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“Holy Fools”: Exploring the Journey of Calling for Christian Variety Performers

I am happy to announce that my PhD dissertation has been published to ProQuest, an academic database for published research.
I have made the dissertation open source, which means anyone anywhere can access the full content free of charge.
Here is the full dissertation: https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/holy-fools-exploring-journey-calling-christian/docview/2622316783/se-2
Please share far and wide. I am very much excited about this research and the future projects that may come out of it.
Here is the abstract:
The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of a lived calling for Christian variety performers. A basic qualitative study method was employed to conduct hour-long semi-structured interviews with thirty seasoned variety performers (jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, clowns, and other similar entertainers) who ascribe to the Christian faith and claim to live out a life calling through their vocations. All the participants live and work in North America except for one who lives in England. The findings were evaluated through a theoretical framework of theology, vocational meaning-making, and socio-cultural learning theory. Prior research has shown that a calling-oriented approach to one’s work can lead to deep levels of satisfaction, meaning, and engagement in one’s work (Duffy et al. 2018, 423). But research has also unearthed what are known as “dark sides” to calling (Duffy and Dik 2013, 433). This study found both positive and negative experiences related to living out one’s calling as well. Based on the findings from this study, the major themes were named as journey, joy, community, and oblation. Calling was found to be an ongoing journey. The variety performers expressed the purpose of their work, both intrinsically and extrinsically, in terms of joy. The participants described the essential role of community in their lived callings, identified in this study as the vocational support system. Finally, this study found that each participant viewed their calling as an oblation (Maslow 1967, 94), something they wholistically offer back to God as a sacrificial offering. Implications for practice and suggestions for future study are discussed.
The Easiest Large Group Game Ever
This is probably the easiest large group game ever invented. If you can think of an easier one, please let me know in the comments.
Heads or Tails!
This game of heads or tails involves EVERYONE in your large group. It is actually better the larger the group gets. There is an elimination factor to it, so that you are left with only one winner. But the eliminating happens so fast that the people waiting to play the next round don’t have to wait long.
What you need: A lot of people and one coin (I like to use a quarter).
How to play: Have everyone stand up. Tell them that they need to select heads or tails before you flip the coin each time you flip it. They indicate heads by putting both hands on their head. They indicate tails by putting both hands on their rear. Whatever the coin says, those people stay in the game and advance to the next flip. The eliminated people (their side did NOT flip) must sit down and wait for the next game. Repeat this over and over until you are left with one final winner.
Tips:
- Don’t worry, this game moves fast.
- Before you flip, say “ONE-TWO-THREE-Lock it in!” so that the players all lock in their heads or tails at the same time.
- No switching selection after you say “lock it in!” If a player does so, they’re out.
- Let the winner be the coin flipper for the game after they win.
Kids want to play this game ALL DAY LONG. You’ll be surprised at how crazy easy it is.
Want more group game ideas for kids and family events? Sign up for my free newsletter here.
Want to learn how to juggle? Here are the basics!….
Need a speaker/entertainer for your next event? Check out my promo videos here.
Why We Learn

This is my favorite time of year. The weather will be cooling down soon (hopefully :). Sarah and I celebrate our anniversary next month. My birthday is shortly thereafter. The leaves will be turning. But it’s not just all those things. School is back in session. And for some reason, I have always loved school (call me a glutton for punishment). Our three children will all be returning to school this week or next – and we are so excited for them to see their friends and get in the routine of school again.
But this causes me to ponder a bigger question: Why do we learn in the first place? Why do we all value education so highly?
I have a theory, and it’s nothing new. Here me out…
What is a society’s greatest resource or asset?
It’s not oil, gold, wheat, finance, technology, or tourism.
The answer is “people.” We are our own greatest assets – both individually and collectively. Biblically, we are the part of creation made in God’s own image. We are collectively God’s masterpiece (Eph 2:10). We are his piece de resistance, his magnum opus.
“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
Genesis 1:27 NLT
Therefore, though finite beings (in terms of our physical earthly bodies), we are of infinite value. And we must steward this human resource (ourselves) to whatever extent we can. The greatest things you can invest in are not Roth IRAs (those are great too), but yourself and others. When we are all learning, forming, and developing, we are constantly growing into the people God has called us to be so that we can better serve one another in this world and bring glory to Him. In other words, when we are all learning, the world is a better place.
Traditional schooling is just one form of education. When I say “education,” I mean lifelong learning, whether formally or informally. I also mean wholistic formation, not just head knowledge. We need to continually grow in wisdom, virtue, and love. This might be the time of year when traditional schools are back in session, but education and learning is much bigger than “back to school.”
May this time of year be a reminder to us all that we all need to grow and continually learn no matter what stage of life we’re in. Though it cost all we have, may we get wisdom.
“The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you.”
Proverbs 4:7-8, NIV
Why we need summer camp more than ever

Screens and digital devices are not inherently evil, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to observe that the overuse of them can lead to unhealthy effects – especially for children and youth.
The Mayo Clinic points out that the overuse of screens for young people can lead to such negative outcomes as “obesity, irregular sleep, behavioral problems, impaired academic performance, violence, and less time for play.” (Source)
Furthermore, screens and social media provide a type of stimulation that Pediatrician Michael Rich calls “impoverished.” Here is how Debra Bradley Ruder from Harvard Medical School puts it….
“Much of what happens on screen provides ‘impoverished’ stimulation of the developing brain compared to reality, [Michael Rich] says. Children need a diverse menu of online and offline experiences, including the chance to let their minds wander.”
-Debra Bradley Ruder, Harvard Medical School (Source)
That is why, I believe, summer camp can be such a powerful place for today’s young people. Camp provides an environment where kids are provided quite a “diverse menu” of almost exclusively offline experiences (if not, completely).
According to Christian Camp researcher Jacob Sorenson, summer camp “is one of the last places in existence where young people set aside their mobile devices for more than a few hours at a time” (Sacred Playgrounds, pp. 76-77). Sorenson found in his research that though it might be a challenge at first for some youth to “de-screen” for a time, the campers themselves report that they are glad to put away the screens at camp:
“Campers will readily admit that if they were at home, they would be on their phones, tablets, or gaming systems. But they see the value of having a respite, and they appreciate simple things like people looking them in the eyes.”
