(some thoughts one year later)

Mike-

I barely got to meet you,
I don’t know why it took so long.
We grew up with much in common.
Dirt bikes, fishing, and rooting for the Giants, even when their record wasn’t strong.

I barely got to meet you,
On a field trip with our sons.
We made rope, panned for gold, and played tag like a bunch of kids.
I still brag about how I won!

I barely got to meet you,
When too soon you were laid to rest.
I’m privileged to know you more and more,
Through those who love you best.

I barely got to meet you,
Yet saw the Godly example that you set.
I’m simply a witness to your legacy,
And a better man because of it.

I barely got to meet you,
Never knowing if a friendship had a chance to grow.
But that doesn’t really matter because you’re MY friend, I’ll see you again,
And that’s all there is to know.

John

Our growing family recently moved into a house with a couple more bedrooms. You can only stack so many beds on top of each other before you need to cut a hole in the roof; cool for watching stars, but not the best when it rains. It occurred to me that there was a story behind each house that we considered. Some homes were shiny and new while others were aging and in need of repair. Some were well-cared-for while others looked cast aside and forgotten. One thing was clear: even an old house could be fixed up and made like new. My wife loves the HGTV show “Fixer Upper” with the Gaines family (I mean, who doesn’t?). Not only is it fun to see the transformation of the old house back into its full glory, but the reaction from the home owners is always priceless. So priceless, in fact, that the show producers always make you… wait… for… (commercial break)… it.

I recently had the privilege to speak to the elementary students at Pacific Point Christian Schools. We talked about what elements make up a good story. Some of the answers that I received after I polled the audience were “adventure”, “fairy tales”, “saving the world”, and… “verbs.” It’s true, a story without verbs would be pretty boring. We agreed that stories have one thing in common: they all have a beginning, a middle, and an end, in that order. In the timeline of God’s story we are in the middle chapters right now. I told the group this story of a 6-year-old boy:

Back in the summer of 1988 there was a boy who would get super-excited every time his mom would mention the plans for the day. He would always ask the same question: “Will I like it, Mom? Will I like it?” Oftentimes the answer would be “I think so” or “yes”, but one day it was different. After the boy asked his usual question the mother responded sobbingly, “no honey, you’re not going to like this.” The boy subsequently learned that his parents were getting divorced, and that the family he knew would never be the same again. That was an awful day. That was an awful year. That was an awful chapter in the life of that boy.

Hardships come in different shapes and sizes for everybody. In fact, the Bible tells us that hardships are to be expected. Jesus says in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Why will we have trouble? Because the world is in a broken condition. Not just people, but creation itself is broken. Did God make a mistake when he created the world? Not at all. The beginning chapter started off perfectly. God’s original design was that we would live in paradise, but mankind sinned (rejected God), and it broke the machine. As a consequence we have some chapters that are difficult, painful, and certainly not fair. Our shiny, new houses can look abandoned, worn down, and cast aside.

Great. Just, great. Thanks John, now what?
Wait… for… (commercial break)… it…
THAT’S NOT THE END OF THE STORY!

Rarely do we gain insight into how a story is going to end while we are still in the middle of it. That’s just not typically the nature of stories. But in this case… [*SPOILER ALERT*]

God saw this brokenness and SO LOVED THE WORLD that He wasn’t going to leave creation in this state. So He made a rescue plan, launched a secret mission, and sent His son Jesus to fix what went wrong. This is why we celebrate Christmas. He is the ultimate “fixer upper”, working to restore all of creation to its original glory! Revelation 23 paints a beautiful picture of how ALL THINGS are being made new and restored. Heaven and Earth will be perfect once again. This is not wishful thinking, but rather a promise of God’s happily ever after plan for all of creation (including you and me).

There it is! That’s how the story ends. Those in Christ will live happily ever after. The prince marries the princess, the Avengers save the world, Darth Vadar brings balance to the force, E.T. phones home, and Jenny and Forrest are like peas and carrots again.

So… why can’t we just skip the middle and fast-forward straight to the ending? It seems like we could avoid a lot of pain that way.

1. That’s not how the stories of our lives work. We don’t have DVRs to skip over the parts we don’t like. When I was a kid (back in my day…) we actually had to wait for a movie or TV show to broadcast over things called airwaves, and we couldn’t jump back and forth through the story. C’est la vie.

