TRUTH…on the Fly

Perhaps the most inspiring story of hope that the entire world has ever watched together was the miraculous rescue of thirty-three trapped Chilean miners in the summer of 2010.  Never in real time, has the whole world been so transfixed by an unfolding human drama.

For sixty-nine long days the miners were trapped thousands of feet underground in a collapsed mine.  For the first two weeks, we didn’t even know if they were dead or alive.  But the men worked together as a team to keep themselves alive until help finally arrived.

For the next month and a half, drill teams and experts from nations around the world converged to try to get the men out.  And for all of the stories that end in tragedy, it was incredible for us to watch one end in such flawless precision.  When the time came to begin bringing the men up, one by one, through that narrow escape shaft, they estimate that one BILLION people around the globe watched the event live.  It took almost twenty-four hours to bring them up, one single man at a time, until finally they were all safely back home.

And yet for all of their unbroken teamwork over those sixty-nine days, it was revealed that at the very end a conflict did break out among the men.  The conflict was over who would go first.

Of course, it was understandable.  Up on the surface there was waiting a hero’s welcome.  Their wives and their children were waiting.  There were hundreds of television crews and thousands of cheering fans.  There were flowers, balloons, and champagne – a personal welcome from the President – and all the comforts of home.

After all the time that they had waited…

And in light of what was now waiting for them…

We can understand why the negotiations would be tricky.

Finally, 54-year old Luis Urzua asserted his authority.  He was the Shift Supervisor for the entire group.  When the disagreement could not be resolved among them, Luis pulled rank and put his foot down.  There would be no more discussion!  He would be the one to go LAST!

            Not until everyone else had gone FIRST.

              Not until everyone else had seen their families.

                Not until everyone else had been welcomed like a hero.

                   Not until everyone else had been in the spotlight.

                                                THEN, he would be willing to come out.

If only in Life…If only in the Kingdom of God…If only all of our conflicts were over who would go last, instead of elbowing to see who will get to go first.

 Jesus said that in His Kingdom, the entire system would be turned Upside-Down.  Greatness is measured in terms of service given rather than power obtained.  Greatness is found diving down to the bottom of the pile rather than climbing to the top of the heap.  So if you’re trying to figure out who the really “big wheel” is in the Kingdom of God, look around and see who is elbowing to go last.

Jesus called His very first disciples together, and He said to them:

“You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.  But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.  For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”   (Mark 10:42-45)

People elbowing for the FIRST position is old news.  But when a group of people actually strives to put OTHERS first, the world sits up and takes notice of that.  Because that’s something you just don’t see everyday.  It’s Positively Upside-Down.

“Many of us get stuck trying to land a certain kind of relationship, believing that this is the key to our happiness.  But what we discover, ultimately, is that satisfaction is found not in landing relationships of a certain CATEGORY but by cultivating relationships of a certain QUALITY.  

The key to positive change is to stop fixating on the relationships that you don’t have, and start maximizing the relationships that you already do have.”

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.  

I have a clock in my living room that has been broken for quite awhile.  But it doesn’t always lead me astray.  Every so often, if I catch it at just precisely the right moment, even that broken clock gives me the correct time.  To be exact, every 720 minutes, it is right on the money.  Because even when something is stuck and out of order…every now and then it gets it right.  Timing is everything!

The same thing is true in life and living: A big part of success is all in the timing.  It turns out that it’s not just doing the right things, but doing the right things at the right TIME.  If we’re not careful, we can be ahead of our time.  And just as easily, we can be behind our time.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3 it says:

• There is a time for everything   
• And there is a season for every activity under heaven.
•  A time to be born and a time to die,
•  And there is a season for every activity under heaven.
•  A time to be born and a time to die,
• A time to plant and a time to uproot,
•  A time to kill and a time to heal
•  A time to tear down and a time to build
•  A time to weep and a time to laugh
•  A time to mourn and a time to dance
•  A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them
•  A time to embrace and a time to refrain
•  A time to search and a time to give up
•  A time to keep and a time to throw away
•  A time to tear and a time to mend
•  A time to be silent and a time to speak
•  A time to love and a time to hate
•  A time for war and a time for peace

Look back at that again.  Just in case you were counting, fourteen times in a row the writer puts a pair of opposite reactions together and says that there is a right time for both of them.

