God and German Chocolate Cake!

 

Honestly, it began as one of the scariest experiences of my life so far!

I was talking to a fellow pastor on the phone when the blood-curdling scream took place! “Tim! Tim! Tim! Come here NOWWWWW!”, my wife, Donna, yelled in a strained and scarey voice! I almost dropped the phone mid-sentence and felt the impending fear of having to confront the unknown! “What’s the matter?”, I responded as I scrambled out of my seat and headed toward the stairs. “Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! I need your help!!! Nowwwww!!!”, she compelled me!

That was all my heart could take and I was, quite frankly, ready to hurt someone or kill something! Maybe the “rat” (that I had suspected was living in the garage for all these 9 years in this house), had finally come out to tangle!! Well, he was going DOWN! Or should I say I was going to send him UP to his home with Jesus!! Ha-Ha! 🙂 You know how those needless and worrisome fears about the “boogey-man” are! 🙂 (NO! There is no “rat” in my garage – Donna wouldn’t allow it!)

I told my phone guest to hold on (or screamed it in their ear), as I zoomed down the stairs ready to defend, protect and serve my woman and family!! As I bounded from the last step to the main floor and rounded the corner towards the dining room, I got the surprise of my life and almost went to see Jesus in the shock! There in the dining room stood my immediate family and a couple of the neighborhood children, peering around the corner with glee and delight, as they yelled out “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!”

Arrrggghhhh – The deception! Oooohhhh – The lie of misperception!!!! Aaaaahhhhh – the needless fear!! And……Yes! Yes! Yes! – the FUN and JOY of my Inclusion, and the toothy smile radiating from beneath my “Happy Birthday” dunce cap!!!! 🙂

Talk about one of the greatest, fun, inclusive and enjoyable family moments we’ve ever had!! My phone guest heard every scream and word, and enjoyed it all immensely!! All this explained the “weird” moments I had experienced throughout the day and the elaborate cooking and cake-baking Donna had been up to! You may be asking why this birthday celebration came as such a surprise to me. Well, besides just being clueless sometimes, my birthday was actually about a week earlier where we had been serving others and enjoying each other at Higher Ground camp. We can’t forget the “tom-foolery” my family had engaged in to throw me off as well! 🙂

Now to God and German Chocolate Cake. Besides preparing some of my favorite food, my wife fixed my absolute favorite dessert – a huge German Chocolate Cake! For as long as I can remember, whenever my birthday had been celebrated in childhood, someone had always prepared me a German Chocolate Cake. In my marriage of 17years, and primarily due to religiosity, we really hadn’t celebrated birthdays as much as we SHOULD HAVE! We’ve been trying to change that lately and celebrate the Father, Son and Spirit’s destiny for each family member to exist in distinction and inclusion with Him and each other.

Not only did this cake stir up many wonderful, childhood memories, it was the most delicious version of the cake I had ever eaten!! I am not joking when I say I could taste the love in it! The entire cake was almost devoured within the first two days by anyone who got a taste of it, and that’s no joke! I had to play guardian and protect it so that I might savor its sumptuous, out-of-this-world, deliciousness for as many days as possible, and I DID!! 🙂

This cake was sooooo subtly distinct, and filled with sweetness and love, that I have been unable to refrain from remarking positively about it ever since! My wife is used to hearing my compliments on her food (and everyone else’s compliments!), and she REALLY IS a gifted chef, but she is not that good and gifted BY HERSELF!! That cake is so memorable that I not only preached about it, but am now writing about it!

How is it that I could be so apparently obsessed with, thrilled and INSPIRED by, the taste of a German Chocolate Cake? It’s just a physical thing isn’t it?  Here one day – gone the next! How is it that I could say with such certainty that my wife is a good cook and baker but not as good as that cake tasted?! How come wonderful memories and joy-filled emotions were released in my human body, giving me a sense of ecstasy, after eating that cake?

BECAUSE GOD THE FATHER, SON AND SPIRIT ARE IN CHOCOLATE CAKE!!! IN FACT, THIS TRIUNE GOD CREATED, SUSTAINS AND FILLS ALL THINGS, INCLUDING GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE!!! THAT’S WHY!!!

That is the simple and complex reason behind the joy that can be found IN everyone and everything! The Father created every piece of food in existence, including the taste buds, saliva and eyeballs to enjoy it with! Jesus sustains every atom in the universe in His very Being and Person! The Holy Spirit is present everywhere to share the Communion of the Father and Son with all people and things!

Enjoy how Eugene Peterson describes this beautiful Truth in “The Message” version of the scriptures:

 15 We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. 16 For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels – everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. 17 He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. 18 And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. 19 So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. 20 Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe – people and things, animals and atoms – get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the Cross.