The Show Goes On!

Last night I watched the highly-anticipated and fairly anti-climactic finale of the Origin series, a best-of-three rugby league matches between Queensland (Maroons) and New South Wales (Blues).  Like the five previous Origin outcomes, the Maroons once again proved they are the team to beat with a trouncing of the Blues 34-24.  It was a valiant effort from both sides, but the amazing initial 24-0 run by the Maroons proved too great a mountain to climb.

Compared to American football, most rugby league matches are relatively free from catastrophic or season-ending injuries - which is good!  There were two notable injuries in the game, one to Michael Ennis of the Blues who was coughing up blood.  The other injury brought the game to a standstill for three minutes when Johnathan Thurston of the Maroons was carted off the field, having suffered a damaged knee.  After being carted off the field to applause with his head in his hands, the game promptly resumed.  Another player took his place and the game continued as if nothing had happened.

This made me think about all the times I have seen people carted off a field in the NFL:  some came back later that season, others missed the rest of the season, and some never played again.  In all those hundreds of occasions I have witnessed, the game was never called off.  The game always picked right up again.  Men rose from their knees, strapped on their helmets, stepped back into the huddle, and lined up to do it again.  In show business there is a phrase:  "The show must go on!"  People have paid to see the show, and they must not be disappointed.  I remember a story a drama teacher at my high school told concerning a play in which he acted.  During a sword duel, he was slashed badly on his arm.  He finished the scene, trying to conceal the laceration which bled heavily.  He was convinced:  the show must go on!

In sports and entertainment, there will always be people tomorrow to replace the stars who shine so brightly today.  The entertainment industry churns out stars as fast as they fall.  The industry is bigger than the individual parts.  In a way this is similar to how God's plans continues to progress despite the failures or shortcomings of those who make up the Body of Christ.  God's will is bigger than the sum of the individual parts.  His plans are not dependent on a single person or group to achieve a goal.  If the people did not cry out in praise when Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, the rocks would have screamed praise.

But in another sense, it is impossible to compare the worldly system to that of God.  Instead of His focus being on establishing leaders with charming personalities or incredible natural gifts, God desires to show His glory through simple people unadorned with fame.  Every Christian has an equally important part in the Body of Christ.  There are no star players in God's kingdom, only Jesus and those who follow Him.  If another brother or sister falls, we are to seek for them to be restored to walking, serving and fully-pleasing God.  Life does go on, but God never leaves the fallen behind.  Those who are hurting, helpless, and hopeless, are the once Jesus came to restore to Himself.  When we fall down, Christ does not cast you aside and move on to the next person because your usefulness has ceased to meet His high standards:  He will never leave or forsake you.  He doesn't make you go through rehab and physical therapy alone because He is our Healer!

What a God we serve!  Today we can hear, "Well done, my good and faithful servant" if we will humble ourselves and diligently seek Him.  I read this morning the awe-inspiring promise of God for all who believe:  2 Chronicles 7:14:  "...if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."  God's show does not depend upon me, and it goes on whether we humble ourselves or not.  But if we want a role in seeing God's will performed, we must obey Him.  We are never too young or too old to serve Him, and His plan is we will glorify Him in service and praise for eternity!  How wonderful that God is a Provider, our Healer, and our Peace!

Beautiful Feet

"Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. ² And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him, ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, ⁴ rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. ⁵ After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded."

 John 13:1-5

Humility of this sort is based on love and faith in God.  Jesus coming to earth as a man is divine condescension, God made flesh, dwelling among men.  Not only did Jesus live as a man, but He humbled Himself in the service of men for the glory of God.  Jesus washed the disciple's feet, not to manipulate or to spite them for their inhospitable neglect of washing His feet, but to set an example for every one of His disciples to follow.  He washed the filthy feet of those who would run in fear for their own skin in the Garden of Gethsemane and abandon Him.  He washed the feet of the man who had already conspired to betray Him.  Jesus did not stop even at this point, but went to the cross in obedience to the Father and love for sinful men.  Romans 5:8 reads, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

John 13:12-16 says, "So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. ¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. ¹⁶ Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him."  Jesus entreats us to wash the feet of others.  This job is not assigned for certain people in the church, but for all people who are in Christ:  a servant is not above his Master.  Jesus has placed us in the Body of Christ to fulfill specific purposes and callings, and one purpose for all of us is to wash one another's feet.

In current western culture, washing feet is a foreign concept.  But we do not need to work hard to imagine what washing feet is like.  For one, most of us have feet!  Feet can be stinky, calloused, and even unsightly.  In the days of Christ, people tied sandals on their feet and did most of their traveling on foot over dirt roads - if there was a road!  If I was in line to have my feet washed, I would want to be in the front of the line because I know that water will quickly turn the color of dirt!  But scripture shows us that Jesus took no thought for His life, and did not demand that anyone wash His feet even after washing everyone else's!  His request?  "You also ought to wash one another's feet."  His thoughts were on us, not focused on Himself.

