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| I recently read in Devotions for the Man in the Mirror, by Patrick Morley, an intriguing passage regarding the rich young ruler who asked Jesus, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16) Jesus told him to obey all commandments. The young ruler indicated that he had done so, but asked, “What do I still lack?” (v. 20) Jesus responded with three action steps: 1. Sell all your possessions 2. Give the proceeds to the poor, and 3. Follow Me. Morley writes: With Jesus, the terms of eternal life are a total surrender of our lives to Him. Jesus always holds to one central idea in salvation: “Follow Me.” Total surrender. Complete abdication of the throne of our lives. Give it all away and follow Him. Relinquish control over the kingdoms we’ve created for ourselves and simply follow Jesus down the hard roads that He invariably selects. I used to rule the world. It’s about that, really. It’s not the stuff. Morley continues: Jesus doesn’t offer eternal life in exchange for selling your possessions. Jesus offers eternal life in exchange for following Himself. The rich young man was not following Jesus. Jesus knew why – his possessions stood in the way. His attitude toward his possessions formed an invisible barrier which blocked him from following Christ. His curse was not the visible barrier of his possessions, but the invisible barrier of his attitude toward them. It represented the undone thing between him and a full surrender to Jesus. Christ wasn’t focused on what a good thing it would be for him to sell his possessions, but on what thing was left undone. Have you left anything undone? Do the undone thing. “Then, come, follow Me.” Invisible barriers to following Jesus are the scariest kind. They’re easy to miss. If we aren’t seriously questioning, we don’t even realize they are there. Somehow, other people have attitudes. We don’t. We are just who we are. And, if we aren’t careful, we follow a Jesus that is exactly like us. In fact, we really sort of expect Jesus to follow us. We do good things. We think the right way. We have it figured out. Surely, the path we walk is the one that Jesus is on. Selecting the right path by doing the right things is really a way of maintaining authority over the kingdoms of our lives. We choose to do the right and good things. By doing those right things, we believe we enter the path to eternal life. We expect to have Jesus walking ahead of us. It ain’t like that. More Morley: We think we must do a good work before we can follow Jesus. Not so. The selling of possessions did not represent adding a good work that led to salvation, but removing an obstacle which blocked faith. “What good thing must I do to get eternal life? - follow Me.” It is the “follow Me” that saves. If a person can do the “follow Me,” without the need to sell his possessions, then Christ does not require it of the person. But there will be some other undone thing which needs doing. Invisible barriers are easily overlooked and nearly impossible to overcome. “We walk by faith, not by sight,” says 2 Corinthians 5:7. Sometimes, it takes faith to “see” our invisible barriers. We won’t attempt to overcome what we can’t even acknowledge. Sometimes we simply must have faith to believe that “really good things” are a barrier to following Him. By the grace of God, we are able to ascertain those invisible barriers. And, by the grace of God, they can be overcome. Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus bids, “Follow Me.” If we are truly willing, nothing can stop us from doing so. And whatever it is that we must leave behind in order to follow Him, Jesus ALWAYS replaces with something different that we imagine… and MUCH better. ALWAYS. | | |
| Lewis Smedes on joy, from "How Can it be All Right When Everything is all Wrong?"
"If our joy is honest joy, it must somehow be congruous with human tragedy. This is the test of joy's integrity. Is it compatible with pain? Or is it only the cheap charade of a superficial society...?
Only the heart that hurts has a right to joy.
(T)ragedy is not the last word. This is still my Father's world.
Joy also has to be compatible with the pain within me. To promise joy without pain is Pollyannaism, make-believe, deceit. Legitimate joy must be the experience of joy along with pain. And it seems to me possible.
(W)e must remember that joy is not the same as pleasure;...while we are glad for pleasure, we live for joy; and that joy is possible even when pleasure turns to ashes. If you can have both joy and pleasure, cherish them together. But joy in our world is more at home with pain. Joy, when you come down to it, is a feeling that it is all right with us even when everything seems wrong." | | |
| “As you get older, it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary.”