-Jacob Sorenson, Sacred Playgrounds, p. 77
I will be heading out to my first of many weeks of summer camp this weekend, as I have for 15 years. And I am convinced now more than ever of the irreplaceable value such an experience provides for young people, much due to the powerful grip that technology and social media have on the physical and mental health of our youth today. I think we all agree that they (and us adults too) could use a week or two outdoors, spending time in-person with friends and growing in their faith journey with God.
Please keep me in your prayers this summer, that I might serve faithfully in ways that benefit the campers, my camp hosts, and all the camp staff. Pray also for my family, as we will be apart for some of the camps. But thankfully we have a chance to be together for some of the camps as well.
From the Mouths of Children

Image: Unknown artist and origin (Source)
Have you ever heard a child say something surprisingly profound? We adults have a saying for that: “from the mouths of children” or “from the mouths of babes.”
For example, when our six year-old Annie wants to “cheers” to something, she proclaims, “To the life of God!” We have no idea where she got that from, but that’s what she says and we love it. Likewise, when her three year-old brother David prays for meals, he simply says, “Thank you for the God.” Sure, that might sound theologically ambiguous at first glance. But I think he means, “Thank you for you, God.” And I’ll take it. In fact, I need it. I need to hear children express worship to God because I think they do it a lot better than us adults.
Jesus said so himself. We get the phrase, “from the mouths of babes,” first from the Psalms (chapter 8, verse 2) and then reiterated by Jesus in Matthew 21:16:
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
“‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
Jesus was defending the children who were “shouting” in the temple after Jesus had dramatically turned over the tables of the moneychangers. You see, the children had been parading with their palm branches and shouting “Hosanna” to Jesus (the triumphal entry, which we celebrate at Palm Sunday). And they continued their procession into the temple as Jesus was clearing it out. That way, when Jesus was done clearing the temple, the children were still making noise and it bothered the chief priests. That’s when we hear Jesus quote the Psalmist in defense of the children.
This passage encourages me and reminds me to let the children praise (in the way that God made them to do so). It also reminds me to listen to the children and what they say/sing/pray when they worship God. Perhaps that is God’s way of speaking to me.
The Asbury Outpouring

If you haven’t heard, an extraordinary event has taken place in Wilmore, Kentucky. I called this small rural town home for 5 years when I attended Asbury Theological Seminary from 2002 to 2007. In early February, one of the chapel services for students at Asbury University (the school across the street from the seminary) spontaneously broke out into non-stop worship, prayer, and repentance. Word spread about God moving deeply in the hearts of students in Wilmore and within days tens of thousands of people showed up in this town of about 6,000 to join in prayer and worship. Call it a revival, an outpouring, or what you will. Whatever you call it, I believe God has moved mightily and I rejoice and celebrate what He has done and is doing. My prayer is that we would all be open to the miraculous move of God in our hearts, no matter where we live or work and that His transformation in us would overflow into love and service to the needs of the world around us.
I have attended a number of Asbury’s February worship services virtually (they livestream a lot of it). I have also seen and heard a lot of first-hand accounts from folks in Wilmore. If you’re curious about what’s going on, I would encourage you to find first-hand accounts of people on the ground in Wilmore. I will share some links below as good examples of just that.
One more thing: I first visited Wilmore in 1997 and have had close connections to the town ever since (including the years I lived there). The overall spirit of the people of Wilmore (and the institutions of Asbury University and Asbury Theological Seminary) has ALWAYS been that of sweet and gentle prayer, seeking holiness in the Lord, and repentance from darkness and towards full surrender in Christ. They have never been “showy” or holier-than-thou in the process (in my opinion). And those have been the reported marks of these recent prayer services. The point I am making is that what we are witnessing in Wilmore is really not new for Wilmore. What I see is a community that is simply leaning deeper into who they have been day in and day out for years. They have been faithful in prayer whether there is a viral revival or not. Let us continue to daily love God and love others in the highs and lows of life.
First-hand accounts of the Asbury Outpouring:
Asbury University’s official page about the Outpouring: https://www.asbury.edu/outpouring/
Podcast episode by my friend Andy Miller, whose brother teaches at Asbury University and was there on Feb 8th: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/more-to-the-story-with-andy-miller-iii/id1569988895?i=1000600055285
Podcast episode from Asbury Theological Seminary wherein they host a panel discussion of first-hand accounts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/asbury-seminary-kentucky-chapel/id988435522?i=1000600201484
Blog page of Craig Keener (a wise scholar in Wilmore): https://craigkeener.com/blog/
Radio Interview on The Good Life with Dr. Danny
A dear friend and colleague (Danny Yamashiro) recently interviewed me on his radio program in Boston. He gave me the opportunity to share about my recent dissertation research about the sacred calling of the variety performer. He made the episode available on Spotify and I’d like to share it with you here:
The Hope of The New Jerusalem
A sermon by Dr. Jesse Joyner, delivered at Eternity Church in Richmond, VA on Nov 13, 2022.
Read full text below or listen to the podcast here.

First Reading Isaiah 65:17-25, English Standard Version
17 “For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer;
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent's food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
Second Reading Revelation 21:1-7, English Standard Version
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
Welcome to Mid-November
Good morning. Welcome to mid-November, which is the time of year where we all have the “should I or shouldn’t I put out Christmas decorations yet debate” with ourselves or someone we love. I can put that to rest for all of us: it is never too early to decorate for Christmas.
The Lectionary
Speaking of Christmas and the Christian calendar, I was encouraged by Pastor David who, last Sunday, shared that he drew his sermon text of Haggai from the lectionary. I too, found myself at a place where I did not hear a specific message from the Lord earlier this week about what to preach on. And that is why the lectionary is a beautiful thing. You see, I think it’s OK that pastors and speakers do not always have epiphanies or revelations at times convenient for their weekly sermon rhythms. Sometimes, the Lord’s way of speaking to His people is through the consensus and labors of many saints who have gone before us to collate passages of Scripture into what is called a lectionary. For those who, like me, did not grow up with any kind of lectionary, a lectionary is a traditional way of organizing the story of God’s Word into readings and lessons that tell the stories of Scripture through the yearly calendar, covering the Christian holidays and seasons accordingly. The Revised Common Lectionary is a popular one used all over the world. One of the most beautiful things about the lectionary is that it puts believers all over the world and across denominations on the same page in terms of readings and lessons. There is something powerful and transcendent, I believe, in knowing that we are being formed in our faith through the same passages on this very day alongside of believers from Canada to Ghana to the Philippines. We are also building our faith in step not only with other Presbyterians, but also Baptists, Methodists, Mennonites, Lutherans, and many others in the global Church.