Jesus did not wash feet so He would "have the dirt" on people!  When we travel through life with folks at church, sometimes we become aware of struggles or difficulties they have or are currently experiencing.  Sometimes we can be treated without respect or care.  Biting words, foul tempers, or unsightly attitudes and things all Christians must deal with.  Everyone's feet can be smelly!  Instead of being put off by other people's dirty feet, we are called to see to restore such a one with a spirit of gentleness, for love covers a multitude of sins.  With the wet weather recently, there is an increased need to clean the floors in our house.  I can choose to complain loudly to my kids for their carelessness of bringing in mud and grass on their shoes, or I can thank God I have kids and that they can walk!  Our attitude in our feet washing makes all the difference, doesn't it?

While we are confronted with dirty feet and a job that never seems to be done (I have to wash my own feet every day in the shower), what should mark my attitude?  Ephesians 5:18-21 states, "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ submitting to one another in the fear of God."  Also it is written in Philippians 2:3-8:  "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. ⁴ Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. ⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."

Can we do this ourselves through effort?  No.  But it is the will of God to do these things through us, if we will repent and humble ourselves before Him.  The joy of the LORD is our strength, for it is His love which compels us!  Clean my heart and hands O LORD, wash me in the water of your Word, and fill me with the Holy Spirit so I might wash feet as Jesus did.  Thank you Jesus, for washing my heart, mind, and soul!  Thank you for your humble example!

Good Headache!

I woke up on Saturday with a very debilitating headache, a rarity for me.  Located in the center of my skull, the pain throbbed continuously.  Sensitive to light and dizzy from quick movements, I lay in bed and wondered what had happened!  Cooking breakfast seemed out of the question, and besides I wasn't hungry at all.  For many this may be a common occurrence.  But for me, it was seemed more of a negative novelty.  I wasn't sleepy but lay wide awake with my eyes closed, trying to shut out the sunlight filtering into the room through the vertical blinds.

There was nothing I could do but pray.  My typical morning routine is about an hour and a half of combined prayer and Bible reading before I make breakfast.  But what a wonderful time I spent with the LORD for a while as I lay hurting in bed Saturday!  The pain wasn't the focus of my prayer, but the pain enabled me to focus better on the LORD.  Instead of being distracted by the activity of the house or thinking about what other things I could do, it was like I was the captive audience in the presence of God.  In those moments, despite the discomfort, I thought about how good God is to allow us times enter into His presence when we have little choice.  Though painful, that headache was not a pain:  it was a great blessing.  I thanked God for that headache because He used it to enable me to better seek and find Him.

Sometimes God will slow us down and allow us to endure illness for His purposes.  This is hard to comprehend, and our flesh rebels at this idea.  But God knows us better than we know ourselves, and will use all things for good.  How wonderful God is, that even a headache can be a good thing if we will seek Him diligently.  Whether sick or well the scripture rings true: Deuteronomy 4:29 says, "But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul."  No matter our condition or geographical location, this promise of God will never fail.  Praise Him for that!

Quote from "The Soul Winner"

I have been reading The Soul Winner by C.H. Spurgeon, a book which emphasizes how the primary goal and focus of all believers is the salvation of sinners.  All the ministries of the church, all effort for the glory of God in the lives of a Christian, is that through our testimony people would come to salvation found only in Jesus Christ.  Having been a Sunday School teacher for many years, I found the following quote enlightening and invigorating.  As teachers of adults or children, we are not to be content with the mere transfer of information, but the transformation of a life committed to Christ.  Spurgeon describes how Elisha raised the dead son of the Shunammite in 2 Kings 4:29-37, and compares it to our work in saving souls.  The quote can be found on pages152-153:

The position of Elisha in this case is exactly your position, brethren, in relation to your work for Christ.  Elisha had to deal with a dead child.  It is true that, in his instance, it was natural death; but the death with which you have to come in contact is not the less real death because it is spiritual.  The boys and girls in your classes are, as surely as grown-up people, "dead in trespasses and sins."  May none of you fail fully to realise the state in which all human beings are naturally found!  Unless you have a very clear sense of the utter ruin and spiritual death of your children, you will be incapable of being made a blessing to them.  Go to them, I pray you, not as to sleepers whom you can by your own power awaken from their slumber, but as to spiritual corpses who can only be quickened by a power divine.  Elisha's great object was not to cleanse the dead body, or embalm it with spices, or wrap it in fine linen, or place it in an appropriate posture, and then leave it still a corpse:  he aimed at nothing less than the restoration of the child to life.  Beloved teachers, may you never be content with aiming at secondary benefits, or even with realising them; may you strive for the grandest of all ends, the salvation of immortal souls!  your business is not merely to teach the children in your classes to read the Bible, not barely to inculcate the duties of morality, nor even to instruct them in the mere letter of the gospel, but your high calling is to be the means, in the hands of God, of bringing life from heaven to dead souls.  Your teaching on the Lord's-day will have been a failure if your children remain dead in sin.  In the case of the secular teacher, the child's fair proficiency in knowledge will prove that the instructor has not lost his pains; but in your case, even thought your youthful charge should grow up to be respectable members of society, thought they should become regular attendants upon the means of grace, you will not feel that your petitions to heaven have been answered, nor your desires granted to you, nor your highest ends attained, unless something more is done,-unless, in fact it can be said of your children, "The Lord hath quickened them together with Christ."