What If No One Forgot?

It was the tenth inning of the final game of the World Series. The New York Giants were leading the Boston Red Sox, 2-1. Christy Mathewson, the great pitcher, delivered the ball to the plate. The batter hit an easy fly ball to center fielder, Fred Snodgrass. Snodgrass eased under the ball—and dropped it!

Snodgrass’ muff placed the game-tying run on second base. The next batter, future hall-of-famer Harry Hooper, hit a screaming line drive over Snodgrass’ head—surely it would be a triple.

Unbelievably, Snodgrass ran the ball down and made the greatest catch of his life—a game-saving catch. Unfortunately, the catch went for naught.

Christy Mathewson inexplicably walked a batter. The next man up, future hall of famer Tris Speaker, hit a pop fly foul ball, in front of the grandstand. Unbelievably, Mathewson and catcher John “Chief” Myers misplayed it, which gave Speaker another chance at the plate. He hit a single to tie the game. The Giants made no more errors, but lost the game when a sacrifice fly scored the winning run from third base.

Afterwards, the New York newspapers became apoplectic. They blamed Fred Snodgrass for the loss, even though he clearly was not alone in his mistakes.

Snodgrass went on to play four more seasons of Major League Baseball. Overall, he enjoyed a fine career. A good steward with his earnings, Snodgrass went back home to California and became a very successful rancher, banker, and businessman. He lived a life filled with good works and died at the ripe old age of 86 on April 6, 1974.

The next day, the venerable NEW YORK TIMES featured Fred Snodgrass in its Obituary page. Almost sixty-two years after the 1912 World Series, the headline read: "Fred Snodgrass, 86, Dead; Ball Player Muffed 1912 Fly."

What if God took your most embarrassing mistake, and refused to forget it? What if, on the Day of Judgment, God announced to Universe your worst sin?

Be of good cheer. Here is what Hebrews tells about God’s memory of sin for those who are in Christ, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more" (Heb. 10:17b) ESV.

The Wall

Back in 2003, U. S. soldiers found a guy, who had been an enemy of Saddam Hussein since 1981. Sadaam had put him on his hit list, so this man went home and constructed a wall inside his home. The last thing the man did before sealing the wall was to place himself behind it. He stayed there 22 years until 2003, when Sadaam was dead.

Nobody outside of his home knew where he was. They did not know he was there. Only his mother and his wife knew. But he had been living behind that wall for 22 years. How would you have liked that? Living alone in the darkness behind a wall?

You think--what a terrible existence! 22 years behind a wall. How awful!

Guess what. I know Christians, who live the same way. They take their guilt and they build themselves a wall. And they live a miserable life, a miserable existence, behind that wall. But I want you to know, the blood of Christ can make you clean. It can destroy that wall.

14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Heb. 9:14).

Living Death

In Johannesburg, South Africa in1993, 24-year old, Sipho William Mdletshe, was involved in a traffic accident and declared dead. His body was placed in a metal box and taken to a mortuary.

Forty-eight hours later, after drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness, Mdletshe slowly became alert enough to realize he was trapped in a box. Terrified, he began screaming for help. Workers in the mortuary heard his shouts and let him out.

I have known a lot of people, who lived their lives like Sipho William Mdletshe. They may not have been placed in a metal box in a mortuary, but they lived their lives in a stupor. Some, literally, dulled their senses with drugs and alcohol and basically lived their lives as sleepwalkers.

Others, like Mdlestshe, suffered injuries in wrecks. Instead of being hit by automobiles, they were hit by people. Humans inflicted abuse upon them. Unlike Mdlestshe, they never cried for help and chose to remain trapped in their boxes.

Jesus is all about death, but it is death to the old life. After that, Jesus wants to create a new life and a new identity rooted in him. Jesus calls you out of the box of death and into life, “I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest.”

Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!

A few years ago, actress/model Shari Belafonte left her husband, film executive Bob Harper, for actor Sam Behrens.  Her justification?  "It took me 30 years to come to the realization that I'm not on Earth for somebody else.  Sam was the first thing that came into my life that I said, 'Forget what everybody else says-I want that, and I'm gonna have it.'  When I found Sam, it was like, 'Gimme, gimme, gimme!'"

