Doing Time

            Men, never get into a fight with Sandra Coast. Sandra recently completed the U.S. Army Basic Combat Training school. She is 51 years old. Not only did she finish her training, her marks were among the highest in her company.

            Sandra had already served in the United States Navy from 1982 to 1993. Because of that, she was given exemptions that allowed her to enlist in the Army. Also, because of her experience, she graduated as a sergeant.

            You might ask, “Why did she join?” She joined because she wanted to support our American troops.

            I really like this story. I like it because it tells of a person who has spent many years serving her country. If anyone is entitled to say, “I've done my time, I'm going to sit back and let someone else do the work,” it is Sandra. However, Sandra felt she still had much to offer. She saw there was still much to be done, and she volunteered to help do it.

            Too many times in churches, I see mature Christians who cultivate the attitude of, “I've done my time; I'm going to sit back and let someone else do the work.” Where is that in Scripture!

            When many of us were children, we sang the song, “I'm in the Lord's army.” This song is true. There is much to be done. May we help God do it until we draw our last breath.

 Source: World Magazine

Cutting Toenails for Christ

            This Sunday, I am preaching from John 13.

            A few weeks ago, I was reading Tim Archer’s blog http://www.timothyarcher.com/kitchen/?p=5537 and I came across this story he was passing along from Richard Beck and his blog, Experimental Theology. Beck shares about his experiences teaching John 13 in his prison ministry. I could think of no better illustration of John 13:

            After reading the story I returned to our prior conversation. I asked, “Can you serve people like Jesus did here in the prison?”

            As before, there was general skepticism. The comment “kindness in prison is mistaken for weakness” was repeated. But I pushed a little harder this time and waited a little longer.

            “How can you find moments to serve in this place?”

            There was a long silence.

            Then one man, Norberto (not his real name), raised his hand.

            I was intrigued by what Norberto would say. He is a big, intimidating man. He could snap me like a twig. You can tell he commands a lot of respect from the other men.

            I called on him and, given his intimidating presence, figured he’d stay with the “you can’t do that kind of stuff in here” consensus.

            He began, speaking softly.

            “Well,” he started with his heavy Hispanic accent, “I don’t know if this is what you are looking for but I help my celly [i.e., cell mate].”

            “How?” I ask.

            “Well, my celly isn’t too bright. Something is wrong with his head. He was in an accident so he’s not too smart.” Guys who know Norberto’s cellmate nod in agreement and elaborate. Apparently he’s borderline mentally retarded and needs a lot of help taking care of himself and navigating prison life.

            Norberto continues. “Well, when my celly first got put in with me I noticed that he never took off his shoes. He always left them on. So one day I finally asked him, ‘Why don’t you ever take off your shoes?’ He wouldn’t tell me. Finally I got him to tell me. He was embarrassed. He didn’t know how to take care of his feet. So his toenails were all overgrown, smelly and ugly looking. So I asked him to take off his shoes and socks. And his nails were awful. But he didn’t know how to cut them.

            So I sat him down and had him put his feet in water. Then I took his foot in my lap and cut his toenails for him. I don’t know what people would have thought if they walked by, his foot in my lap. And I would never have thought I’d be doing something like that.”

            There was now a deep silence in the room. The image before us was so unexpected. Here was this huge, intimidating man taking the time, almost like a mother, to gently wash the feet and trim the nails of his mentally retarded cell mate.

            Breaking the silence Norberto looked up at me and asked, “Is that an example of what you were talking about?”

            “Yes,” I said. “Yes, that is an example of what I was talking about.”

A Free Appendectomy!

            Many years ago, a contest was held in West Virginia to name a new county hospital. First prize was a free appendectomy… a great prize—if one needed to remove an appendix.

            Jesus was a servant, who met the needs of people. We Christians follow in the steps of Jesus. However, let us remember, our service is not much help if we are not meeting a NEED.

The Good Samaritan

            This was from SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, September 19, 1994:

           

A middle-aged man, diseased with Parkinson’s Syndrome, was driving along a two-line highway one afternoon in southern Michigan. He passed by a group of college students, who stood sadly and silently by their car.