-- Ernest Hemingway
I think Papa got this one right. Heroes are hard to come by, and they can be even harder to keep.
But, they are sort of necessary.
When we are starry-eyed kids, heroes are everywhere. We find heroes in the movies we watch, the books we read, the history we learn, etc. There seems an endless supply of super men and women who do great things with strength and courage that we dream of one day possessing.
“Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don't know how far we can go”
-- Bernard Malamud
As we grow older and smarter, it gets tougher. We begin to see heroes for what they really are. As we come to better know and understand our heroes, we find that they are not superhuman. They are people who are a lot like us. Some of them have problems that are a lot like ours.
And we wish we didn’t know.
There goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
He’s ordinary
--Foo Fighters, My Hero
It seems the more we come to know about our heroes, the more they go away. The ordinary cannot be the heroic.
They are just like us.
“Worship your heroes from afar; contact withers them”
-- Susanne Curchod Necker
And it gets worse the older we get. We come to know more. We have experienced more. We’ve seen heroes come, and we have seen them go. We become callous in our attitudes toward even the genuinely heroic. We come to think of heroism as a movie we’ve already seen. And it never seems to end well.
We grow cynical.
And we grow old.
Heroes keep us young. Heroes point to the way we want to be. Heroes give us hope that we can become like them.
But what do we do with all these imperfect heroes? What about heroes who are ordinary? Or worse?
What about heroes who don’t even want to be heroes?
“I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids.”
--Charles Barkley
In his typically understated fashion, Sir Charles gets at the heart of this matter. He says, “I’m not a role model.” Except, he is. While no one is likely asking Charles to raise their kids, he is an icon of success to many. He can dunk a basketball and produce memorable quotes about doing so. He’s outspoken and the center of attention just about wherever he goes. He’s rich and famous.
He’s a role model.
Charles Barkley comes across as the absolute epitome of self-confidence. But in this matter, he says, “You might want to look elsewhere.” Why?
Maybe it’s because Charles know Charles better than anyone else. We all know what’s right about Charles. He’s not shy about showing and telling us that. But, he also knows the Charles that he keeps from us (although elements come to light from time to time). He knows the Charles that isn’t as funny, self-confident, and admirable as what we get to see.
Charles knows the Charles that is not a hero. He knows you wouldn’t like that Charles. That Charles will absolutely disappoint and disenchant you.
“I’m not a role model.”
So, we grow old and we outgrow our need for heroes. Except, they are sort of necessary.
We need heroes to avoid growing old. Though it gets harder, we can keep heroes in our lives by maturing in our approach to them.
“Heroes are people who are all good with no bad in them. That's the way I always saw Joe DiMaggio. He was beyond question one of the greatest players of the century.”
-- Mickey Mantle
With all due respect to the Mick, this is the childish attitude toward heroes that invariably leads to disillusionment, disappointment, and disengagement. It’s a roadmap for growing very cynical and very old.
Truth is, Joe DiMaggio made outs 77.5% of the times he went to the plate. He struck out every 18.5 times he batted. He grounded into 130 double plays. He committed over 100 errors.
And, he was beyond question one of the greatest players of the century.
Heroes are people who have bad in them. They fail and they disappoint. But, they have good in them. More good than we are accustomed to seeing. They are the greatest among us. They represent what we want to be.
Heroes are ordinary. And they are sort of necessary.