•  Is it the right thing to weep or is it the right thing to laugh?
• It could be either…It all depends on what time it is.

• Is it the right thing to keep going or is it the right thing to give up?
• It could be either…It all depends on what time it is.

• Is it the right thing to love or is it the right thing to hate?
• It could be either…It all depends on what time it is.

The point of Ecclesiastes is about living with wisdom in this quickly passing life here on planet Earth.  And one of the most important parts of wisdom is found in discerning what time it is.  Because without wisdom, we can do something that might seem profoundly right, but could actually end up doing more harm than good…all because the timing was off.

How many times have I said something true, but failed because it was at the inappropriate time? 

How many times have I expressed an honest emotion, but sinned because it wasn’t at the proper moment.

How many times have I done something that was perfectly acceptable, but came up short anyway.

The Bible promises that if anyone is short on wisdom, they should ask God, and He will give it to them without looking down on them for requesting it.  Wisdom is always concerned not only what is the “right thing” to do – but is this the right time to do it.

Today as you pray for God to give you direction toward His very best in your life, make sure to ask BOTH questions – not only “God, WHAT should I do?” but also, “God, WHEN should I do it?”  Make sure to check and see what time it is.

“Some people see things as they are and ask ‘why?’  I dream of things that never were, and ask ‘why not?‘”  (Robert Kennedy)

You probably already know that firefighting in America began as a strictly voluntary activity.  What you might be surprised to learn was that in the early days firefighting wasn’t even cooperative!

Along with many other bright ideas in the New World, Benjamin Franklin first proposed the idea of Volunteer Fire Brigades in the 1730’s following a devastating fire in Philadelphia.  Prior to this time there was no organized response in case of fire.  Franklin’s idea was a rousing success – with so many volunteers that a single Fire Brigade was not enough.  And so in, in short order, Philadelphia (along with most other major cities) soon had a number of independently operated, Volunteer Fire Brigades.

With the introduction of Fire Insurance, there was an added incentive: If a structure was saved, the Insurance Company would make payment to the Brigade that put out the fire.  But since there were numbers of Brigades hoping for a piece of the pie, payment would only be made to the first Brigade to arrive, hook up to the hydrant, and extinguish the blaze.

In the 1800’s this led to fierce rivalries, and epic races through city streets between competing Fire Brigades.  To the citizens it was something of a spectator sport, and they could never be sure when it would happen.  But when the bell would ring, Dalmatian dogs would run out in front clearing the way, and along behind would be horse drawn Fire Engines careening at breakneck speeds down the cobblestone streets.

Over time the Brigades began to see their greatest opponent NOT as the fire, but as the opposing Brigades.  Sometimes they would sabotage each other’s equipment, and more than once fistfights broke out at the scene, where the Brigades would ignore the flames and do battle with each other for the right to put out the fire.

Newspaper writer Joe Luther described one scene from San Antonio in the 1880’s with a dejected homeowner sitting on the curb, his house going up in flames behind him, and in the street was not one but two Fire Brigades…fighting not with the fire, but with each other over who had gotten there first!

It seems to me that is a vivid picture of what our efforts are often like in the body of Christ. 

We are all working toward the same goal in the world – but to do it we break ourselves up into competing teams.  And over time, ever so subtly, we actually begin to think of each other as opponents.  And we race over who goes first.  And we quarrel over who does it best.  And sometimes, sadly, it even breaks out into fights.

• What if we really saw each other as teammates instead of the opposition?
• What if we really thought of each other as partners and not competitors?
• What if we really didn’t worry about who got the credit, as long as God’s kingdom moved forward?