The Readings
All that to say, I felt led to lead us together into the first Old Testament lectionary reading from today from Isaiah 65. This passage contains a prophetic promise about the new heavens and the new earth. For the New Testament reading, I chose from the chapter in Revelation that describes the complete fulfillment of that Isaianic prophecy. I’m calling this sermon “The Hope of the New Jerusalem.” If you go to Jerusalem today, there is the “Old City,” which is very old and then there is the “New City,” which is the part of Jerusalem with all the new high rises and 20th-21st Century buildings. When we hear about the New Jerusalem in the Bible, it’s not talking about the “New City” that is there today. The New Jerusalem is the heavenly that will come down to earth and be simultaneously paradise, a holy city, and a temple (which is the dwelling place of God).[1] It is not until the New Heavens and the New Earth in the end when we shall see the complete fulfillment of what the New Jerusalem will look like.
This is not a sermon on the competing views of the end times or whether we should believe in Pre-Millennialism, Post-Millennialism, Amillennialism, or the Preterist view. I will leave that debate up to people much smarter than me. Nor am I interested in predicting the geo-political trajectory of the modern Middle East, except to say that Jesus is the Prince of Peace and through him and him alone can there or will there be peace on earth. Rather, this is a sermon about hope. This is a sermon about how we only see through a glass dimly what is yet to come. But we get glimpses of it both in Scripture and in how God reveals himself to us today. And those glimpses are enough, I believe, to instill in us the living hope of Jesus that sparks our holy imaginations to daily labor forward towards heaven. Our readings today are such glimpses and I want to explore them and let them sink in.
Post-Exilic Israel
Before we dive into the prophecy in Isaiah, first a little background: this prophecy has both a level of imminent fulfillment for God’s people as well as a hope in the full-on fulfillment that will come in the future still for us with the new heavens and the new earth. When Isaiah lived (in the 700s BC), the Jewish people lived in a divided Kingdom. So, if you remember, there was the one united Kingdom of Israel around 1000 BC under Saul, David, and Solomon. But then there was a political split and they were left with the Northern Kingdom (known as Israel proper) and the Southern Kingdom (known as Judah). Jerusalem was in Judah, the Southern Kingdom. During Isaiah’s lifetime, the world superpower at the time, Assyria, invaded and took control of the Northern Kingdom. Jerusalem and the Southern Kingdom held on to their land for a few more generations only to be invaded by the big bad Babylonians, who destroyed Solomon’s temple and carted off its treasures (and people) to Babylon. This was known as the period of Exile, which lasted 70 years. After the Exile, a friendlier king named Cyrus allowed the Jewish people to return to their homeland and rebuild, which they did, including building a second temple, which lasted all the way up until the times of Jesus and the disciples. The Romans then destroyed that temple just a generation after Jesus left the earth. To this day, all that remains of that temple are stone foundations. You probably know that today, the Muslim Dome of the Rock currently stands at that location.
Have I lost you yet? You won’t be quizzed on it. Just remember that when Isaiah was alive, things were bad for the people of Yahweh – and that bad was going to get even worse for several generations after Isaiah was gone. But the Lord’s prophecies through Isaiah gave them a precious gift in their hardships: hope. When Isaiah opens his book, he says, “Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!” (Is 1:2). He is speaking to his current generation. But by the time we get to the end of Isaiah, which is our reading for today (the second to last chapter in the book), he says that God will make a newheavens and a new earth. And what he describes in our chapter is a picture, in part, of what scholar John Oswalt says is the post-exilic return to Jerusalem (again, nearly two hundred years after Isaiah lived).[2] This is the time when God’s people return to their homeland, rebuild, resettle, and finally get to enjoy the fruit of their own labors rather than working in slavery or indentured servitude to anyone else (Is 65:21-22). But that life is just a foretaste of the fuller fulfillment of this prophecy, the new heavens and the new earth (which is yet to come), which is when infants will never die (Is 65:20). Thus, the beauty of Biblical prophecy is that some of it has already been fulfilled so that we can rejoice in the past works of the Lord, but other elements of Biblical prophecy have yet to be completely fulfilled so that we have a vision and a hope of what can be, could be, and should be in this world.
Be Glad and Rejoice
Regardless of the timing of the partial or full fulfilments of this Isaiah prophecy, the key imperative here is for God’s people to “be glad and rejoice.” Why? Because of what God is creating. God doesn’t say, “what I have created” or “what I will create,” but rather, “what I create” (Is 65:18). The NIV version of the passage here says, “what I am creating,” as an ongoing action. When I read that, I see that God is continually making all things beautiful, restored, and redeemed. It is a continual process that has already begun, is now happening, and will continue to happen, as (to use the words of MLK) the arc of the universe constantly “bends toward justice.”[3] And we are instructed to “be glad and rejoice forever” in his constant process of renewal.
Better than the Two Billion Dollar Lottery
In addition to that imperative to rejoice, a major theme I see in both of our passages is something I just mentioned – hope. I mean, did you see the frenzy that the two-billion-dollar lottery whipped up in people? It gave people a sense of hope (what I would argue is a false hope) as they imagined what they would do with it all. I didn’t even buy a ticket, yet I still stared out the window and wondered to myself what I could do with all that money – and it felt good (for a moment). In Christ we have something so much better than the two-billion-dollar lottery. In Christ, we have the living hope – the hope that is always there with us – through his Word, his Spirit, and his Kingdom (1 Peter 1:3). This hope does not vanish when the lottery numbers are drawn. The hope that Jesus gives is always there, always true, and always beyond our wildest dreams. Isaiah and the other prophets give us countless pictures of the hope towards which we should live, of which this passage is just one. As the late Christian musician Rich Mullins once sang:
…how the Lord takes by its corners this old world and shakes us forward and shakes us free to run wild with the hope, run wild with the hope, the hope that this thirst will not last long, that it will soon drown in a song not sung in vain. I hear the thunder in the sky. I see the sky about to rain. And I hear the prairies calling out your name.[4]
Let us run wild with the hope that this thirst will not last long.
