Grace and Bell Ringing

"Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt" - Romans 4:4

"So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." - 2 Corinthians 9:7

Seems like I’ve become an annual blogger and only around Christmas time, so for all 5 of you have noticed my lack of writing, I apologize.  However, I once again got to serve ringing the bell for Salvation Army (this time it truly was a volunteered for, as opposed to the other times, see previous blog link below) for two hours in front of Sam’s Club and with that much time, you get to thinking, and that thinking led to this desire to write another blog.

First let’s look at grace.  In the Christian context, grace is unrequited, undeserved favor from God.  When we show grace it should be the same way.  I was thinking about this last month when we were helping to deliver Thanksgiving food “baskets” (they were hardly anything but baskets, but huge bags of food) from a local church to our clients (and of course the church served over 100+ others these as well).  It can be easy to look at the few who have no desire to work and only live off the government and charities, and think they don’t deserve the food.  But if they did deserve it, that wouldn’t be grace!  We don’t ever deserve favor or blessing or forgiveness from the Lord – our acts of kindness or Christian service don’t entitle us to anything.  We are blessed regardless and that is grace!  And the Salvation Army uses the resources from your giving to show the Lord’s grace onto others who are in need.  Having been one who benefited from other’s generosity during our out of work time last year, I am glad to help an organization that is generous to others.

Second, want to just share some highlights of ringing the bell.  I can say I feel the Lord has done a work in me since the first time I wrote about bell ringing some 3-4 years ago and am more generous (though the Lord is still working).  I was also excited to do it this time and was glad I was allowed to volunteer to be part of the city’s volunteer force to help out.  Though cold and two hours of bell ringing, I had a blast (my frozen toes would beg to differ but they don’t have a say).  If people were to ask how do you pass that long of time, standing ringing a bell, well my answers in no specific order: I like people watching and “to myself time” which it provided, I started praying for those who walked out past me (which when you start doing that you can be overwhelmed with just how much there can be to pray for and just how many people there are and how many need Jesus), and I had fun coming up with tunes on the bell (not sure if anyone noticed any beats or not but I did).  Plus, when you’ve walked into random people’s houses for your job, or simply visited various countries doing ministry on the street and in homes, standing ringing a bell is quite easy, and I like people anyhow.  I’m still continually blessed by those who love to give.  One man gave change and then came back go give some cash from his wallet.  Another woman slipped a $10 bill in.  I love seeing parents give their kids money to put in and (as my original blog on subject talked about) we do that with our kids as well since it is a great way to teach them to be givers.

Unlike most of my blogs, there isn’t a strong lesson in this, but simply wanted to get some observations out.  However, I would say as you pass the bell ringers, say Merry Christmas to them and look them in the eye, whether or not you give.  No need to feel guilty if you don’t give (unless the Lord is telling you otherwise), but a simple greeting will make their time ringing that much more enjoyable.  Hope you have a very Merry Christmas this year!

Original bell ringing post can be found here: http://ccedge.blogspot.com/2009/11/repost-my-hour-and-3-minutes-of-life-as.html