2. God’s wants us to rely on Him for our source of comfort and strength, and in doing so, we can extend comfort and strength to others. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)

3. We are not merely passive audience members, but rather active participants in God’s story. Now that we know of this happily ever after plan it is our job to go unto all the world and tell people of this happy ending that is for all people. (Matthew 28:16-20)

This is a special responsibility. Recall the story of the 6-year-old boy whose parents got divorced many years ago. That boy was me. Now, 30 years later I stood in front of that chapel full of elementary students, and encouraged them by saying that despite current hardship and tragedy present in this broken machine, we serve a great God who is making all things new and has a happily ever after planned for everyone. I never would have had that opportunity if I were able to fast-forward to the end of the story before the middle was over.

“But the pain hurts now,” we say. How can we be hopeful about the happy ending when the middle chapters hurt so bad? Again, God’s Word gives us the answer. In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 the apostle Paul writes:

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Where are you fixing your eyes?

Dear friends, this Christmas let us…

FIX our eyes on our creator who
IS MAKING all things new through His son Jesus Christ.
LET us
FOCUS on the happily ever after because it
WILL LAST far beyond any present hardship in these middle chapters. And above all,
MAY we
BE superstar celebrities in God’s story,
TELLING others about His amazing plan.

I guess a good story really is about verbs after all.

Freeway traffic came to a sudden halt. Rather than veering left onto a double-wide, grassy shoulder the driver of the car next to me opted to swerve halfway into my lane, about 2-3 feet in front of my bumper. I managed to evade the collision by a matter of inches, but unfortunately the swerving vehicle still forcefully smashed into its lead car.

The lead vehicle slowly putted off of the freeway to the left onto the grassy median, while my car and the at-fault car migrated off to the right shoulder. I jumped out of my car to assess the status. The at-fault car was packed to the roof with sleeping bags and clothes, and was occupied by a road-tripping, boyfriend-girlfriend couple in their early twenties, who I’ll refer to as Jim and Sally. Sally was asleep during the collision, as it was Jim’s “shift” (apparently driving across the country). Neither had suffered any injuries. Meanwhile, as traffic had resumed to near-normal speeds, I saw the other driver standing outside of her damaged car in the median. The substantial freeway noise precluded the possibility of verbal communication, so I gestured to the women with the universal “thumbs up/thumbs down” hand signal. Her response changed the nature of the situation. She contoured the front of her stomach in the shape of an exaggerated bump. She was PREGNANT! She sulked backwards against the trunk of her car and held her lower abdomen with both hands. I could not physically assist her but considering the stakes something had to be done.

She needed help, and I was her witness.

Immediately, I called 911 and informed the dispatchers of the situation and gave them the precise location of the woman’s car. I remember feeling helpless for the next 5-10 minutes as I stayed on the call. Meanwhile, a very-barefooted Jim walked over to me and told me that he didn’t have his drivers license and that the car he was driving belonged to his girlfriend, Sally. He was hoping that I wouldn’t call the police. I explained the situation about the pregnant woman, and told him that her health and safety was paramount.

She needed help, and I was her witness.

The next distraction came when Jim informed me that he and Sally had the “perfect plan.” They were going to lie about who was driving (Sally instead of Jim) so that he didn’t get in trouble for driving without a license, and he wanted me to corroborate that lie. In this moment, I was stunned by the idiocy of the situation: shoeless Jim was more concerned about the consequences of his driving ineligibility than the urgency of the pregnant mother who was now flopped down on the muddy grass behind her car. I told him that honesty will always win the day, and again reminded him that immediate priority was the health of the pregnant mother.

She needed help, and I was her witness.

The paramedics and police showed up. Jim and Sally told the truth, and the pregnant mother appeared to be doing just fine after the paramedics ran a series of on-site tests. I spent the next day sorting out the details of the event in my mind, and then something hit me. Every moment in the collision aftermath required me to put aside something trivial and be a witness. The health of that mother and baby required an important phone call that superseded the inconvenience of cumbersome traffic and hand-signal difficulties. Jim’s distracting interjections had to be ignored because they were not helping the pregnant mother. As I pondered the aftermath of this event, I reflected on my own Christian walk and how my calling is to be a witness to all of the people of this world. The cultural, political, and social wars between those who follow Christ and those who do not can be treacherous and discouraging at times. I’m as susceptible as the next person to let trivial matters overshadow the love that God demonstrated for ALL people through his son Jesus Christ. So for now, while eternity hangs in the balance for all God’s children, I am reminded that the most important thing for me to do is to overlook something trivial and give a witness.

Happy Easter!