Zucchini Hidden in the Hamburger

My secret is out... everyone at Life on the Vine now knows.  When I cook hamburger for my family, I blend up onions, garlic, and zucchini and I hide it in the ground beef.  My kids think they're just eating ordinary hamburger... but they're actually eating life-giving veggies.

We started a sermon series at Life on the Vine about seven practices of Christ's presence (find it here).  And in the same way that I hide veggies in beef, as we engage in these practices, our ordinary human activity is actually loaded with divine presence - the life-giving nourishment of Christ Himself.

Our extended families think they are inviting ordinary hamburger over... but we know we're bringing onions and garlic along with us.  Our coworkers think they're eating lunch with ground beef, but we know we're packing zucchini.

And so there is this mysterious and mind-blowing partnership between the presence of Christ and our human activity.  Without His presence, our activity is merely an obligatory checklist.  Without our activity, His presence remains hidden and intangible to a world that is waiting to see Christ incarnate in His people.

It's about relationship.  Christ in us... us in Christ.  His presence is a frame through which to view our practice... and our practice is a frame through which the world can see His presence.