Watch out for the little guy…

It was probably a couple of weeks ago that a little virus taunted my 6 foot tall, 180 pound body saying, “Watch out, big guy, you’re going down.”

To which my body replied, “Says who?  You’re so small you make a grain of sand look like a mountain!”

“Don’t be too brash,” said the virus, “I got people.”

And my body brashly replied, “Where, I don’t see anyone?” 

At that point the virus found a nice comfy place in a mucous membrane, and self-replicated until there were probably a few million of them, wreaking havoc on my throat and sinuses.  So my body is using most of its available resources trying to quash the rebellion—leaving me not much energy for anything else.

Watch out for the little guy—with friends.

There was once a little guy named David.  When David saw the giant, he ran fearlessly toward him with his sling.  David wasn’t afraid because the giant made fun of his God and he knew God would give him the victory.  So David let loose the stone and the stone hit true and the giant fell in a heap. (1 Samuel 17)

Watch out for the little guy—with a friend named God.

There was once a working-class man from a part of the country that was looked down upon by the rest.  Being a fisherman, this guy didn’t have time to invest in a quality education.  When he spoke he had a tendency to put his foot in his mouth, so much so that, on more than one occasion, Jesus had to rebuke him for speaking brashly.

But then the day came when Peter stood before a huge crowd and people marveled at the preaching of the uneducated man from Galilee.  And people were cut to the heart and many responded positively to his words. (Acts 2:1-40)

Watch out for the little guy—with a friend named God.

Last Saturday, three high school girls listened in rapt attention to this irrelevant old white guy as I struggled to tell them, in Thai, some of the things that Jesus has done for me and the reason we came to Thailand.  I’m sure if there were a Thai language instructor present, his face would be all distorted from the constant wincing and biting of the tongue.  But somehow, in spite of me, God was able to keep the attention of these three young women.’'

And so my prayer is, “God, don’t let my Thai language abilities get so good that I think that I can accomplish something worthwhile in Thai without your help.”

Some of those who listen to our teaching in spite of us.

Love who?

Last weekend we wrapped up the biannual Anabaptist Conference that was held this year here at the Changing Life Center.  We had participants from many different parts of Thailand and from nearby L*os.

For this  conference, the theme was The Sermon on the Mount.  These words of Jesus are always very challenging to hear because Jesus takes the common wisdom of this world and turns it upside down.

A good portion of time was spent on this section:

⁴³ "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  ⁴⁴ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  Matthew 5:43-45 (ESV)

It was amazing to hear testimonies from people with real experience loving enemies.  I’m not talking about those who love some enemy who lives far away and is no immediate threat to one’s life, health and well-being.  Nor am I talking about enemies who dislike you because of your bad behavior or social status.  I’m talking about enemies who, at any moment, can arrest you, beat you, throw you in prison, disown you, ostracize you or confiscate your property or your family members because you talk about what Jesus has done for you.

Listening to teaching during the conference

How to you love the person that beat you into a coma?  Or the one who threw you in prison?  The one who makes it difficult for you to even make a living so that you can survive?  The parents who ostracize their child for trusting Jesus in a culture where family relationships form the fabric of the culture?
 

These are the kinds of stories we heard from people who have persevered in their faith in Jesus in spite of the persecution.  Some have seen their persecutors become brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
It is very humbling to be in the midst of such people, for I come from a very luxurious background by comparison.
 
These persecuted brothers, Jesus tells us, are the blessed ones.
 
That’s not what I would say.  If we were to write out the beatitudes, it would go something like this.
 

• Blessed are you who have a nice job and a fat bank account for you shall never want.
• Blessed are you who have a great family and a faithful partner for you shall enjoy love all your days.
• Blessed are you who have a nice house in the suburbs for you shall be comfortable.
• Blessed are you in good health for you shall live a long life
• Blessed are you who have a good education for you will succeed in life and be respected by others

But Jesus said:
³ "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
⁵ "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
⁶ "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
⁷ "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
⁸ "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
⁹ "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
(and this last one really strikes me)
¹¹ "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:3-12 (ESV)

Ouch!

This seems so backwards.  But the things we often perceive to be “blessings” are actually things that cause us to abandon God.  If I have all I need in this life, then why do I need God?

That’s not to say that God will never bless us with good things, nor do all who have some of the good things in life abandon God.  But we need to be careful lest we end up seeking a good life more than we seek God.

And be careful when you pray asking for God’s blessing.

God, I thank you for the opportunity to learn from these truly faithful servants of yours.

I’ll end this with a poem from Amy Carmichael:

From prayer that asks that I may be
Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire,
From faltering when I should climb higher
From silken self, O Captain, free
Thy soldier who would follow Thee.

From subtle love of softening things,
From easy choices, weakenings,
(Not thus are spirits fortified,
Not this way went the Crucified)
From all that dims Thy Calvary
O Lamb of God, deliver me.

Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire;
Let me not sink to be a clod;
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God

I’ve gotta see a man about a horse…

“Never do anything alone.”

I was recently going through notes on some of the books about missions I have read and I came across that piece of advice.  It has to do with the role of mentoring when it comes to trying to disciple others.  Those who are includers can greatly impact others.

Maybe this is why I was reminded during my waking hours of the night of those who impacted my life by including others in their life.  And so my mind went back a lot of years to a man named George Libby.

George Libby was a volunteer who maintained a good portion of the Tunxis Trail (Part of the Blue Trail system) in Connecticut.  But rather then do this on his own (which my more introverted grandfather did on the Mattatuck Trail), George had a well developed system for including young people on the task.

There were two levels on the crew, Juniors and Seniors.  One began as a Junior.  We earned points based on the number of hours we worked, which was reduced by things we missed or did wrong.  Upon earning enough points, one could qualify for the “Junior Trip”, awarded to the top 4 point earners of the season.  This was an overnight stay in a cabin in new Hampshire and a one day hike up Mount Welch.

Standing on top of Mount Welch

After completing the Junior Trip, one became a Senior.  Seniors worked to qualify for a Senior Trip, which was a overnight hike to one of the AMC huts in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  There was no limit as to the number of these one could go on. Again, it was awarded to the top 4 point earners of the season.

Our "Senior Trip" crew along with Dave Ford and his wife who were leaders-in-training.  (I'm the one with the stars and stripe shirt.)

I was probably about 15 years old when I started.  Our task was to clear a 6 foot wide and six foot tall trail way.  The tasks we did included clearing loose obstacles, swinging a weed cutter and assisting George who wielded the loppers.  Special trips were made for applying paint blazing or pushing the distance measuring wheel.

George even invited me to a meeting of the Appalachian Trail Club one year and later endorsed me for membership in the club (it was a bit of an exclusive club in the early days.)  I kept the membership up for many years—always expecting that I would one day end up living in northern New England.

George Libby died in 1986, but he left  behind a legacy that included more than just a well maintained trail.  It was people like him who helped others focus on doing something positive with their lives as opposed to engaging in self-destructive behaviors (which I did enough of anyway).

I learned from all of this the importance of inclusion, though I admit it is difficult for me as I am more like my grandfather who would rather do the job alone most of the time.  Paul alludes to this inclusive “passing of the baton” in his letter to Timothy.  “You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses,” he writes, “Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.”  2 Timothy 2:2 (NLT)

As we work with leaders of the churches here, there is also a kind of mutual inclusion that goes on.  We invite others to partake in certain activities and they also invite us to be involved in certain things and we learn from each other.

But I am challenged after reading that quote yesterday as to how we can include others more in what we are doing.

But before I finish, I should explain the title of this post.

One day, our crew (normal crew was 7 people) was all in the back of George’s  old International Scout as we made our way down some dirt track out to the paved road.  All of the sudden, he stopped, jumped out of the truck and said, “I’ve got a see a man about a horse,” and then he disappeared into the bush, leaving us young people wondering where on earth this horse was that he was talking about.  Then a couple of minutes later he appears and gets back in the truck and we continue on our way without explanation.  (Though by this time we were pretty sure we learned another way to say “I’ve gotta take a leak.)