Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Most everybody knows of the Rocky movies.  Sylvester Stallone plays an unheralded boxer that finally gets his shot at the champion.  By the fourth movie, they’ve become somewhat of a self-parody.  Somewhere between winning the Oscar and becoming an unintentional cliché, it lost something…with only some witty Mr. T trash talking to make Rocky 3 worth watching – yeah, Hulk Hogan was in that one.  The whole cold war parallel in Rocky 4 wasn’t even really believable.  I mean, c’mon, Ivan Drago?  But I digress.  My point is that at the end of the fourth movie, Rocky has beaten the big, bad Russian boxer…avenged the death of his good friend Apollo Creed…and the Russians are even chanting his name.  Rocky grabs the microphone and instead of “Yo, Adrienne, I did it!” we get a cheesy message of change.  “I guess what I’m trying to say is that if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change!”  You almost expect him to yell, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”  Except that it’s not even that inspiring…personally, I blame it on poor writing.  Sorry, I’m digressing again (speaking of poor writing).  I’m not doing movie reviews here, I’m doing devotionals.

But there’s a truth in that corny speech.  If Rocky can change, and the Russian audience can change, then everybody can change.  I mean the Grinch changed when his heart grew however many sizes that day, and even Donkey Kong went from being the meanie that chucked barrels at Mario (back when he was just “Jumpman”) to being a pop-culture icon and beloved Nintendo character.  So why is it that in our minds, other people can never change?  I’m a better person than I was in high school.  I like to think that I’m a better person than I was just a year ago.  So why is it that when I see some people, that “something I have against them” is the first thing I think of?  Why is it that I’m the only one allowed to change?  Why is it that I assume that a person that made a comment 10 years ago is still the same rude person?  Why is it that I assume that a person that has made one mistake that nearly cost them everything won’t change because of that mistake?  I mean, I’m not talking about X-Men mutation-type changes with wings or mind-powers here…just a simple little change in behavior.  So why is it that I think that I can change and become a better person, but those other people will always be the sorry so-and-so people that they always were?  Granted, some always will be, but everybody can change….even if we think they can’t.   

That’s was Jonah’s thinking, by the way.  You ask most people what they remember about Jonah, and they’ll tell you about some sailors and a boat and a fish and the millionaire and his wife…the movie star – oh wait, wrong story.  But, seriously, the story of Jonah isn’t about a fish and running away.  Well, it IS but the larger point of Jonah is his selfish thinking that God should only love him and HIS people.  Those Ninevites? Those Ninevians?  Let’s just call them “those folks in Nineveh” could never change according to Jonah’s thinking.  And when they did, he got mad because God dared to share His love with them. 

And there’s the parallel in Jonah and me.  Jonah tried to run.  Jonah thought that he shouldn’t have to go and didn’t want to go.  Then Jonah learned that God’s Will would be done…and Jonah changed, and submitted his will to God’s Will.  You know, like we do when we work towards growing the seven fruits of the spirit in our lives.  And we’re trying to be Holy, and live righteous lives.  But deep in our hearts (just like Jonah), we think those other people can’t change…they just can’t!  Or simply WON’T…Because they’re just bad people.  And they’ve done this and this and this and that and this other, so they can’t change!  And while saying that I’m changing myself, I’m still judging others as incapable of change…or incapable of being changed by God.  Wow – there’s a statement!  Because when we shortchange others of their ability to become better people, we’re insulting the power and the love of God to work in their lives (like I say He’s working in mine) to make them better people (like I say He’s making me). 

Listen for the Whisper that sounds like Rocky shouting into a microphone in a Russian arena.  If Peter can change after denying Jesus three times, and Paul can change after persecuting and killing Christians, and you can change from whatever you were when Jesus blinded you on your own personal road to Damascus…then everybody can change.  Jonah’s not about a fish.  Jonah’s about arrogant and prideful Christians.  You know how you were when God changed you, and I know how I was when God changed me, so why do we act like God can’t change other people that same way? 

Or even worse still, have we not shared the Gospel with certain people, because we’ve decided that they’d never change?  I have – and I was wrong to do it.  But then again, that was back before I’d really changed…and I wonder how many of those opportunities are lost to never be found again?  And will I be held accountable for those lost chances?  Will there be a timeline at the Pearly Gates showing my “born on date” when I was baptized and assumed the responsibility of living for Christ – but didn’t really?  Will St. Peter being standing next to one of those “mall maps” with a pointer pointing to a mark on a timeline saying “you were here”?  But, see, I was still holding onto that part of the world that I didn’t want to let go of…and so when those certain people merged into my life for that brief time before going their separate paths in life, I was in no position to share anything with them except a couple of dirty jokes.  And then will there be a point years down the timeline…a “you finally got it, you lunk head” spot on the timeline with a long list of names of lost people as arrows point to certain times along the timeline between those two points?  I certainly hope not, and by grace a multitude of sins will be covered.  And I hope that those people were able to find Jesus themselves…found a way to a door that I should have opened but never did.  “oh, they won’t be interested in what’s back there behind this door…so why bother even showing it to them, much less opening the door?” 

So yeah, Listen for the Whisper that says Everybody can change.  It’ll be the whisper that’s also telling you to quit judging people as being worth the gospel or not…and then telling you to quit wasting your chances to share it with them.