The hood of the car was up and it was in trouble. The older man stopped his car, did a U-turn, and went back to help. He pulled out some jumper cables and, in spite of his best efforts, he couldn’t fix the car—so he gave two of the students a ride back to campus.

I don’t know how long all of this took—maybe an hour or two. I know many of us wouldn’t have stopped; even if we knew that it was 100% safe. We would not have stopped because of the inconvenience. We don’t have time today for inconvenience. We don’t have time to serve.

This man didn’t either. At one time he was the most famous man in the world. But that day, Muhammad Ali, driving in his Rolls Royce, took time out of his globe-hopping schedule to help some college students.

He did not drive on by and call on his cell phone to send someone else. He came himself.

Our God didn’t phone for help either. He came to this world himself—and He served.

Bibs or Aprons?

Several years ago, someone visited a church in Minnesota that was growing rapidly. What he observed was sent all over the world via the internet.

One observation was of a phrase he heard repeated over and again,  "We want our members to wear aprons, not bibs." This signified:

Bibs are for people who only want to be fed.

Bibs are for those who are not yet ready or willing to feed themselves.

Bibs are for those who are more interested in being served than in serving.

Bibs are for those who insist that the church exists for them and their needs.

Bibs are for babes in the faith, those who haven't caught God's vision for the church, or those who are not yet of the faith.

Aprons are for those who have a heart to serve others in Jesus' name.

Aprons are for those who know that they are the church.

Aprons are for those who don't mind getting their hands dirty.

Aprons are for those who take the time daily to feed their spiritual hunger.

Aprons are for those who are growing in faith, and hunger to help others grow.

Seeing this, the guest could not help but recall Matthew 20:28:

"For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many." 

A Cup of Cold Water

Years ago, I read in Readers’ Digest an account from a subscriber about her attempt to perform a good deed.  During a particular hot summer in Chicago, news sources put out the word to be aware of the potential dehydration of all of the outside workers. Hence, people were encouraged to, when possible, offer these workers water.

One lady took this admonition to heart. She filled her plastic pitcher with ice water. She grabbed a tray and placed the pitcher, as well as, plastic cups upon it.

Soon, she heard the inevitable sound of the city garbage truck coming down her street. She hurried outside with her tray, and, over the noise of the garbage truck, she shouted to a worker, "Here. This for you!"

The man was genuinely surprised.  So she repeated her words, "This for you."

Shrugging his shoulders, he took the tray, along with the pitcher and cups and tossed them all into the back of the truck.

Bear in mind, when we follow Jesus’ teachings to offer the thirsty “a cup of cold water,” they may not always receive it in the way we would hope.  This could be for a variety of reasons: uncertainty, previous abuse, disillusionment, distrust, lives numbed to life. However, our mission is not to control results, our mission is to initiate action.

The Boot Polisher

When I was in college, I remember Jim McGuiggan sharing with us a parable. It was about a wicked and God-hating officer in the British Army, who told about how he was converted to Christianity.

The officer related that one night, a Christian in his platoon came in from sentry duty. He was very tired and wet, and yet, before going to bed he got down on his knees to pray.

The officer, at this time, just a simple private, responded to this act of piety in a harsh way. He took one boot and threw as hard as he could at the Christian's head. Bull’s eye!

The Christian groaned and prayed, groaned and prayed. So the private grabbed his other boot and threw it as hard as he could at the Christian’s head and, again, nailed his target.

The Christian moaned, groaned, rubbed his head—and he prayed. He moaned and prayed, moaned and prayed.

As the Christian continued moaning and praying, his antagonist fell asleep. The following morning, the private awoke and found that the Christian had polished his boots; they stood in perfect formation beside his bed.

This act of humility broke the private’s heart. This loving work of service propelled the private on a road to conversion.

The Christian servant reminds me of Paul’s portrayal of Jesus in Philippians 2. Jesus models for us what it means to put others’ needs above our own, including those needs of our enemies. Perhaps with such loving humility, we can persuade more to turn to Jesus.