Daniel DeMoss

I love the story of Simeon and, in light of the fact that we’re smack dab in the middle of the season of Advent, I thought I’d share it with you.

Simeon was just a random guy who got an awesome promise from God and ended up getting to see the Messiah before anybody really knew he was the Messiah. This guy totally got the golden ticket. The really cool thing is that he wasn’t really anybody of note. The Bible doesn’t indicate that he was a special religious leader, politician, or even a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. This guy was you’re average Joe, except for one thing that made him stand out. He was righteous. He lived his life for God and obeyed the laws that God had set for the Jewish people. This guy was just straight-up faithful and you know what? God totally called this guy out for a major prize.

While everyone else had been searching for the promised Messiah for years, Simeon was told by God that he would see him with his own eyes. And sure enough, he did. Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple on the same day that the Holy Spirit told Simeon he really needed to check out the new carpet that had been installed in the sanctuary (okay, so maybe that’s just my interpretation) and they ended up running into each other. Simeon was stoked. He got to hold Jesus and talk to Mary. How cool is that?! Afterwards, Simeon prayed to thank God for this awesome opportunity and his prayer of thanks is epic.
Simeon’s story is not very long at all, so during Advent this year, take a few minutes to read about a guy who faithfully waited and got to see the Messiah with his own eyes.

Photo Attribution:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rumpleteaser/ / CC BY 2.0

“It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word
And then that word grew louder and louder
‘Til it was a battle cry”

- The Call by Regina Specktor

It was a hot August day in 2008 when Matt Kerchaert and I started lugging things up the narrow staircase at our new apartment at 160 N. Washington Street in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

But this wasn’t just any apartment. It was an idea… no, a vision. Several months prior to this hot Summer day, I began apartment searching. My roommates and I were faced with either renewing our lease at our typical off-campus 80’s style apartment building or find a better one. I found 160 N. Washington during my search and it was intriguing to me. I wanted to live closer to downtown Ypsilanti and the apartment was just about as close as you could get without living in an expensive loft above a storefront. I wanted to live in a place where people walked. I wanted to live in a place where I could wander down to the cafe or to the park. A place where neighbors actually talked to each other and where there was always something going on. I wanted to live in a place where I would see the same people day in and day out. Where I could make an impact and be a positive force in the community. Somehow this mansion from the 1800’s fit the bill and I began dreaming that someday it would be a center for positive change in the Arts and Entertainment district of Ypsi.

After some pictures, a tour, and some more information, the guys bought into the vision. It helped that the building featured free heat as well and we signed the lease. That was the beginning of what would be an amazing year with Matt, Ian and I living in the third floor of that old mansion. We would have movie nights, rooftop discussions, neighbor hangouts and a Halloween party that totally rocked the place.

Eventually more people at our church caught the vision for this place. It wasn’t just about the location, or the rent, or the amenities. I think it was about the dream that this place could be a center for community to take place.

Fast forward to today. There are now eight people living in two floors of the building that all believe in having a positive impact on the people around them… and they’re looking for more people to join them.

I could not be more proud of the men that live at 160 N. Washington Street. When I left them to seek out my own calling in Oklahoma they were excited about being more than just housemates but being Christ to the neighborhood. I love those guys and I’m so thankful that God has allowed me to be their friend.

I think it all comes down to the vision, the dream, the idea. We wanted to do something good in the midst of a rough neighborhood and be a force for change. I think back on those times and something wells up inside of me. Each day I have to ask myself what my vision is. I must constantly allow Christ to rekindle the fire that burns within me. When I do he unleashes me as a force for change and he uses me in a way that I can never duplicate on my own.

What is it that burns inside of you? What is the vision that God has given you to live out?

While I was in Chicago, welcoming 2009, I learned something.  It’s pretty simple, it’s not easy, and it can bring awesome things into your life if you apply it.  It can be summed up in one sentence.  Take the opportunities that God gives you and trust him. More about that in a bit.

Now, I’m not one to shy away from trying new things, so when it came time for Adam, Matt, Mark, and I to decide where we would eat our “expensive meal” during our Chicago trip I was hoping for something cool.  Somewhere that I couldn’t eat at back home in Ypsilanti.  Somewhere that I hadn’t experienced before.  So I started to do some research.  Everything I found through Googling was either out of our price range or required a dress code that we could not comply with.  Part way through I switched to UrbanSpoon, which is a really sweet restaurant finder.  It told me that there was a really cool pizza place in Wicker Park called Piece.  It sounded cool, but was not near downtown and not within walking distance.  I continued searching, but Piece kept popping up in my results as a top rated UrbanSpoon pick and it was within our price range.  I kept resisting and trying to find something that would be closer and easier to get to, but I eventually gave in and suggested it to the guys.  We would have to take the Red Line subway South to the Loop and take the Blue Line out to the Damen station on the West Side.  I had taken the Red Line on several occasions and was confident about navigating it.  The Blue Line was a whole new beast.

