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RON WILSON, BUS DRIVER
Did you ever see the movie Sky High? It was a Disney flick that came out in 2005. It is the story of a teenager, Will Stronghold, who is the son of two superheroes: The Commander and Jet Stream. Like all other super teens, he goes to a special high school – Sky High, so named because it floats in orbit above the earth.
Will is perplexed because as his first day of high school looms, he still doesn’t have any super powers. This means he might forever be known as 'hero support', or a sidekick. This is especially troubling because, as the son of the two most famous superheroes on earth, he is expected to, in the words of his dad, “save the earth someday, just to be able to experience that once”. The school nurse tries to console him by stating that she only knows of one offspring of two superhero parents who never inherited any powers: Ron Wilson, bus driver.
The driver of Will’s school bus has no powers. But he has a job to do nonetheless. He sees his role as important as the heroes because he has the responsibility of getting the next generation safely to and from school. He takes his job seriously. He is hard working. He is trustworthy. Toward the end of the movie, when he is called on to help save the 'real' superheroes, he rises to the occasion.
In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker was criticized by Yoda for “…all his life he has looked to the horizon, never his mind on where he was – what he was doing…” In Sky High, Ron Wilson is just the opposite. He didn’t worry about what he could be doing, or what others were doing that he couldn’t, his focus was on what he could do right now – and on doing it well.
You know what, God needs more 'Ron Wilson, bus drivers'. There can only be one Billy Graham. There is but one Reinhard Bonnke. Only one Rick Warren. But, just as the superheroes in Sky High couldn’t defeat the enemy without significant contributions from the ‘sidekicks’, God need the millions of ‘Ron Wilsons’ to do their job to support the Grahams, Bonnkes, and Warrens.
We can't all be superheroes. But we can all aspire to be Ron Wilson, bus driver. And do what we can, where we can, when we can, with what we can.
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A SLOB LIKE US
(Romans 12:1-2) “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us Just a stranger on the bus Trying to make his way home If God had a face What would it look like? And would you want to see If seeing meant that you would have to believe… --Joan Osborne
What if God were one of us? Living like God Himself is right here with us is an idea the Bible calls holiness. And, it was the preaching of holiness that led, at least partially, to the abolition of slavery, reform in prisons and institutions, missions for the homeless and needy, and child labor reform.
How do we accomplish this today? How do we live like God is with us? A few years ago it was popular to say, “WWJD – What Would Jesus Do? Well, if He were here in 2006, what would He do? Here are some ideas:
Instead of protesting abortion clinics, wouldn’t He embrace the pregnant teen or abortion-scarred woman?
Instead of complaining about the abuses of welfare, wouldn’t He feed the hungry and clothe the naked?
Instead of decrying the ineffectiveness of the prison system, wouldn’t Jesus visit the prisoners and care for their children?
Instead of pretending not to see someone differently-abled or developmentally challenged, would Jesus, instead, minister, “to the least of these my brothers”?
Instead of railing about how “God didn’t make Adam and Steve”, He would love Adam and Steve and let them know God loves them. Only then would He be able to help them see the truth God has for them.
Instead of pointing out the problems in “all them people”, Jesus would say it is “we people”—that there is no race distinction with God.
Instead of shunning people in sin because we “don’t have anything in common”, wouldn’t He find something in common, and create a relationship with them becoming, as Paul says, “all things to all people that I might win some”?
A burglar broke into a house one night. He shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables and when he picked up a CD player to place in his sack, a strange, disembodied voice echoed from the dark saying, "Jesus is watching you."
He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flashlight out, and froze. When he heard nothing more after a bit, he shook his head, promised himself a vacation after the next big score, then clicked the light on and began searching for more valuables.
Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard, "Jesus is watching you." Freaked out, he shone his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice. Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot.
"Did you say that?" He hissed at the parrot.
"Yep," the parrot confessed, then squawked, "I'm just trying to warn you."
The burglar relaxed. "Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?"
"Moses," replied the bird."Moses?" the burglar laughed. "What kind of people would name a bird Moses?"
“The same kind of people that would name a Rottweiler Jesus."
Would we make different choices in our lives if we knew, “Jesus is watching us!”?
Holiness is the lifestyle we choose because we do know, “JESUS IS WATCHING US!”
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GOD SIGHTINGS
When I was a kid, we lived in northeastern Louisiana. A little town called Dunn. According to the 1970 census, this vast metropolis was the home to 200 souls. I think that number must have included pigs, cows, chickens, dogs, and cats.
