Saturday, December 24, 2005

Watch Your Back

I know a man with a bumper sticker that reads, “I’ve Worked Hard All My Life. I Finally Got It All Together, And Now I Can’t Remember Where I Put It.” I felt just about that brokenhearted last weekend, as I laid in bed too sick to care about anything. I had just been bragging about how I’d dodged all the illnesses going around and was quit proud of my health. My whole life, it’s rare to find me ill enough to put a hold on everything and simply lay down in defeat. It seems though, that about every ten years, during the change of fall to winter weather, my tonsils decide to rebel with a full-blown attack on my entire well-being. No cough or congestion, not even a small sneeze suggesting the onset of a cold, oh, no, nothing that kind. They attack with infection and toxins throughout the body making me feel like I’d been hit by a train, producing temperatures above one hundred and screaming out with pain every time I swallow. So, if you missed me in your mailbox last week, now you know why. Well, I missed writing and must admit feeling rather awkward not doing my normal Saturday routines and missing Sunday worship. I guess our good health is always resting in the perils of time.
Two robins were sitting in a tree. “I’m really hungry,” said the first one. “Let’s fly down and find something to eat for lunch.” The other agreed, so they flew down and found a nice plot of newly plowed ground that was full of worms. They ate and ate and ate until they could eat no more. “I’m so full, I don’t think I can fly back up into the tree,” said the first one. “Let’s just lay back here and bask in the warm sun for a little while,” said the second. “Sounds like a great idea,” said the first. So they plopped down, basking in the warm sun. No sooner than they had fallen asleep, when a big fat tomcat jumped them and gobbled them down. As the cat sat washing his face after his meal, he let go with a loud purr and thought to himself, “I just love Baskin-Robins!”
[1 Peter 4] I must admit, as I laid in bed feeling completely helpless and thinking that just a microscopic bug could do this to me, life isn’t easy to deal with sometimes even though I might be doing all the right things. Paul reminds us at the end of his letter to the Ephesians that our struggles in this life not only deal with the physical perils of the world, but “…against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6: 12-13) I think that’s what Peter is trying to get across to us here. No matter how good we are, no matter how well we practice the will of God in our day to day life, trials are going to come our way to discourage and attempt to defeat us in our righteous living. Peter says we should not be surprised as though something strange were happening to us; it’s completely normal for the world to attack our way of life. He encourages you and I to endure these trials and hang on to the end, for they are nothing compared to the glory that awaits us. No matter how hard we struggle in our physical well-being, let’s face folks, it’s still a losing battle. Take your vitamins, eat right, wash your hands, do all the right things and some microbe is going to crawl in and break you down. Peter warns us in the next chapter (5: 6-9) that even though we may be doing everything right in the eyes of God, our spirit must still be on alert because “…Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Resist him; stand firm in your faith; and he will go away. Amen!

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Gingham & Homespun

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off a train in Boston, and walked timidly without an appointment to the Harvard University President’s outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks, had no business at Harvard, and probably didn’t even deserve to be in Cambridge. “We want to see the president,” the man said softly. “He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary snapped. “We’ll wait,” the lady replied. For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn’t and the secretary grew frustrated, then finally decided to disturb the president. “Maybe if you see them a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she urged him. He sighed in exasperation and agreed. Someone of his importance obviously didn’t have the time for them. The president, stern faced and with self-dignity, strutted toward the couple. The lady addressed him; “We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was very happy here. But about a year ago he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus.” The president wasn’t touched at all. “Madam,” he said gruffly, “We can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.” “Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly. “We don’t want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.” The president rolled his eyes, and then exclaimed, “A building? Do you have any idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard!” The lady grew silent. The president was pleased. Maybe they would go away now. Then the lady turned to her husband and said, “If that’s all it takes to start a university, why don’t we just start our own?” Her husband nodded. The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. & Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away. They returned to Palo Alto, California where they established the university that bears their name, Stanford University; a memorial to a son that Harvard rejected. (A true story by Malcolm Forbes)
[Isaiah 53] Nearly 2000 years ago a prophet of God brought a message from God to the chosen Jewish Nation. He spoke of a kingdom that was coming, that he would be the one to establish it and would be its king. He explained that this kingdom would not be of this world, but would be a spiritual kingdom open to all the people of the world. The leaders of the Jews were too entangled in the laws and rituals of the world to spend any time with this prophet investigating his claims. They simply rejected him as a prophet of God. They rejected his message because they could not see their God as a loving and compassionate being. He was the Messiah, the Savior of the world. The one they read about in the scrolls of Isaiah. But because he didn’t speak or appear as they expected, he simply was a problem, and he needed to be gotten rid of as soon as possible. The prophet Jesus, the Son of God, paid the price himself to establish the kingdom of God, the church, by giving his life as the perfect sacrifice to God for the sins of mankind. For those who believe in the message and are baptized into the likeness of the death, burial & resurrection of Jesus, for the forgiveness of their sins, the Kingdom of God welcomes with open arms. I may be rejected by the world, but never by God, who loves me, for me.