I can think of no better parable to explain the sinful nature of man.  Whenever we sin, no matter what the sin, we have the fundamental attitude, at that moment in our heart, and will of, "I'm not on Earth for somebody else.  I want that and I'm gonna have it." Can you see the selfishness in this attitude?

Be aware, it is not in Shari Belafonte alone we see this attitude. We see it, when man seeks power in his business for his own personal gain. It lies at the root of the heart that motivates a wife to manipulate her husband.  It is the gut feeling within the teen-ager, when he commits to break the law by guzzling a cold one.

Jesus claimed to model, for us, the way to life. The aforementioned attitude is the antithesis of the mind of Christ. Check out what the Apostle Paul says about this in Phil. 4:1-8.

Those Who Have Gone Before

Count me among the many who have appreciated David McCullough’s fine book, JOHN ADAMS, and the Tom Hanks’ produced mini-series of the same title. In one of the early episodes, I was reminded of the tremendous sacrifice members of the American Colonies offered up.

In the early 1770s, John Adams is off trying to lay the groundwork in the Continental Congress that would ultimately lead to our independence. Meanwhile, his wife, Abigail, is at home with their four children. The scourge of small pox has hit New England, where the Adams’ homestead was located.

Without input from her husband, Abigail is confronted with difficult life and death decisions. In a bold move, she decides to have a local physician inoculate herself and her children. Bear in mind, this is twenty years before Edward Jenner perfects the small pox vaccine.

In the series depiction, the physician parks his wagon outside the Adams’ door. In the wagon lies a poor, unfortunate soul carrying the disease. The physician scrapes the pustules, and taking some of the liquid, places it with a scalpel inside the wounds he has created on each of the Adams’ family members’ arms.

It worked. Although John and Abigail’s oldest daughter contracted a mild case, the family was protected against the disease.

Watching this gruesome, anxious event, I was struck by how much all members of our parental colonies surrendered in order to forge a new nation. Here is this woman who must function as a single parent for, ultimately, years while her husband is away.

I hope this weekend, those of you who are Americans have counted your blessings. Those who have gone on before us endured much. We are the beneficiaries.

Gratitude is a virtue. Let us be gracious.

The Hidden Hand of God

Sunday is July 4. Reflecting upon this holiday, it occurred to me how rarely we look back on history and ponder the catastrophes that were averted.

The historian, William Manchester, offers one such incident where this was clearly the case. Whenever we look back on World War II and our war with Japan, we typically consider the war over, after the Atomic bombs were dropped. However, not all of Japan was beaten into submission.

Before the Japanese surrender to Gen. MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz, a group of renegades in the Japanese military planned to overthrow their Emperor's government. Their plot included assassinations against members of their own government. They would then lead the people in a continued war against the United States and its allied forces.

On August 28, as the USS Missouri was sailing into Tokyo Bay, kamikaze bombers were positioned on Japanese airfields, ready to fly and sink the ship. Fortunately, Prince Takamatsu, the younger brother of Emperor Hirohito, reached the Atsugi airstrip before the renegades had left. He convinced them to call off their mission. The Japanese surrender went through as planned.

Stories, such as these, make me think of “the God who is there.” Perhaps His hand is hidden, but I do believe he is at work. It is sad that we humans, because our vision is so limited, do not give thanks often enough for the crisis averted. Perhaps, this is not a reflection on our lack of vision, rather, of our lack of faith.

Convictions

In 2004, the Arlington Burton's boy’s basketball team withdrew from the Texas private schools’ playoffs. Burton had been scheduled to play the west regional final on a Friday night. However, the school is a part of the Seventh-Day Adventists. Their religious beliefs preclude them from participating in activities from sundown to sundown—Friday to Saturday.

           

The executive board of the state’s private schools ruled that the game would not be moved to accommodate Burton. Consequently, Burton made the decision to not play.

I am not a Seventh Day Adventist, but I respect their convictions. I wish more of us Christians would stay so faithful to ours.