Anyway, one night after church we were walking home (the church was about ¼-mile down the road, so on nice evenings we sometimes walked). I looked up in the sky and saw little lights hovering above the horizon. As I watched, the lights began to change colors. Then they darted across the sky. Then they moved up and down. Then they were gone.
For several nights in a row after that this little (well, I was little then) 9-year old would go outside and look up, trying to see those lights again. Never did.
How easy is it to feel LOST in this world?
Light travels at 300,000 kilometers per second, so a light year is equal to about 5.86 trillion miles. If you could get your hot rod up to light speed, you could go around the earth 4 times --- IN ONE SECOND! IN one year, you could go around the world 240 million times! Scientists believe that the distant galaxies that we can see in the most powerful telescopes are around 10 billion light-years away.
According to the US Census Bureau, there are about 300 million people in the US and 6.5 billion on earth. How does God manage it all?!?!
God is powerful enough to be involved in the details of our lives. But, the good news is, He is also INTERESTED in doing so. He is big enough and powerful enough to encompass the 10 billion light-years of space that we know of. But He is also great enough to be intimately involved in every single one of the 6.5 billion people on earth.
Jesus says even the hairs on our heads are numbered, so obviously no detail is too small for God. Especially if you consider that, on average, we have 100,000 hairs on our heads. For 6.5 billion people worldwide, that would be 650 trillion hairs! Of course, someone out there has to have a few more than 100,000 since I seem to have a few less.
If God even knows our hair count, then He most certainly is involved in the everyday details of our lives, and the direction in which our lives are headed. We just need to learn how to recognize God’s involvement. But, our failure to recognize that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.
As I began this blog I recounted a UFO sighting I had as a kid. Keep in mind I did not say it was a flying saucer full of space aliens, I said UFO—it was a flying object, but I did not know what kind of flying object it was. A flying object I could not identify--an unidentified flying object. U—F—O. A UFO sighting.
So, now, lets talk about “God sightings”. Evidences of God’s hand at work in our everyday life. Try this:
Corrie Ten Boom and her sister Betsie were prisoners in Ravensbruck, the notorious German prison, during WWII. Corrie tells about her experience there in her book The Hiding Place. Corrie was dismayed by the conditions, especially the fleas that infested their living quarters.
In response, her sister prayed and then claimed a passage from the Bible they had smuggled with them.
“That’s it, Corrie!” she said. “That’s His answer. ‘Give thanks in all circumstances!’ That’s what we can do. We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!”
And Betsie did just that, but when she thanked God for the fleas, Corrie objected.
“Betsie, there’s no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.”
It was only later that Corrie was able to see God’s hand in their flea-ridden situation. While in that barracks, Corrie and her sister were able to share God’s Word with the other women prisoners, without interruption from the guards.
Betsie explained why. “You know we’ve never understood why we had so much freedom in the big room,” she said to Corrie. “Well—I’ve found out.”
That day, there had been confusion about sock sizes, and the women had asked a supervisor to come and settle it. The supervisor refused, as did the guards. “And you know why…Because of the fleas!”
Or, how’s this for a “God sighting”:
Horatio Spafford was a successful lawyer and investor. In 1871, a horrible fire in Chicago spread throughout the city and burned most of Horatio’s investments and assets to the ground. Looking for respite and rejuvenation, Horatio sent his wife and four daughters across the ocean for a European vacation to relax and wait for him as he tied up some loose ends for his business. During the voyage, their ship was struck by another ship and sunk into the chilling November ocean. Horatio received a message from his wife: “Saved alone.”
Horatio sailed across the ocean to meet with his grieving wife. During the voyage, near the very spot where his daughters drowned, he wrote words to a hymn that acknowledged the pain in his life, but instead focused on the power of Jesus in the midst of the pain: “It Is Well With My Soul”.
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GOOD THINGS HAPPEN WHEN YOU SHARE YOUR LUNCH
I am a servant, getting ready for my part
There’s been a change, a rearrangement in my heart
At last I’m learning there’s no returning once I start
To live’s a privilege, to love is such an art
But I need Your help to start
Oh please purify my heart
I am Your servant
--Larry Norman
There is a tale of an old German schoolmaster who, when he entered his class of boys in the morning, used to remove his cap and bow ceremoniously to them. One asked him why he did this. His answer was: "You never know what one of these boys may some day become." He was right--because one of them was Martin Luther.
We were put o the earth to make a contribution, not just to consume resources. God designed us to make a difference. And we best do that by serving others. Jesus measures greatness in this life in terms of service, by how many people we serve – not how many serve us. So, how can we be the “real” servants Jesus wants us to be?
