Most days you can find my Dad spending some time sitting on the carport and waving at each person who passes by.  It doesn’t matter if he knows who they are or not, he still waves. Out of curiosity, I asked him one day why he waved at everyone. He just said it was his way to show friendliness.  A way to say hello and that he hoped they were doing well.

We went on to discuss how that was a normal thing in years gone by.  People would spend their evenings sitting outside and waving to the neighbors. I recall as a young girl going to see my grandparents who lived in the city in a quiet neighborhood on a dead-end street. They would be sitting on their front porch and often they would have conversations by yelling (in a friendly sort of way) to the neighbors next door or across the street who were also sitting on their porches.  No need to walk across the street or yard. Just raise your voice a little.

One day a car pulled into my parent’s driveway and a couple got out. They introduced themselves as neighbors who lived a short distance away.  They had become accustomed to receiving a friendly wave from my Dad each time they drove by and decided one day they would just stop and meet the kind man.  They had a nice visit and said they would come again someday.

My husband recently bought me a new study Bible. I started at the beginning and have been reading slowly, taking time to read all the study notes. Reading Leviticus and Numbers has always seemed hard to me.  I’m thankful our God is such a God of detail but reading about all the sacrifices and how everything is to be handled so precisely isn’t very exciting. However, when I read about the wave offerings, I immediately thought about my Dad.

The wave offering was when someone presented a sacrifice, other than one for sin. It could have been a peace offering or a fellowship offering. It would be waved back and forth in uplifted hands to God. Then a portion would be used to feed the priests and their families.  It was a way a person would say they were dedicating their sacrifice to the Lord and the Lord was giving it back to take care of the needs of his servants. The members of the Levite tribe, themselves, were presented as a wave offering before the Lord, signifying they were dedicated, set apart, to be used in service to the Lord.

We no longer must worry as Christians about offering physical sacrifices on an altar the way the Old Testament describes.  But that doesn’t mean we are not to offer sacrifices at all.

May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.  Psalm 141:2 NIV

We are to offer a sacrifice of praise.  We are to sacrifice our time, our talents, our treasures.  In fact, our whole life.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.  Romans 12:1 NIV

Everything we do, we are to do as unto the Lord. This passage describes my Dad very well.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV)

I know my Dad has been discouraged about not being able to do all the things he could do before his cancer. Even well into his seventies, he worked hard. Always working on something at home. Always ready and willing to help anyone who called on him for help. Now, a good day is feeling like riding his lawn mower to mow a little. Or riding off with his brother. Or sitting on the bench inside Walmart while my Mom shops.

His body has, in a sense, betrayed him. He still has the desire to be useful and busy, but fighting the cancer robbed him of physical strength. And what the fight didn’t take, the side effects of chemo did, aging him beyond his actual number of years. Therefore, he sits. And waves.

But I feel sure that each friendly wave my Dad offers, each heartfelt desire that his wave is bringing joy to someone’s day, is rising up as a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord. He’s still in service unto the Lord.

So, keep waving, Dad.  Keep waving.