"Be a Spoon"
Philippians 3:4b-14
Theme: Spoons have only one purpose: they are designed to serve. In a world of knives and forks -- be a spoon.
Illustration: While setting the table for dinner one evening, a little girl entertained herself by bringing the utensils to life. Her mother listened as knives, forks and spoons carried on conversation and wrestled their way onto the table.
Suddenly the girl looked over at her mother and declared, "If I had to choose -- I'd be a spoon!"
"A spoon," her mother replied, intrigued. "Why would you want to be a spoon? What would be wrong with being a knife or a fork?"
"Well," the girl explained, "forks are too grabby -- always stabbing stuff and taking it like it's theirs. Like in school -- I hate it when somebody takes a piece of my dessert with their fork and eats it."
"Okay," her mother agreed, "what about being a knife?"
"No, knives are scary -- like, they cut things, and you can't really eat with them, just slice stuff up," she responded.
"But," the little girl continued, holding a shiny spoon in front of her face, "spoons can scoop up lots of stuff and even pass it around. They're just --"
"-- Nice and round and smooth and friendly," her mother suggested.
Her daughter's eyes lit up. "Right!" she said. "I'd rather be a spoon!"
Be a spoon!? It's not just silly childhood make-believe. It is a great image of a Christian lifestyle. That little girl's analysis of silverware was right on the nose. But it was also a revealing insight into the way various types of people operate in this world.
1) Fork Type People:
Wanna be a fork? We've all known plenty of "forks."
These are the "gimme" people, those who never seem to have enough on their own plate to satisfy themselves. So they are constantly on the lookout for something more, something better, something different. The infamous "corporate raiders" of the "gimme-more" '80s were classic "forks." They stabbed up anything they could sink their tines into, whether it suited their tastes or not. In their greed, "gimme-more" fork people can't stop to savor the morsels they are collecting. The only craving they care to satisfy is the "stab-it-so-you-can-consume-it" desire.
2) Knife Type People:
Wanna be a knife? Knife people are fixated on what lies before them -- but only because they are trying to figure out how they can carve it up into a new shape -- especially a new form that they will wholly determine.
Knife people are control freaks. Knives try to reconstruct reality so that it will serve their purposes, so it will suit their preferences. No matter what is placed before knife people, it is never quite right. The sharp blade of the knife goes to work, slicing off anything they find offensive, cutting down any big goals into tiny piecemeal projects, dissecting the heart out of ideas, never leaving anything whole.
3) Being a Spoon:
Wanna be a spoon? Spoons are distinctly different, because instead of taking, spoons are designed to serve. A spoon offers sustenance to others. It is not just concerned with scooping up everything in its path for itself, or reconstituting everything to fit into a preconceived image. Spoons exist for one purpose only: to serve and save.
Spoon people are adaptable -- they can operate in a variety of venues. Whether it's hot soup or freezing ice cream, they can scoop it up. Spoon people serve others, but they are also the best at stirring things up.
Ever notice that in good silverware sets there are always twice as many spoons as anything else? A service for four includes four knives, four dinner forks, four salad forks, but eight spoons. That is because everyone -- the utensil manufacturers included -- knows that spoons get used for more things and in more ways than do knives and forks. Because their shape is less specialized, spoons are more adaptable. You can eat steak, spaghetti or soup if you have a spoon. If necessary, a spoon can even do some cutting. Who hasn't successfully sliced through a reluctant, rock-hard cantaloupe with the edge of a spoon?
Paul, before his Damascus road experience, was a knife person. As a zealous Pharisee, he tried to cut off Christianity, which he thought was an offensive growth on the body of the Jewish faith.
But after Paul relinquished his "confidence in the flesh" for his commitment to Christ, Paul found his honed edges beaten flat and smooth, his narrowness pulled into a wide bowl, his rigidity bent into a gentle curve. In other words, Paul was transformed into a spoon.
What would it take to replace those actions with spoonlike service?
To be in service to others, instead of being in competition with strangers and "others."
To give up trying to "have it all," and instead commit to "sharing it all."
To stop worrying about what is on your own plate, and instead start paying attention to the nutritional needs of others who sit around you every day.
Wanna be a spoon? Dish up a "one another" helping and heap it on someone's plate:
"Love one another," Romans 12:10; 13:8; 1 John 4:7
"Outdo one another in showing honor," Romans 12:10
"Live in harmony with one another," Romans 12:16,15:5
"Welcome one another," Romans 15:7
"Instruct one another," Romans 15:14
"Greet one another," Romans 16:16; 1 Cor 16:20
"Agree with one another," 2 Corinthians 13:11
"Become slaves to one another," Galatians 5:13
"Wait for one another," 1 Corinthians 11:33
"Have the same care for one another," 1 Cor 12:25
"Encourage one another," 1 Thessalonians 4:18
"Be at peace with one another," Mark 9:50
"Seek [the] advantage of the other," 1 Cor 10:24
"Bear one another's burdens," Galatians 6:2
"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another," Ephesians 4:32
"Teach and admonish one another in all wisdom," Colossians 3:16
"[Bear] with one another in love," Eph. 4:2
"Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another," Galatians 5:26
"Be subject to one another," Ephesians 5:21
"Be hospitable to one another without complaining," 1 Peter 4:9
"No longer pass judgment on one another," Romans 14:13
"Confess your sins to one another," James 5:16
"Pray for one another," James 5:16.
When Christians spoon up these "one anothers," there will be no need for just knives and forks! Be a spoon!
I met my second Mom much later. Actually, I met her daughter first, and I caught a glimpse of my second Mom in her eyes. I saw beauty, generosity, understated kindness, and love. My second Mom was as valiant a hero and explorer as my first Mom. Leaving the security of family and home, she moved across a nation to find work, and eventually, love. She raised a daughter who is unlike any other woman in the world, a wonder, a mystery, a loyal friend, a lover, and my wife.