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| John 11: 5-6 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. How odd. Jesus receives word that His friend Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany, has fallen gravely ill. And, His response is to stay right where He is for a couple of days. Really odd. When we receive news of this sort, our instinct is quickly rush to the side of our loved ones. After all, in an hour of crisis, they need us there with them. They need comfort and assistance to get through whatever difficulty they are wading through. Friends are there when you need them. But not Jesus. John 11:14-15 Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go get him.” Odd. Have you noticed this about Jesus? Have you really needed Him, called out to Him “your friend is sick,” and had Him NOT show up immediately at your side. This is the Unvarnished Jesus. This is the authentic Jesus, not the one who conforms to your very specifications. This is not the Jesus who shows up whenever you want Him to. This is not the Jesus of your making. This authentic Jesus: · Loves you, · Knows that you are sick, · Understands that you’re dying, and · Wastes a couple of days not doing a thing about it. Doesn’t add up, does it? Maybe, just maybe, Jesus understands some things we don’t. John 11:4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Maybe Jesus understands A LOT of things we don’t. Maybe Jesus is aware of a bigger picture (much bigger than we can comprehend) in which our hour of crisis is a necessary element. Maybe our hour of crisis is but a fleeting moment in time to Him who created time itself. Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Maybe your crisis is something about which Jesus would say, “For your sake, I’m glad that I’m not there with you.” That’s not at all what we want to hear. We understand that we have to face trials and hard times. But we want deliverance, not suffering. REALLY, we don’t believe these things ought to be happening to us. 1 Peter 4:12-13 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. And make no mistake; Jesus is very familiar with the suffering that goes along with trials and hardships. Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Jesus new that Lazarus was sick and suffering. He knew that he died and was laid in a grave. All alone and absent the One who could heal his hurting. But Jesus waited a couple of days. John 11:44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.” Suffering. Abandonment. Death. Burial. Resurrection. Perhaps it is possible to live a life free of suffering. It may be possible to go through life without enduring hardship and disappointment. You may be able to march triumphantly all your days and bear no scars at the end. But you will certainly do so apart from the unvarnished Jesus. He tells you to bring along a cross if you’re going to walk with Him. You’ll face difficulty and fiery trials if you journey through life with Him. And He will be glad when you do. He loves you. He came to save you. Perfectly. With suffering. | | |
| Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance. --Samuel Johnson, English writer That’s a pretty fair description of faith in action. It’s not necessarily how we want faith to operate. But, that’s pretty much how faith does operate. Great works performed as feats of spiritual strength are more often how we envision faith working. That’s how faith is typically portrayed, promoted, and sold. We like to hear about, read about, and experience faith as instantaneous, miraculous, and spectacular happenings. We love that “Wow!” factor. We want to be spiritual titans. We hear God calling us to do great and mighty works. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Paul has a way of messing with our conventional wisdom as to how things ought to be. Paul boasts in things like infirmity, reproach, need, persecution, and distress. “When I am weak, then I am strong.” Odd. Can’t imagine that being a hot seller on the spiritual self-help circuit of Paul’s day. And Peter was little better. 1 Peter 5:10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. We get excited about being perfect, established, strong, and settled. Those are very good qualities that we all desperately need. That’s what faithful Christians ought to be like. But that whole bit about suffering, doesn’t square with our concept of strong Christians. We don’t want our faith-filled Christian models suffering. If heroes suffer, whither the rest of us? Abraham, the very father of faith, faced the struggle of believing God’s absurd promise. In his old age, Abraham was forced to choose whether or not he would believe that he could become the father of many nations. Romans 4:20-21 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. Great works of faith are not feats of supernatural spiritual strength. Faith is not a Herculean effort. Faith is manifest in perseverance. Faith keeps believing and keeps acting on that belief when the physical evidence suggests all things contrary. Faith is the stuff of things hoped for but not seen. Faith trusts in the Word of the Lord when absolutely nothing would suggest doing so. That’s not always flashy. That doesn’t always come off strong. It often garners no attention. But that kind of faith always gets rewarded. Colossians 1:10-12 (Message Bible) As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us. God has wonderful things for us. But note that He “makes us strong enough to take part” in what He has in store for us. All this to say, do not become discouraged when you don’t faith strong enough to move mountains. Don’t think you’ve failed when you aren’t able to miraculously move the obstacles that are in your path. Persevere. Don’t waiver. Be strengthened by your faith in what God has promised. Take heart in your sufferings, infirmities, and need. When you are weak, you are your strongest. That’s how heroes do it. That’s how great works are performed. | | |
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