090719 Lose The Box

How many boxes do you think you have in your house? What is the smallest box you’ve got in your house? The largest? What’s your favorite box? How many different kinds of boxes can you think of?

We live in boxes. We use boxes with wheels for transportation. In the boxes where we live, we have all sorts of other boxes that hold our stuff. Some boxes are made to hold lots of smaller boxes. Some boxes are fancy, and are made to hold something precious. Some boxes are very strong, and are meant to support great weight. We have fireproof boxes, refrigerated boxes, locking boxes, boxes that hold valuables in a wall, boxes that look nice enough to display on a shelf, clear boxes, big stackable boxes, a box for a Christmas tree, waterproof boxes, game boxes… We love boxes so much, that when we die, most of us will end up in a box!

David lived in a very impressive box in Jerusalem. It was palatial. One day he realized, however, that the symbol of God’s presence – the Ark of the Covenant – was tent camping – it wasn’t even in an RV! So David thought that it would be a good idea to build a proper box to hold the Ark, where worship could also take place. Making a nice box for God seemed like an honorable thing to do. (2 Samuel 7:1-14)

Even though God gave the nod to the project, God also made something clear to David (and to us): there just isn’t a big enough box for God. The box isn’t for God – the box was for the people. People needed the box, because then they’d know where to find the thing the box was made for – in this case, God.

This is basically what we do with boxes, right? It is our way to organize our stuff. Another word for organizes is manage. Another word for manage is control. Boxes help us control our environment. Some boxes even trick us into thinking that we are in some way controlling even God.

We can leave God in the box called Church. Whenever we need God, we know where to find him. We get to choose when we need him, when we want him. In this way we control, at least we think, God’s influence over our lives. We do the same with traditions, with labels, with causes – all are ways of controlling how much God we want.

But God has never been one to be boxed in.

As much as our boxes serve to organize our thoughts, our expressions, and even our beliefs about God, the boxes eventually meet their limitations. If we’re not aware of this, we’ll reach a point in our life when our growth will absolutely stop. No more room to grow, because the box won’t allow it. The sad reality is that I think this is what God sees more often than not – people focusing on the box, instead of the God who transcends the box.

There are some cool stories where God did cool stuff in the box. But not nearly as many, and not nearly as cool as the stories that were outside of the box. Want to see God in his element? Lose the box. Outside the box is where the wind blows freely, where God can stretch out and do some amazing things. Flip through just the ministry of Jesus and see how much of his ministry was done inside. Little by comparison.

Given the choice of living out your life in the safety and security of a box that would serve to keep God small in your life, with extremely limited impact or losing the box and allowing God to do the really cool stuff in your life – which do you choose? One way of life keeps the wind out. The other is impacted every moment by the wind.

Want to have a life where God shows up daily? Lose the box.
Want to see more miraculous stuff happen in your life? Lose the box.
Want to see God heal broken relationships in your life? Lose the box.
Want to see yourself become healthier in every way? Lose the box.
Want to see God turn the world around? Lose the box.
For God’s sake, lose the box! For everyone’s sake – lose the box!

Think…
1. What kind of boxes help you manage your faith?
2. How have they helped? How have they limited God?
3. How well did Jesus live inside the boxes of his day? How did the owners of those boxes feel about Jesus? Why didn’t they see the limitations of their boxes? Why don’t we?
4. Sometimes we experience pain in our lives along the seams of our boxes where God is trying to break free. Where do you see your seams showing strain right now?

May God reveal to you the God-box you’ve created,

and may God make use of his holy box cutter…