Picture a World
Last weekend, Kezzie and I went to one of our favorite types of outings – a used book sale. It was the one at Main Branch of the Richmond Public Library. She found some books and I found mine – most of which were songbooks that I could play on our piano at home. When I got home and started playing through my “new” songbooks, one song in one book in particular captured my attention and imagination. It was a song I had never heard before called “Picture a World” out of this songbook right here. Yes, this is the Sesame Street Songbook. I am a child of the 80s and all we pretty much had was Sesame Street and The Electric Company. This song, “Picture a World,” was written by Joe Raposo, who most famously wrote Kermit’s theme song, “Bein’ Green” as well as other well known songs from the street, like Cookie Monster’s “C is for Cookie.” His songs touched the chords of the human heart, particularly as seen through and for children.
Without naming anything explicitly Christian or religious in nature, his lyrics to this song demonstrate a great deal of what some people call “redemptive imagination,” or a poetic vision of the peaceable kingdom. The lyrics go like this:
Picture a World Picture a world Where the rivers are clear Where a dunk in the water is just a block or two from here And try to think of a way to make it that way… Everybody picture a world Where little kids run Where the sunshine is pouring love and life on everyone And try to think of a way to make it that way Make it that way Make it that way Words and Music by Joe Raposo
It’s not Scripture, but it sure does ring true, doesn’t it? The exhortation to “make it that way” is I believe what Jesus calls us to do during our time on this earth. He “made it that way” and now expects us to follow in turn. He taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Our job as Christ-followers is to usher God’s heavenly kingdom into earth even now. And what is in that heavenly kingdom? Children playing, peace between seeming disparates, and a dunk in the clear water around every corner. The prophet Zechariah gave us a similar vision – one of redemptive imagination for what we shall find in the heavenly Jerusalem:
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets… And I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness”” (Zechariah 8:4-5, 8).
What I love about that passage is that children playing is an activity specifically called out as something that will happen in the New Jerusalem. When we watch children play, we are witnessing a glimpse of heaven. When we let the children play, we are facilitating heaven for them. When we play with them, we are entering into a common experience of heaven on earth alongside of them. Holly Catterton Allen, an author who specializes in intergenerational ministry and children’s spirituality, said that when children are in the room, the entire mood of the room changes.[5] It is disarming to us adults. The presence of children reminds us of just how fragile life can be as well as mirror back to us how insanely serious we take ourselves in this life. I think about our music worship here at Eternity and what the presence of children does for us in the room while we sing. Laura Ann has pointed it out many times before that we love having the children run up and down the aisles and wave whatever they have in their hands back and forth. That attitude is contagious, and it helps us adults loosen up a bit and worship more freely as I believe we should. Without the children among us, we would probably descend into becoming the frozen chosen.
Zootopia
But heaven doesn’t stop with playing children. There will also be a new peace among all creatures where there was little prior. I’m going to make you suffer through another reference from the world of children. Sarah and I are, after all, surrounding by all things children these days. So it is all we know in this season. This time, I want to draw from the Disney film, Zootopia. As the title implies, the story is set in a zoological utopia – a city where all the mammal species of the world come together and co-exist in harmony with one another.
Whether the story writers knew it or not, I believe they wrote an image of Isaiah 65 with the story of Zootopia. Isaiah says, “the wolf and the lamb shall feed together….they shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain” (Is 65:25). If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is. There is a more commonly quoted passage in Isaiah chapter 11 that is referred to as the “peaceable kingdom” prophecy. You may have seen any one of the many works of art throughout history called The Peaceable Kingdom as artists have depicted predator and prey lounging together in perfect harmony. You see, in the New Jerusalem, there is no longer predator and prey, nor nations warring against one another.
Like an Enemy Army Fleeing in Defeat
Speaking of nations warring against one another, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor during the Nazi regime. He was one of the few German religious leaders who stood up against Nazism and Hitler during World War II. And he paid the ultimate price for it. He was captured, thrown in a concentration camp, and was subsequently executed just two weeks before the Allies liberated Germany and ended the war. He was also a brilliant author, poet, and theologian. One of his poems is called Who Am I? In it, he expresses the tension of a believer’s identity this side of heaven. Here is a portion of the poem:
Who am I? This or the Other?
Am I one person to-day and to-morrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me like a beaten army
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely question of mine,
Whoever I am, Thou Knowest, O God, I am thine.[6]
Bonhoeffer was internally struggling with that tension we all feel in this period between earth and heaven. The line, “like a beaten army fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved…” has stuck with me ever since I first read it twenty years ago. Jesus is the victor over our hearts and lives. Whatever is left of our fallen human nature (both individually and collectively) is merely “fleeing in disorder” from its already lost battle to the victor Jesus Christ.
The Literal Lion and Lamb
I want to return for a moment to the peaceable kingdom found in our Isaiah passage. There is a local pastor named Jim Lavender who takes the peaceable kingdom imagery to a new level. Jim pastored at Discovery United Methodist Church near Short Pump for over thirty years and is now retired. Before his pastoral vocation, he worked in the circus industry (which makes us instant friends). While in the circus world, he acquired a menagerie of wild and exotic animals that he kept on a farm even into his preaching days. Every so often, he would preach on the peaceable kingdom and bring out a real lion and a real lamb into the sanctuary. And as far as I know, there was never lamb chop for dinner after his presentation. And yes, I have a picture to prove it. I don’t know the year of this photograph, but this is Jim in his earlier years of pastoring, so maybe sometime in the 80s.

The Survivor Tree
In the New Jerusalem, children don’t die. One of the most tragic loss of children in our country’s history happened in 1995 when a domestic terrorist blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. There was a day-care center in that building and many children were tragically taken way too early in life. Just outside the federal building stood an 80-year old oak tree that was badly damaged by the blast. It caught fire from the blast and was close to being completely chopped down during the recovery efforts. But they left it. And about a year later, when survivors returned to the site for a memorial service, they noticed blooms on the once-written off tree. They decided to protect and preserve the tree and sure enough, it grew back strong and beautiful. It now stands as a centerpiece of the memorial plaza on the site of the tragedy. Known as “The Survivor Tree,” the oak stands as a reminder of life in the midst of tragedy and steadfast hope staring down the face of evil. The inscription on the wall around the tree reads:
The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us.