~Dwayne

ListenForTheWhisper@comcast.net

http://listenforthewhisper.blogspot.com

I Ain't Got Time To Feed

Predator. Just the mention of the name of that Arnold Schwarzenegger 1980’s classic Action movie brings up images of over-sized (and over-oiled) muscles and brings to mind extremely cheesy one-liners. One of the most memorable, of course, being the former-wrestler-but-yet-to-be-governor Jesse "The Body" Ventura’s character’s response when "Poncho" tells him "you’re bleeding, man. You’re hit!" Blain drops the deadpan "I ain’t got time to bleed" line on him because he’s the toughest, coolest man on the planet. And at the time, most of us thought he was…been shot, and his response is "I ain’t got time to bleed." Well, up until he died, but then we found out that Arnie’s character was the toughest thing on the planet when he finally beat the predator.

Man, that was a long way to go to work in a "I ain’t got time to bleed" set up into a devotional, but there it is. So keep that reference and jump back in time to John 21 where Jesus and Peter are on the seashore after the resurrection. Jesus says to Peter "If you love me, feed my sheep." But what if Peter said, "I ain’t got time to feed"? Yeah I know, that was an even longer way to go for a cheesy pay-off, but work with me here. What if Peter had decided that there were plenty of other guys that had followed Jesus around…and they were all capable of spreading the Gospel to the world. I mean, after all, who was Peter to go around telling anyone about Jesus anyway? This is the guy that’s just on the heels of denying that he even knew Jesus. What kind of credibility would he have? "Hey, everyone! Jesus is God’s Son, and forgives sins, and offers grace and love to the world! Accept Him as your savior today! Come and be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost and you shall have forgiveness of sins!" Ummm, aren’t you the dude that just denied that you knew Him three times that night at the trial? "errr, yeah, that was me." So why is it that Jesus is so great again…so great and powerful that you denied even knowing Him? "Well, it’s a little tricky, you see…" Because after following Jesus around for three years – EVEN WALKING ON WATER – Peter denied even knowing who Jesus was on the night of the trial. That might give him some critics when he goes out preaching.

So given that all that had happened, and that conversation I just made up was a real possibility, what if Peter had said, "look, Jesus, I appreciate the vote of confidence and all, but really…I have these other plans, and that guy over there – your boy, John – he’s a good guy, and he can tell everyone about you just like you want me to. And I have these other plans now…And I plan to help in my local church and be real involved there, and I’ll be a really good Christian example, but I don’t want to encroach on other people and their time to teach them about you…I just ain’t got time to feed."

"If you love me, feed my sheep." It’s not a suggestion. It wasn’t a suggestion when Jesus said it to Peter…it wasn’t a "Peter, if it’s not too much trouble, would you mind mentioning my name a couple of times in conversation? Maybe mention ‘I was talking to a guy at church…’ so people know you go to church, and maybe act like a Christian sometimes?" Nope – none of that at all. Not even a "Peter, don’t get in the way while those other guys spread the gospel." Nope. It was plain and simple: "If you love me, feed my sheep." You. Not someone else. Not a billboard pointing them to some verses or some church who can feed them. You. Feed my sheep. So why are we so timid? Why are we so insistent that someone else is better suited to share Jesus with other people? Why is it that when we’re the only believer in a circle of 5 or 6 friends, that we waste the chance to share Jesus with them? You’re there! Don’t let them wander off! Feed the Sheep! If you call yourself a Christian, your FIRST responsibility is what? Love Jesus. And what will do if you love Jesus? "If you love me, feed my sheep." So feed the Sheep! Don’t pass the buck to someone else or just ignore the fact that you’re supposed to do it.

When Jesus most needed a friend, and even after He called Peter’s denial shot before it happened, Peter denied Him anyway. But when all was said and done, what did Jesus tell Peter? "If you love me, feed my sheep." And what did Peter do? He fed the sheep. We see several instances in Acts of the apostles being told to shut up and quit feeding the sheep the bread of life. In Acts 4 Peter and John are threatened by the Sanhedrin that if they don’t stop, they going to get it. Then again in Acts 5 "if you don’t quit, you’re going to get it!" Acts 7? They stoned Stephen. Oh, and in Chapter 12? They killed James (the brother of John). I think they were getting serious about the whole "quit telling people about Jesus" threat. And so the apostles quit, right? Nope. Spread out and preached the gospel to even more people. And when it was all said and done, the threats of "shut up or you’ll get it" turned out to be very true. In 2 Corinthians, Paul says that he received 39 lashes 5 times – we don’t know the final tally before he was finally killed in Rome.

Jesus said, "If you love me, feed my sheep." The Pharisees and Sadducees said "shut up or else". Church tradition says that Matthew was killed as a martyr by the sword in Ethiopia. And that they hanged Luke in Greece. Bartholomew was whipped to death. Paul’s missionary buddy, Barnabus? Stoned to death. Matthias that replaced Judas Iscariot? Stoned and beheaded. Mark was dragged to death by horses in Egypt. Peter was crucified upside down. The only one that died a natural death it seems, was John. Turns out that the "or else" was a VERY real threat. "If you love me, feed my sheep." The apostles said, "Go ahead and kill me if you want. I love Him, so I’m going to feed the sheep."

Listen for the Whisper that tells you that if you have Jesus and you have a Bible, you have all you need. We’re lucky in America. Nobody is holding a sword or a stone telling us "shut up or else". There’s certainly a segment that’s telling Christians to shut up, and in some circles, you might be a social outcast if people start thinking you’re a "Jesus Freak" – but somewhere I can hear Peter saying, "I wish people talking about me was the only thing I had to worry about." So if you have a chance to feed the sheep, why are propping your feet up and waiting on someone else to do it? Or expecting Jesus to just rain down on them like manna just by accident? John 3:16 says God loved you so much that Jesus was sent to die for you. And what did Jesus say after being beaten and then hung on a cross and crucified for you? "If you love me, feed my sheep."

So why aren’t you feeding the sheep?

~Dwayne
ListenForTheWhisper@comcast.net
http://listenforthewhisper.blogspot.com