1. Real servants make themselves available to serve.
2. Real servants are faithful.
3. Real servants think like Jesus.
4. Real servants pay attention to needs.
(John 6:9) There's a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?
We probably miss many occasions for ministry because we aren’t paying attention to the needs around us. Great opportunities to serve don’t last too long, and when they are gone they may never return again.
John Wesley said this, "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can. "
And we do this by paying attention.
A Brazilian pastor sat in the sun in his garden. It was a rare quiet moment. He was reading his Bible and praying. A tapping at the door broke the silence.
He sat silently, hoping the person would go away. The gentle tapping resumed.
Grumpily he walked to the door, opening it with a scowl behind his face. It was a street kid.
“Sir, may I please have a little bread?” The pastor almost said no. But he couldn’t. Curtly he told the kid to “stay here”.
He went to his kitchen and got a small piece of bread, returned, and handed it to the kid. “Here. Now don’t bother me again.”
Walking back toward his garden and his Bible, the pastor passed the window and glanced out. There was the boy, carefully dividing the bread into even smaller pieces, sharing them with three younger street kids.
Tears flowing, the pastor invited the kids in. Begging for forgiveness, he shared bread, milk, and cheese. He asked their names and listened to their stories. Today in that Brazilian city every street kid knows there’s a church and a pastor who will never turn him or her away.
To be a servant, we need to keep three important things in mind:
1) Be aware of what we have and thank God
2) Be aware of those around us who need what we have
3) Good things happen when you share your lunch
And being a “real” servant is just that – SHARING YOUR LUNCH. |
BAGUETTES, CROISSANTS, STONE-GROUND WHEAT, PUMPERNICKLE, RYE ... OH MY!
"Evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread." --D.T. Niles
Recently, Karen and I went to see the movie End of the Spear. It is the story of five missionaries who were killed in South America back in the 1950’s. Except it is from the perspective of the Indians who killed them and how they eventually were reached with the Gospel. It is from a book by Steve Saint, whose father, Nate, was one of the martyred missionaries. If you have not seen it, you should. I don’t know how much longer it will be in the theaters, but I, for one, will buy it as soon as it gets to DVD. There is no justice if it doesn’t at least get nominated for “Best Picture” at the Oscars in 2007.
Those five men, and countless millions others like them, felt a call on their lives and were willing to give up everything to fulfill that call. In my own case, I have a friend who is about to go to Indonesia as a missionary. And it is not lost on him and his family, especially his teenage daughter, that being a Christian in a Muslim world is not going to be an easy task.
But we, too, have a call on our lives. Each of us has something that God wants us to do, and that God has created us especially to do. I encourage you to get involved in some ministry this year.
Not all of us are called to the foreign missions field. And it is likely that not many of us will be martyred for our faith. But, we are called to do something. Let's be sure we tell'em where to find bread. |
DEAD FAITH
It is possible to be homiletically brilliant, verbally fluent,
theologically profound, biblically orthodox … and spiritually useless.
--G. Campbell Morgan
A minister was approached by a man who wanted to join the church. “But,” the man said, “I have a very busy schedule. I can’t be called on for any service, such as committee work, teaching, or singing in the choir. I just won’t be available for special projects or to help with setting up chairs or things like that. And I’m afraid I’ll never be bale to go on visitation, as my evenings are all tied up.”
The minister thought for a moment, then replied, “I believe you are at the wrong church. The church you are looking for is three blocks down the street, on the right.”
The man followed the preacher’s directions and soon came to an abandoned, boarded up, closed church building. It was a dead church – gone out of business.
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:15-17)
God calls us to an active faith. His gift of salvation should point us toward good behavior. According to the Faith in Action Study Bible, this passage gives us a three-step action plan.
1) Control our speech
2) Look after society’s voiceless and vulnerable
3) Avoid the spiritual pollution of our fallen world
When we look at the world around us, even when we look at our community around us, it can be easy to see so much pain and suffering that we think there is nothing we can possibly do to help. But we are not as helpless as we might think.
I think of a story I heard about a football team. The defensive captain would take new members of the defense by the facemask and ask them what their assignment was. They would answer, “stop the other team from scoring”, or “don’t give up a lot of yardage”, or other comments like that.
The captain would then mark out a ten-foot square in the dirt around their position on the field and growl, “No, your job is to knock down anyone who comes into your space!” If all members of the defense did that, then the overall goal of not giving up a lot of yardage and keeping the other team from scoring would be reached.
That is very much like our jobs here on earth. God has not called us to solve every problem. But He has called us to do what we can where we are. What one thing can you do to combine your faith with action?
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