Seeds are collected and planted from the Oklahoma City Survivor Tree each year and there are now thousands of little Survivor Trees descended from this one growing all over the country.[7]
Isaiah’s prophecy says in our reading, “for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be” (Is 65:22). We will never understand this side of heaven why things like Oklahoma City happen in this world. They’re so confusing to comprehend and painful to swallow. On the one hand, there is darkness, despair, death, and pain in this worldly existence. But on the other hand, there is life, joy, and survivor trees in this world. We live in this in-between stage where life and death somehow co-exist. But Jesus changed, is changing, and will consummately change all of that. Jesus literally embodied the co-existence of life and death when he died on the cross. He is eternal life, yet he took death upon himself out of love for us humans who are, on our own, incapable of bringing life out of death. In Philippians 2:8, Paul tells us that Jesus “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross.”
Jesus did that for us. Then he rose from the grave. He brings life where there is death and light where there is darkness. He gives us hope for the New Jerusalem that will someday be. When we follow him and abide in him, he empowers us to live lives that usher heaven into earth even now. I mentioned the living hope we have in Jesus. Peter is the one who said it in his letter in 1 Peter 1:3:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” (1 Peter 1:3).
Thin Places
As Pastor David likes to say, we want to be “thin” places for others in this world. We want to be close to Jesus, so that we can act as havens for others in this world. You may know someone who, when you are around them, make you feel closer to God. It’s not because that person is a deity. It’s because there seems to be just a thin layer of separation between that person and heaven. It is a form of hospitality. People need Jesus. This world needs light. This world needs heaven now. We can be those thin places to the world in our families, our daily workplaces, our neighborhoods, and the city of Richmond as a whole. I think of what Doc and his team are doing by offering a thin place at these residential homes. I think of Eternity at VCU providing a place of college students and staff to learn about and connect to Jesus. I think about Mia and her sacrificial work of facilitating thin places for the kids and youth of this church. And the faithful prayer teams of this congregation who offer up prayers morning, day, and night for the world around us. Providence Christian School, Eternity Music Academy, and the host of other touch points we have to our local community represented here in this room. I pray that we would lean into these thin places and continue to ask for new ways as to how can we be and continue to be ushers of heaven for those around us.
Sanctuary
One more Disney reference: The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This is one of the very few Disney films with outright religious, even Christian, symbolism. Why? Because it is about that great story by Victor Hugo about the reviled Quasimodo who in his deformity hides away in the tower of Paris’ great cathedral. There was a tradition in medieval Europe where someone being chased by the law could run into a church and claim “sanctuary” which essentially gave them legal immunity from the government powers so long as they were in the church (this is found in the Old Testament cities of refuge as well). There is a scene at the end when the gypsy Esmerelda is being falsely accused of witchcraft by an angry mob, who then ties her to a stake to burn. Quasimodo, who has developed a friendship with her, dramatically swings down from the cathedra, braves the flames, and rescues her limp but still alive body from the stake in the square and carries her straight to the cathedral. In his extraordinary strength, he hoists her over his head and shouts, “sanctuary!” to save her from death and condemnation. When I watch that scene, I see two metaphorical relationships. First of all, that is what Jesus does for us. And secondly, it is a picture of who we as Christians could be to the world around us. Like Jesus, we want to pick up the hurt, the poor, the condemned, and bring them to a safe place. We can claim “sanctuary” for them because we know the one true Lord, Judge, and King. This is what being a priesthood of believers means – we are ambassadors for the justice and peace of the kingdom of heaven.
The Engagement Ring
Finally, to our reading in Revelation. This is the culminating vision John receives on the island of Patmos. Jesus shows him a vision of the New Heaven and the New Earth. All our hopes and longings will be satisfied as “the dwelling place of God” will be permanently with us – no longer in this in-between/already-not yet phase of history. But rather we will be with him and he with us completely and fully. Not even a thin layer will separate us from him. We will be with him and with one another forever, void of pain, tears, and death.
I like to see the present state of God’s story with us here on earth like an engagement. And for God’s people, His bride, heaven is the full married life. You know what (or rather, who) the engagement ring is? The Holy Spirit. Listen to Paul in Ephesians:
“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is a guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).
When I bought Sarah’s engagement ring and put it on her finger, it was a deposit guaranteeing (not just wishful thinking) the follow through of our coming marriage. So also when we believe in Jesus, God gifts us his Spirit as a promise of the life to come in the New Jerusalem. John even uses wedding imagery in verse 2 of Revelation 21 where the New Jerusalem itself is “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
All Things New
Now look at verse 5, where God says, “Behold I am making all things new.” My professor Donald Guthrie points out that God does not say here, “I am making all new things.” He says, “I am making all things new.” Heaven, whatever it looks like and feels like, will look and feel familiar. It will be recognizable. Why? Because God will make all things new. All of creation will be redeemed and restored in a way that is familiar yet new. Again, as Rich Mullins said, the Lord has and will shake this old world forward and free. My prayer is that we would follow Jesus in that way and daily ask how we can be his ambassadors of hope, peace, and ushering glimpses of heaven into earth even now. If you want some inspiration, look for the children. Go play red light/green light with some children during the fellowship time downstairs after the service. Jump in a pile of leaves outside with some kids. Speaking of ushering heaven into earth, we’re about to pray the Lord’s prayer together.
Communion
But first (and last), I want to share something I heard about first things and last things from an author named Gregory Thompson, who co-leads an organization called Voices Underground, which advocates for racial reconciliation in the world and the Church. You may have heard people say that the Bible starts in a garden and ends in a city (Eden to the New Jerusalem). To that, Thompson says, “the story of vocation does not, in fact, begin with creation. It begins with the Trinity. And… the Bible does not, in fact, end in a city. It ends at a wedding.”[8] The identifying feature of both the Trinity and a wedding is communion with God. And that is the culminating hope we have for the New Jerusalem. What we get to look forward to is God’s permanent, all-encompassing presence as we enjoy complete communion with Him and with one another.[9] With that, let us pray as Jesus taught us to pray:
Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and glory forever. Amen.
Now let us gather around the Lord’s table for his communion….
[1] Bauckham, Richard. 1993. The Theology of the Book of Revelation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 132.
[2] Oswalt, John N. Isaiah: The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 29-33.
[3] King Jr., Martin Luther. “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution.” Speech given at the National Cathedral, March 31, 1968.
[4] Mullins, Rich. 1996. “Calling Out Your Name.”
[5] Catterton Allen, Holly. 2022. “Intergenerational Teaching and Learning: Benefits, Challenges, and Recommendations from Recent Research.” Presentation at SPCE Annual Conference. San Diego, CA. Oct 21, 2022.
[6] Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. 1971. Letters and Papers from Prison. New York, NY: Macmillan, 347-348.