My sense of adventure and my desire to be in control of the situations I’m in often run straight into each other.  I’m a control freak, so getting lost is terrible.  You don’t know what to do, you look stupid, and you have to ask for help.  I hate all of those things.  That night my temptation was to go with what I knew.  I wanted to stay near the Loop and within downtown.  I knew downtown and I knew the Loop.  I would be in control.  Or I could decide to take the Blue Line with no guarantee that I would get off at the right station, that the address listed on the internet would be right, that the restaurant would have seats for us, or any of the other things that make an evening out go right.

I have done that so much in my life.  My temptation is always to pass up on opportunities that God gives me because I can’t control them or because I don’t know what the outcome will be.  He always asks me to follow, but he rarely let’s me in on the destination.  I have a hard time trusting God.  Can you relate?  Do you ever pass up an opportunity because you don’t know where it will lead?  Do you ever fore-go something because you won’t be in control of it?  Do you ever stay in the Loop instead of taking the Blue Line out?

Here’s the cool part.  God totally speaks to this through David’s writing in Psalm 37:5-6.

“Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.”

David uses such cool words to describe how awesome our lives can be if we just trust God and take the opportunities he gives us.  The Bible has tons of verses that remind us that when we are in control, things will be shaky at best, but when we give control to God it may not be easy, but it will be good.

That evening in Chicago I went with the adventure and the guys and I headed out on the Blue Line.  The evening definitely had some bumps along the way and everything didn’t always work out the way I thought it should, but it was a great experience.  Actually, I’ve never had a better time in Chicago.  As soon as I decided to let go and take the Blue Line the evening was one big adventure that just kept getting better.

It’s a great story, but it’s also a great analogy for our lives.  When we decide to let go and trust God by taking the opportunities he gives us we find our lives are full of great adventures that we never would have known to take on our own.  He knows our potential and how to unlock it!

This year, I’m committing to trust God and follow where he leads.  I’m going to stop asking him to meet me in the Loop and I’m going to start chasing after him.  I’ve realized that the only true way to live in his plan and live life to its fullest is to take the opportunities that he gives me.  In fact, what would happen if we all decided to take the opportunities that were in front of us?  Would you take that class that you heard about?  Would you talk to your friend about your spirituality for the first time?  Would you commit to reading the whole Bible in 2009?  What would you do?

My theme and reminder for this will of course be “take the Blue Line.”  So join with me in 2009 and together let’s take the Blue Line by taking the opportunities that God gives us and trusting him.

I was standing in the bank the other day and I noticed something interesting.  I tend to notice weird things when I’m at the bank because the lines are always long and there’s nothing better to do while you wait.  At this particular branch of my bank in Ypsilanti, there is floor to ceiling bulletproof glass that separates all of the bank employees from, well… the rest of us.  It’s a rather odd situation if you think about it.  The glass makes a statement… that the bank believes that there is a risk.  Specifically it indicates that there is a risk of gun violence in the lobby.  This makes me a bit uneasy.  But bulletproof glass has become so commonplace that we often just walk into our banks, conduct our transactions, say “Have a nice day.” and leave without ever thinking about the silent statement that the separating glass makes.

If you think about it you start to realize that we’re on the wrong side of the glass.  We’re on the gun violence side.  We’re on the unprotected side.  I think this is something like how we live our lives.  We have a choice.  We can live on the “employee side” or we can live on the “lobby side”.

Here’s an example.  On the weekends I hang out with some homeless people in Roosevelt Park in Detroit.  They’re really cool and they have great stories and big needs.  I hang out with them to try to help them, but also because I value my relationships with them.  They’re such interesting people and they have such different perspectives.  It’s refreshing.

By doing this I’m making a choice.  I’m living on the “lobby side” of the glass.  The park is not a very safe place and I hear stories of stabbings and fights when I’m there.  But there’s something real about the “lobby side”.  There’s something authentic and true about it.  Sure, I could live on the “employee side” and spend my Sunday afternoons at home watching a movie or going to Applebee’s with my Abercrombie friends or something, but it wouldn’t be the same.  I’d be missing out on helping these awesome people… and therein lies the problem.  It’s hard to cross the barrier.

The bank employees can’t normally assist people on the “lobby side” of the glass.  They have this fear of the risk and so they stay on their side.  What happens if a customer falls ill with a heart attack in the lobby?  Do the employees cross the barrier and help him?  It’s easy for the other customers to help, because we’re already on the heart attack victims side.  I want to be on the side of the homeless people in Roosevelt park, so I have to accept the risk.

I hope to be a person that always accepts the risk in order to do the right thing.  I don’t always make that choice… in fact, I usually don’t and this Roosevelt Park thing is a new direction for me.  But I’m trying to get better at it.