Do you like doing puzzles? It is not really my favorite thing to do. I could handle the puzzles with the 20 or 30 big pieces. You know, the kind you do with your kids when they are very young. My brother, on the other hand, loves puzzles. If I call him right now and ask “Hey Bubba, whatcha doin’?” His answer will be “Kathy and I are just sitting at the table putting a puzzle together.” He has a room where he stores all his completed puzzles. Some of his favorites will become artwork they hang in their house. He sees art…I see a thousand little pieces that all look the same and they all look different. Bubba has the patience and the eye to see how the pieces fit. No pressure, no anxiety, just work the next piece.
I think church life can sometimes be like putting a puzzle together. You see pieces and part, hundreds of members, each different and yet kind of the same. Then God starts putting the pieces together and a beautiful picture starts to appear. You see a children’s ministry reaching 60, 70 or 80 children each week; a youth ministry that had 29 teenagers last Sunday night; a new Bible Study reaching women; a couple of pieces that look like foreign countries. You see little tiny pieces that no one really recognizes or even notices. Yet that little piece provides color and depth. To leave it out would be to rob the picture of its completeness.
I love that about the James Island Baptist Church family. There are so many wonderful puzzle pieces, each piece adding to the whole beautiful picture. When you look into the box (maybe our Sunday morning worship gathering) you see a bunch of puzzle pieces, but maybe not the beautiful picture they will create. The puzzle is a picture of how God uses brokenness to bring healing; how He uses imperfection to show His own glory. Don’t be fooled by the look of a bunch of puzzle pieces in the box. He is not finished putting all the pieces together. I have been doing this long enough to tell you I love the picture He is making. Thank you for being a part of His wonderful, glorious picture.
See you Sunday…with all the other pieces!
Pastor Tom