[7] Survivor Tree. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_Tree
[8] Thompson, Greg. 2018. “Music, Worship, and Reflection Together.” Lecture at the Faith at Work Summit. Chicago, IL. October 12, 2018. Available online. Accessed March 31, 2020. https://youtu.be/IMhkNUHyu3o (start at timestamp 33:05 for quoted portion).
[9] Bauckham, Richard. 1993. The Theology of the Book of Revelation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 140.
Consecrating Our Work Unto the Lord
The following is the text of the sermon that I preached at Eternity Church in Richmond, VA on January 30, 2022:

Consecrating Our Work Unto the Lord
Scripture
Genesis 2:15
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Genesis 3:17-19a
17 And to Adam he said,…. cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,
Exodus 35:30-33
30 Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, 32 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft.
Exodus 37:1-2
37 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 2 And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it.
Exodus 39:27-31
27 They also made the coats, woven of fine linen, for Aaron and his sons, 28 and the turban of fine linen, and the caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twined linen, 29 and the sash of fine twined linen and of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, embroidered with needlework, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
30 They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engraving of a signet, “Holy to the Lord.” 31 And they tied to it a cord of blue to fasten it on the turban above, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Romans 4:17
17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Colossians 3:17
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
1 Peter 4:10
10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
My First Job
Do you remember your first job? My first job was working as a waiter and dishwasher at Gayton Terrace, an assisted living community in the far West End of Henrico County. I was in high school at the time, about to get my learner’s permit for driving, and my parents were not the type to pass out free cash to their kids. Not that they had much anyway. So the first few months on the job, my mother drove me to and from work.
On that first day, I showed up at the kitchen of this assisted living home of about a hundred residents. The dining hall manager handed me my nametag, a maroon apron, and taught me how to use a punch clock (“ka-chunk”). I was set to earn a cool $4.25 an hour – minimum wage in 1995. Once I set foot in the kitchen, the first task I was given was loading and running the dishwasher.
Now, I don’t know if anyone here has experience with washing dishes in a commercial kitchen, but it is not glamorous. You scrape other’s people food off plates, liquids are splashing everywhere, the massive dishwasher is loud and hot. I learned the ropes and they left me alone with the dishwasher for the rest of my three-hour shift (the maximum number of hours a minor could work on a school night).
I still remember that three-hour period fairly clearly to this day. The reason is because it was not at all what I expected work to feel like in this world. Sure, my parents raised me to work hard, do my chores, and find satisfaction in a job well done. But this felt different. Here in the Gayton Terrace kitchen I found myself cleaning other peoples’ dishes and submitting to orders from bosses that were not my parents. I felt a very palpable sense of despair during those three hours – because I reasoned that I was going to have to work for the rest of my life to provide for myself and make a living. And no matter the work I envisioned myself doing for the rest of my life, I figured it would be hard and toilsome, like scrubbing the dishes of strangers.
In hindsight, I can guess that my despair stemmed from two sources: first is the fact that I am a human and work on this earth is hard and not always fun. Secondly (and related to the first), I was raised in the church, where more often than not the meaning and theology of work is cast in the light of Genesis chapter 3 rather than Genesis chapters 1 and 2.
Work in Genesis 1-3
Let me explain. Have you ever seen a painting or depiction of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? If you do a quick survey of Adam and Eve in art history, there are generally two categories of paintings: before the Fall (when they sinned against God by partaking of the forbidden fruit) and after the Fall. The “before the Fall” paintings usually show Adam and Eve lounging (or maybe strolling) in the verdant paradise garden as if they’re on the promenade deck of a luxury cruise ship, surrounded by happy creatures and colorful foliage. The “after the Fall” paintings depict Adam and Eve in some state of shame, darkness, or performing grueling labor upon the land outside the boundaries of Eden. Now, the image of Adam and Eve toiling by the sweat of their brows is a Biblical one. After they sinned, the Lord did said to Adam: “…cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread…”
We often view the work of our hands – our Monday through Friday work in such a light. It is true that human work has been tainted and cursed by the fallenness of humanity. But work is not the result of fallenness. Let me say that a different way: while work and labor can be toilsome, difficult, and even exploitative when abused by bad actors, work itself is not inherently an evil thing. I want to make the case that work is inherently of God – that work is originally sacred – and that our vocational endeavors, from banking to preaching to grandparenting, can and should be redeemed by Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and consecrated up unto God the Father as a holy sacrificial offering.
Here is how we know that work is originally good and of God. In Genesis chapter 1, God is the first one who works when he creates the universe. In Genesis 2, we know this creating is considered work because he rested “from all his work” on the seventh day (Gen 2:2). Even nature works: God mandated the land to “produce vegetation” (Gen 1:11) while he ordered the moon and sun to administer over the night and day (Gen 1:14-18). He also orders the humans to work. He called them to “rule” over the creatures (Gen 1:26), to “be fruitful and increase in number,” and to “subdue” the earth (Gen 1:28).
But in Genesis 2:15, we see a very telling verse that I believe that many of those artists of history missed out on when depicting Adam and Eve in the garden before the Fall. The text says in Genesis 2:15: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” You see, even before we sinned, we were called to steward God’s creation and to create within it. There is, therefore, such as thing as sanctified work. Yes, our sin came and messed up work. But God in his redemptive love through Jesus Christ has called us to work in our Father’s world in ways that bring heaven to earth. Where there is darkness in work, we can bring light. Where there is brokenness in the world of work, we can bring healing. Where there is chaos in the marketplace, we can bring order. Where there is division and injustice in the workplace, we can be the bearers of reconciliation and righteousness – infused with the resurrection power of God, who, according to Romans 4:17, “gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.”
Cobblers and Street Sweepers
I believe this redemptive approach to our working lives applies to all levels of work and most any type of work. The apostle Paul says in Colossians 3:17: “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Martin Luther the Reformer said in the 1500s:
“Therefore, just as Those who are now called ‘spiritual’ – priests, bishops or popes – are neither different from other Christians nor superior to them….A cobbler, a smith, a farmer, each has the work and office of his trade, and yet they are all alike consecrated priests and bishops, and every one by means of his own work or office must benefit and serve every other, that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community, even as all the members of the body serve one another.”[i]
Several centuries later, another Martin Luther, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, said something very similar:
If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne (leon-teen) Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.’[ii]
Nestor
One day I was mowing grass in my front yard and my postal worker came walking up the sidewalk to deliver our mail. I powered down the mower to greet him and we exchanged pleasantries. His name is Nestor, and he has always been a friendly, faithful, dedicated postal worker. He handed me some letters and turned around to head to the next house. As he walked away, I thanked him for his great work as a postal carrier. He responded, “I do it for the Lord!”
