Life is like a box of chocolates

Introduction

Every once in a while, life offers up something profound, something unexpected that really puts the whole picture together. We see it often in children, when they discover how adding two plus two equals four; or when they make a new discovery while exploring nature. Those moments are a much rarer as we get older. Perhaps when we read a book and an author clarifies a life lesson we’ve been struggling with. Perhaps while speaking with a counsellor, we discover something hidden about ourselves. Those “aha” moments. Those infamous “mic” drop moments which seem more and more plentiful by popular artists.

Many times those moments, those realizations occur at the most bizarre times, when you least expect them, but when you need them the most. I call them the “life is like a box of chocolates” moments; made famous by Forrest Gump: “Mama Always Said, Life Was Like a Box of Chocolates. You Never Know What You're Gonna Get.”

We witness such an event in today’s reading. Jesus reads from the book of Isaiah. Today’s reading gives us an opportunity to witness Jesus first act of public ministry. Jesus returns to his home of Galilee, and reads from scripture:

Reading

Luke 4:14–21 NIV

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

That Mic Drop moment

Robert Parham writes that “Luke 4:18–19 is one of the most ignored, watered down, spiritualized or glossed-over texts, evading or emptying Jesus’ first statement of his moral agenda” He goes on to summarize that in these verses “Jesus said the gospel was for the poor and oppressed, speaking to those at the margins of society. Jesus was announcing that he came to liberate from real oppressive structures the marginalized—the impoverished, the war captives, the poor in health, the political prisoners. Jesus came to turn the economic structures upside down, instituting the year of Jubilee when crushing debts were forgiven and slaves were freed.”

When Jesus rolls up the scroll, I can almost picture him slamming it on the ground with gusto…that mic drip moment! (of course Jesus was polite and simply gave it back to the attendant, I’m exagerating!) Such a profound statement, “Today scripture is fulfilled”, Jesus, sent by God to fulfill those ancient prophecies. Jesus, showing us the way the eternal life. His public ministry has begun with such a bold statement. An “aha” moment, witnessed by those in His presence in Nazareth.

That Box of Chocolates

Funny thing about boxes of chocolates. Usually there are a variety to choose from. Some have nuts, some have those liquidy cherry fillings, some are goohy. Each are unique, yet together they can form a perfect mixture for the pallet. We are all unique in our own talents, abilities, strengths and weaknesses. Some of us are good singers, good artists, good with our hands, good with brains, good at talking to others. Each of us are unique, which makes us truly one of a kind.

Leave it all behind

“My Mama always said you’ve got to put the past behind you before you can move on.” - Forrest Gump

We have this habit, of living in the past don’t we? Always dwelling on the things we don’t have…always “wishing” we could do that are typically out of our comfort zones…out of our natural or God given talents. You and I have unique gifts. I’m pretty good at writing....good with numbers. I’m terrible with anything mechanical! We are all unique in the skills and abilities we have been born with. Even more so, we are all unique in the skills and abilities God has bestowed upon us. (we just need to open our hearts to what the Holy Spirit has given). We really need to realize our potential, but to realize our limits as well. Individually, you are I are limited. Together, you and I, (and society as an entirety) are closer to being complete, than on our own. Together, we form that box of chocolates.

Paul tells us this way:

1 Corinthians 12:12–27 NIV

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Conclusion

“You have to do the best with what God gave you.” – Mrs. Gump

Those “aha” moments we experience in our lives may seem few and far between, but if we open our hearts, open our minds, we can experience those profound life-fulfilling moments more and more if we allow ourselves. Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life” John 14:6, through him we can be complete. Together, we are united

Prayer

Psalm 113 NIV

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, you his servants; praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people. He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord.