Seeing the Lostness of People

The following is a version of a devotional I have written for next years Bike Week Ministry at Daytona.  May God use it to open our eyes.

 

 

In 2009 I had the privilege of attending my first Bike Week in Sturgis.  The following March I joined several friends in Daytona to visit, pray, and explore the options of a Daytona Bike Giveaway similar to Sturgis’ ministry.  Needless to say I was in for culture shock!  This Southern Baptist Preacher had never been anywhere like this in his adult life!  I had been to New Orleans many years before and seen that culture but never so broadly spread and with this many people.  My first reaction was a sense of being overwhelmed at a wide-open lifestyle of party heaven.  Everywhere I turned I saw people with one thing on their mind, party until you drop. 

 

This reminded me of a time years ago as I attended a movie in Tampa along with some good friends and my wife.  As we waited for the movie time to arrive we stepped next door to a coffee shop.  After getting my coffee I stood outside and began to notice the groups of people.  There were some similar to my crew and then there were some dressed completely opposite.  They were of the “Goth” lifestyle complete with black and white make-up, chains, and funny colored hair.  They were rather rowdy and loud using language and having discussions completely foreign to me.  At first I was angered at what I saw.  I thought to myself they were complete derelicts, an abhorrence to society.  Then God spoke to me very clearly that night.  While His voice was not audible, it was very clear.  He reminded me of several facts:  I created them in my image, I love them, and I died for them just like I died for you.  Those words cut to the very core of my arrogant and self-centered heart.  While these students were different than me, they were just like me.  While they looked differently, they acted in many ways just as I have many times before.  Their actions while foreign to me were not any different to God than my actions often times. 

 

He went on to remind me of a passage of scripture in Matthew 9 where He had just completed the Sermon on the Mount and gone about healing many people.  As a result, many people clung to Him out of desperation.  They followed Him wherever He went seeking to gain from Him what they so desperately needed and wanted, love and affection.  They had looked for this in the religion of the day but could not find it.  The religious leaders of the day were ineffective in serving the people because they did not see, nor care to see, the need of the people.  Therefore Matthew writes this incredible statement about the disposition and compassion of Jesus when He looked on the mass of people.  Matthew said, “When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd.” (The Message)  Jesus said very clearly to me that night in Tampa, as well as reminded me in Sturgis and Daytona, that the mass of people are no different than what Jesus saw that day as He moved among the people.  I now must ask myself, “Does my heart break for these people as Jesus does?”  Am I completely moved with compassion to share with them the Good News of Jesus Christ? 

 

Carl F. H. Henry is quoted as saying, "The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time."  We have the commission to carry the Good News to all mankind regardless of how different they may or may not be from each of us.  In the following verse of Matthew 9 Jesus reminds each of us that “The harvest is abundant; but the workers are few.”  We see the harvest before us each day.  What type of heart will we have when we see the people before us?  Will we be broken hearted at their lostness?  Will we be compelled to share the God-saving Good News of Jesus Christ with them?  May we offer the same reply as Isaiah when God called him to go forth as the voice of the Lord.  May our reply be, “Here am I.  Send Me.”

 

Seeking an Opportunity to Share,

 

Pastor Ric  

Living a Holy Life in the Fast Lane

Last Saturday I was able to finally redeem a birthday present my family gave me last February.  The gift was the experience of driving a NASCAR at Talladega Super Speedway.  When we arrived at the track there were the normal formalities of forms to sign, briefings, and the fitting for the flame-retardant race suit and helmet.  After going through all of the initial boring things, then we had to wait.  Since there were approximately 45 to 50 individuals to drive during our session we were put into groups for each of the eight cars which would be on the track at one time.  Somehow I got confused (This is not a good thing to do when you are about to drive upward of 170 MPH on a track with seven other cars) and thought I had a lot of time before they called my name. As I sat keeping up with the football games on my phone waiting my turn I suddenly heard my name.  Immediately I went into overdrive trying to get myself ready by handing off my phone, zipping up the jumpsuit, and grabbing my helmet to head to the #47 car which was to be my ride for the next several laps.  Within a matter of minutes I was photographed, strapped into the seat, told to depress the clutch pedal, and then my instructor said, “Let’s go!”  All along I am thinking to myself that this can’t be happening.  Everything did not go by in slow motion.  Instead, it seemed as though time moved at warp speed and we hadn’t even moved the racecar one inch.

 

After taking a deep breath we began and the car glided out onto the track.  As we got up to speed the laps went by faster each time.  Some asked if I was nervous, but the truth of the matter is I was concentrating too intensely on doing what my instructor told me to do.  Before I realized what was going on I had completed my allotted laps and saw the checkered flag waving from the perch high atop the safety fencing at the start/finish line.  When we arrived back at the pits I began to reflect on how quickly everything went by during my experience.  Now please don’t mistake that last statement for meaning how fast I drove but how short the time was from when they called my name until the time I returned to the pits.  The time went by extremely quick.  I hardly had time to get nervous or even relish in the moments.  It all happened so fast.  (I suppose that’s why it is a racecar!)

 

When I take time to process this experience there are several verses of scripture which captivated me several years ago that come to mind.  In Ephesians 5:15-17 Paul gives a great piece of advice to the early church in Ephesus.  Listen to his words.  “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil.  So don't be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.”  In the context of this passage we find Paul admonishing the early Christians to realize that their time on earth is limited.  In addition, there are dangers looming ever so close to distract us and devour us, just like at any moment I could have made a mistake and put the racecar into the wall.  As I listened to my race instructor we should listen closely to our Heavenly Instructor, the Holy Spirit, who will guide us in the proper way.  We should make the most of the time we have been given for we will have to give an account to our Heavenly Father for how we used it.  We must not waste the time we have been given with trivial matters that will not matter in eternity.  Instead we must concentrate on doing the work to which Jesus commissioned us before ascending into heaven.  The essence of that work is to love God and love people by making disciples for His kingdom.

 

Throughout the previous chapter and this one Paul is trying to share with the church the importance of living this life by the standards of our new nature in Christ.  I have to remind myself that just as the time in that racecar went by quickly this life will also go by quickly.  I must be cautious of how I use my time, how I live my life, how I serve the Father, and how I treat other people.  I have to remind myself that life is about more than what Ric wants.  It is about serving a holy God by living a holy life.  This only comes when we are willing to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus daily.  (Mt. 16:24)  This is the will of our Father as Paul alluded to it in the later part of Eph. 5:17.

 

Praying God’s blessings on you today,

 

Pastor Ric