I didn’t stop him to ask what he meant by that. He was on a delivery schedule after all. But as I turned my mower back on and zig-zagged through my yard I couldn’t help but ponder that one line from a postal service worker. I don’t even know if I needed to ask him what he meant, though, because he already exhibited what “doing it for the Lord” means in the way I have witnessed his work – cheerful, humble, dedicated, and service-minded. It also caused me to wonder about the inherent sacredness found in his work (and other kinds of work as well). Think about it – the role of his work is that of serving others by delivering messages from one person to another. In the redemptive imagination, his work is that of an angel. Angels deliver messages. That is important work. That is sacred work. I believe this exercise in imagination can apply to most jobs. Think about a certain job and you can see the shadow of heaven behind it. Doctors bring healing. Lawyers and judges seek justice. Financial advisors help people steward resources. Street sweepers provide sanitation, safety, and beauty. The list goes on. Of course, any of these jobs (yours and mine included) can be abused for evil. But as Christians I believe we are called to be the ambassadors of the redemptive work of heaven in whatever work we find ourselves on this earth.
1 Peter 4:10
We have all been endowed with different gifts, talents, abilities, and resources in this world. Our calling is to steward those things to the ends of serving others and bringing glory to God, no matter the task. Listen to Peter’s first letter:
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4:10-11).
Theologian Frederick Buechner said it this way: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”[iii] And you may recall the film Chariots of Fire, in which the Olympic runner and believer in Christ Eric Liddell said, “[God] made me fast and when I run I feel his pleasure.”[iv] He was speaking to his sister, who wanted him to become a missionary to China. He did eventually serve in China, but he wanted to make a point to his sister that for him, competitive running was just as sacred a calling as serving as a missionary in China. He ran unto the Lord.
Bezalel Made the Ark
What does that look like in your daily work, whatever it may be? How can you view your daily endeavors as unto the Lord? We find clues in our main passage today – the story of the artist Bezalel. Bezalel was the head artisan for the tabernacle – the mobile sanctuary used by Moses and the Hebrew people as they wandered through the desert. Bezalel and his team fashioned the curtains, the lampstand, the priestly garments, the altars and other creative details of the sanctuary. But his most well-known piece is arguably the ark of the covenant itself – the cherubim adorned golden chest that contained the ten commandments and other relics important to the spiritual life of Israel. Here is the passage from Exodus 35:
30 Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, 32 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft (Ex 35:30-33).
This is an example of God calling someone to specific work in the Old Testament. It displays that there are multiple meanings of calling in Scripture, depending on the context. For example, the primary calling of all believers is to, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “belong wholly” to Jesus Christ.[v] In fact, when Paul opens his letter to the church in Rome, he plainly says, “And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ” (Rom 1:6, NIV). But we also see God calling people to specific tasks and roles in Scripture, as exemplified here in the story of Bezalel. God called Bezalel to be an artist. God gifted him with the necessary talents and skills to fulfill his calling. And part of his calling as an artist was to fashion the ark of the covenant.
This is also the first time in Scripture that someone is said to be filled with the Spirit of God, which I find very interesting.[vi] It is the first time the specific verb for “filled”[vii] appears in relation to the Spirit of God. After Bezalel and his colleagues crafted the artistic elements for the tabernacle, Moses hosted a bit of a grand opening service for this tent of meeting. When he did so, the text says, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Ex 40:34). And that was the same Hebrew verb for “filled” as the one used for Bezalel’s filling of the Spirit.[viii]Thus, the work of the Spirit-filled artisan filled the sanctuary that would then be filled with the Spirit of God himself. God is at once the beginning, middle, and end of the work of our hands.
In fact, if you read all the way near the end of Exodus, you will find that Bezalel and his artist collective also made the garments for the priests (Aaron and his sons), including a golden crown for Aaron. Bezalel’s team etched an inscription in the crown: “Holy to the Lord.” What if we as Christians could follow in the example of Bezalel and metaphorically etch “Holy to the Lord” on everything that passes through our hands in our daily work?
The Ventriloquist
I asked a moment ago what this might look like for our working lives in the 21st Century. And when I say “working lives,” I’m not talking only about traditional nine-to-five work that involves a paycheck (though it includes that too). I’m also talking about raising children, caring for elderly parents, volunteerism, and pretty much any endeavor in life that involves creating things, serving others, or otherwise making order out of the chaos of life. How can we consecrate our work unto the Lord and let the Holy Spirit fill the work of our hands in all we do? Allow me an example from a ventriloquist friend of mine.
