I have been a grandmother for nearly eight years, and I am starting to figure a few things out. One of those things is how to make cookies.
COOKIE BALLS
If you have been a parent, a grandparent, or if you have spent time with little children, you will know that kids are inherently messy. My grandchildren are especially messy when helping make cookies in my normally tidy kitchen. Previously, the mention of “making cookies” with the grandchildren, which I am in favor of in theory, would bring fear to my mess-adverse mind. But because I knew that “making cookies with grandma” could possibly evoke warm memories for them and yumminess for all of us, I wanted to do it even if it meant dirty floors and sticky countertops; so, here is the method I have undertaken recently to produce the treats (and hopefully the memories as well!): I mix all of the ingredients together beforehand, roll the cookies into balls and place these balls in bags in my freezer. I call these very neatly produced goodies “cookie balls”.
GOOD WORKS
Now when the grandkids arrive eager to make cookies, I, with no angst whatsoever, open my freezer, whip out the pre-made treats and let them each place a few balls onto the cookie sheet. They are thrilled to “make cookies with grandma” and even more thrilled when those baked cookies, in all their glory, are removed from the oven and placed into their mouths! They have joined me in the good work of producing tasty hot-from-the-oven, oh-so-good cookies! Pleased with themselves and proud of their labors, they run to their parents and boast, “I made cookies!”
Now, the reality of the situation is obvious to me and to their parents: they didn’t actually make the cookies at all; they simply placed them onto the baking sheet and watched them become something beautiful. Yet, because I allowed them to be a very small part of the process, they could celebrate a shared accomplishment as their own. And this makes me happy because I love them dearly and want them to feel both purpose and delight. Even though I was actually the one who measured the flour and the sugar and the soda and the salt, cracked the eggs and melted the butter, stirred in the chocolate chips and mixed the entire recipe together, and even if mine were the hands that rolled each cookie and placed it in the bag which I then put into the freezer, I am thrilled to let them take the credit because it gives them so much joy. They have successfully produced something good and are eager to do it again.
THE GRACE OF GOD
Isn’t this like us? As Christians, we long to produce good things in our lives and the lives of others. And God allows this. He gives his children opportunities to succeed and to push the Kingdom of God forward. He grants us insight and understanding of his Word and his ways. He does all of this because he loves us dearly and wants us to feel purpose and delight. We often run and tell others about the “cookies” we produce: we boast about our willpower, or dedication, or even our long-suffering. We act as if we created these basic ingredients for life on our own. We make ourselves big and all-knowing, but we are only sticky children. God knows (and we know too but often forget) that it is his hands that produce any goodness in our lives. It is his Son who saved us, who lived perfectly in our place. It is his grace that allows us to take a very small part in the Kingdom-building task. He does these things because, “we are [his] handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)
God is omnipotent; he could choose to reconcile the world to himself by himself–it would be much less messy without us. But God is also a loving Father; he lets us naively take credit for much of what we produce because he delights in us. He wants us to be part of his success! When we, in all of our stickiness, place the “cookie balls” on the pan, and we take part in the good works God prepared for us in advance, we can truly “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps 34:8). And we can appropriately give him, and not ourselves, all the glory!