reading William Boniface’s third installment of “The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy”. To those who do not know me well, let me share that I love juvenile fiction. Stories meant for middle schoolers have always held sway in my heart. Sure, I read the occasional John Grisham novel, but I mainly read books for younger readers.

This series is about a community named Superopolis where EVERYBODY has some sort of superpower. Some have tremendous strength or speed; others have less amazing powers such as the ability to grow hair on others or obnoxious body odor on command. Everyone has a unique power; everyone that is, except for one young citizen named Ordinary Boy (or OB for short). He’s, well, ordinary.

What would it be like to live in a community where everyone is known by their unique ability?

To some degree, we do. We often wrap ourselves up in the mantle of our vocation.

Those in the healing profession? Doctors. Those who create soundtracks for our lives? Musicians. Those who bring out the colors of the world? Artists. To serve and protect? Lawmen. To connect the sacred to the secular? Ministers. Guardians of knowledge? Librarians. Molder of young minds? Teachers. Caretakers of our buildings? Custodians.

However, in this book, the citizens of Superopolis all lose their powers. They must try to come to grips with who they are apart from their special abilities.

To those who have lost jobs recently, this may sound familiar.

But take heart, who you are is NOT wrapped up in a job description or skill set. Who we are goes much deeper than what we receive a paycheck for. We are sons and daughters, parents and spouses, friends and neighbors.

We exist in community with others.

What if you were the only person on this planet? Take a moment to consider the possibilities. What would you do for food and shelter? Entertainment? What if you got sick or injured? Would you live out in the country or in the cities?

Would you lose your identity?

I believe our identities are wrapped up in how we relate to others.

Are we stingy or generous? Fair or take favorites? Obnoxious or kind? Do we attract or repel?

What is it in how we deal with others that brands who we are?

Does how we treat other people show our connection with Jesus?

Joe

Matthew 7:15-20
“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

Galatians 5:16-26
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

NLTse