Yes, when you’re a juggler like me you have lots of weird friends, including ventriloquists. Oftentimes circus people like us feel inadequate or insignificant in the grand scheme of life. What do we really have to offer? Does our work matter? Is there anything remotely sacred about the absurd? We tend to think so. One day, my friend Gary did some visitation rounds at his local children’s hospital. He’s a believer, but he wasn’t preaching to or praying with patients in the traditional definition of those terms. He was simply going in and doing little puppet acts for the children to bring joy and laughter in an otherwise difficult situation for them and their families. Gary visited a quiet little boy named Tommy. Gary did a few banter jokes with his puppet: “…I can’t believe you would say something like that. If you were my child, I’d give you poison” to which the puppet replied, “If I was your child, I’d take the poison!” Tommy suddenly broke his silence and pointed at the puppet: “I really like him!” Gary then recounted the powerful moment that followed, and I quote Gary here:
And then the room…something changes in the room. And somebody comes over and grabs my arm and says, ‘Keep him talking!’ So, I have the puppet say, ‘So what’s your name?’… ‘My name is Tommy,’ or whatever it was. So that turns out, the little boy had not said anything for months. So now the kid is talking to the ventriloquist puppet. So now the people are saying, like, whispering in my ear, ‘Ask him if it hurts.’ You know, [in puppet voice] ‘Does it hurt?’… [Tommy replies], ‘Yes.’ [end quote]
Gary said they then did this whole back-and-forth conversation between the doctor and Tommy with Gary and his puppet as the intermediaries. Gary and his God-given talent built a bridge that no one else could. Where doctors, nurses, and who knows how many other people were unable to get through to this suffering child, the puppet could. God had gifted Gary with skills that the world may view as childish in order to facilitate giving voice to a voiceless child. That is what I view as a sacred calling. That is a believer who does their work unto the Lord – faithfully administering the gifts he’s been given to serve others and ultimately to bring glory to God. And you never know when in your steadfast faithfulness to the call, God will do something miraculous right before your eyes.[ix]
Bethlehem
When I was in college, I had the privilege of spending a semester studying abroad in Jerusalem. While there, I found opportunities to perform my juggling show at various venues. One was for a Palestinian elementary school in Bethlehem. The night before my show, I could hear gun and tank fire volleying between Jerusalem and Bethlehem – very close to where I was. It was the year 2000, and what came to be known as “The Second Intifada” was raging between the Israelis and the Palestinians. In the morning, the headmaster of the school came and picked me up at my school. On the way to the show, he drove me through a town that had suffered a lot of the destruction I had heard the night before. It was very sad – a big hole in a building from a rocket, people sweeping up glass in the street. We then went to the nearby school for my show. There was nothing extraordinary about my show. I performed some tricks and told some jokes. The children laughed and expressed joy. After the show, the headmaster thanked me for bringing a smile to their faces that day. He said, “They really needed that, because during recess, they play funeral.” Death was their day-to-day experience in the real world. My show was a brief interruption to their darkness and brought a glimmer of light to their day. You see, you never know when the work of your hands, no matter how insignificant it feels (I mean, how many things are more insignificant than juggling?), will touch other people in a way that brings a little bit of heaven to earth for them.
Every Square Inch
In closing, I want to invite you to think about your own daily work, whatever it may be. You may or may not see your daily work as your vocational calling. Maybe you’re still searching for what that is in your life. No matter where you are on that journey, I still believe we can consecrate our daily work unto the Lord as an offering of praise unto Him. We can ask for the Holy Spirit to fill us and fill our work with the light and life of God – so that others in the world may be served by our giftings, our talents, our skills, and our work. I wish I could have told my 15-year-old self that even in washing dishes for assisted living folks can I be the hands of Jesus….scrubbing, cleaning, praying, and worshipping through each load of the dishwasher. There was a 17th century monk known as Brother Lawrence. When he served in the kitchen as cook and dishwasher, he didn’t like it at first either. But he learned to enjoy the work when he saw it through the lens of doing “everything for the love of God, asking as often as possible for grace to do [the] work.”[x] We can, like Nestor the mailman, “do it all for Jesus.” Abraham Kuyper, who eventually became the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, said in a speech in 1880, “there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’”[xi] Yes, Jesus is over every work, including the washing of dishes in a steaming kitchen at a retirement home when I was fifteen years old.
As Christians, we lay hands on missionaries and ministers as they go out into the fields of their vocational ministry, and we should. But what if we extended that prayer support into all fields of work? Below is a prayer I wrote as a corporate prayer of the people of God offering their daily work unto the Lord. I provide it here as one way in which the local church can offer commissioning prayers for people in all kinds of work:
Heavenly Father,
We offer unto you our daily work.
Fill us with your Spirit.
Sanctify the work of our hands,
That our roles, positions, vocations, and labors,
Would be done for your glory.
May our endeavors serve the needs of those around us
And fill your earth with healing, justice, reconciliation, and love.
Help us to steward our callings,
That they may be an acceptable offering of praise back unto you.
Amen.
[i] Martin Luther, “An Open Letter to The Christian Nobility of the German Nation Concerning the Reform of the Christian Estate.” First published 1520. Introduction and Translation by C. M. Jacobs. Works of Martin Luther: With Introductions and Notes. Volume II (Philadelphia, PA: A. J. Holman Company, 1915). Accessed Feb 27, 2020. http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/web/nblty-03.html.
[ii] This quote comes from a speech by Dr. King to students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia, PA in 1967. See https://youtu.be/kmsAxX84cjQ (quote starts at time-stamp 10:50) for the speech.
[iii] Buechner, Fredrick. 1993. Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC. Revised and Expanded. New York, NY: Harper Collins, p. 199.
[iv] The scriptwriter for Chariots of Fire, Colin Welland, should technically be credited with the quote. There is no source of Eric Liddell saying or writing this quote in real life. Welland said in a letter to an inquiry about the quote that he came up with it for the film. But he believed that it reflected how Eric Liddell felt. See https://www.veritesport.org/?page=welland for the source of this information, including a link to an image of Welland’s signed statement about the quote (Hugh Hudson, director. Chariots of Fire. Original screenplay by Colin Welland, 20th Century Fox, 1981).
[v] Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Ethics (New York, NY: Touchstone, 1995), p. 253.
[vi] Technically, the first time is the parallel passage to this one found in Exodus 31:1-11. The Hebrew term for “filled” in these passages is male (Strong’s 4390 and Goodrick-Kholenberger number 4848).
[vii] Hebrew male or mala (Strong’s 4390).
[viii] Ibid.
[ix] Jesse Joyner, “Holy Fools” (PhD Dissertation, Trinity International University, 2021), pp. 150-151. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2622316783/74D2F35035A24815PQ/1.
[x] This quote comes from Brother Lawrence’s friend, Joseph de Beaufort, in his description of Brother Lawrence (Brother Lawrence. The Practice of the Presence of God. Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1992, p. 12).
[xi] James D. Bratt, ed. Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998), pp. 13, 461, 488.
“This guy was AMAZING!!!”
More to the Story Podcast Interview
Last month, an old seminary friend of mine (Dr. Andy Miller III) called me up for an interview on his podcast. He was interested in learning more about my dissertation research. It means so much when people care to listen and learn about something that took up a good two years of my life. Yes, of course I would like to share! Here is the link to the interview page, which leads you to the various links where you can access it. I’ve also included the YouTube link below that…
https://andymilleriii.com/articles/juggling-for-jesus-with-jesse-joyner
Children Now Seminar
At Ascent College (where I teach), we believe that children are active participants in the kingdom of God even now. We don’t have to wait until they grow up for God do do great things through them. Furthermore, we as adults have a lot to learn in life from children (especially how to have faith). Join me and my colleague Audrea Gray as we lead a day-long in-person workshop on Children’s Ministry in the DC area (Springfield, VA) next Saturday (Sept 17th). Registration is only $10 and is still open (click here or on the image below):

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