In the book of I Corinthians, Paul wrote to people who were choosing up sides and keeping track of the score.  They were quarreling over who was getting the credit for the lives that were being changed.  Some said they belonged to “Team-Paul”, and others to “Team-Apollos”, and still others to “Team-Peter.”

Foolishness!  wrote Paul.  I don’t have a team!  And neither does Apollos, or anyone else.  There is only one team, and that is Team-Jesus!  And all of us are nothing more than teammates on that one team carrying out the assignment that He has given us.  “It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering.  What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.”  (I Corinthians 3:6-7)

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I just wanted to remind you today that we do have an opponent against whom we struggle, but it is never our fellow brothers and sisters in the faith.  They are not the competition.  We are all playing for the same team.

“Don’t aim at success – the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it.  For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself…Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: You have to let it happen by not caring about it.”  (Viktor Frankl)

“No matter how far we’ve wandered or how miserably we’ve failed, even those lowest moments become a breakthrough opportunity when we use it as an excuse to get back in conversation with God again.”

Don’t you think that God always intended for us to IMAGINE what heaven will be like? I can’t believe that He would give us these fantastic and wild descriptions in the Bible, and not expect our minds to roam with wonderful hope.

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Most people, when they talk about heaven, talk about what it LOOKS like . And it is wonderful.  It’s beautiful beyond description.  But what I try to imagine is what it FEELS like.

Of course you feel GOOD.  Your body is completely restored; no sickness, no pain, no hurt, no emotional lows.  There are no sniffles, no allergies, no pulled muscles, and no indigestion.  But it’s more than that.

It’s like a gentle trembling; a constant excited hum, coursing through your bloodstream – like you are an 8 year old at Disney land.  You want to see everything at once, and be everywhere at once, and do everything at once, because it’s all so exciting.

• It’s like going to a reunion with a gym full of 200 people that you love to death, and you haven’t seen for 20 years, and everyone is going to be there.  And the car can’t get you there fast enough.  And the party can’t last long enough.  And you want to talk to the whole room at once., because everywhere you turn, someone is there you’ve been dying to see.
• It’s like a historical student visiting the Smithsonian for the first time.  If there was only one room, you could simply sit and absorb it for hours – days even – studying every fascinating detail, but yet your body trembles because there is so much more still to see.
• It’s like the feeling you have waiting at the airport 3 days before Christmas.  Your daughter is flying home after being away for the first 4 months of college.  And she can’t walk up the corridor fast enough, and you can’t hug hard enough, and you can’t talk about everything fast enough, and as you drive the car home, your hand trembles slightly.

I imagine that’s what it feels like.

Heaven is incredibly bright, everywhere. There’s no such thing as a shadow.  It’s like the brilliance of the most fantastic sunset – except the sun never sets.

• But I imagine it’s more than what it looks like, it’s what it feels like.  It feels bright. It feels warm – like a spectacular sunny day after a long, cloudy Oregon winter.  You feel like a plant springing alive to the sunbeams of springtime

God is everywhere in heaven. Of course He is seated on the throne, but no matter where you go, there He is always before you.  But it’s more than seeing Him, it’s FEELING Him.

• It’s like the feeling of communion you have at the most intense moment in worship – when tears are in your eyes, your heart is in your throat, and you think you’re going to get swallowed up in God.  It always feels like that.  And for all the things you’d love to go see, and all the mysteries you’d love to explore, most people spend their time in never-ending worship before the throne.  And of course, there’s no time pressure.  There’s always more time to go and look at everything else.  There’s always more time to go see someone else.  There are a million other wonderful things to do – but there’s always, always more time.

The sounds of heaven are incredible. It’s like a constant stream of music, and laughter, and bells, and the sounds of a symphony of voices.  But it’s not just what is sounds like, that’s what it FEELS like.

• It’s like homecoming at the University of Oregon, and being packed into the middle of 60,000 people.  A victory today means a place in the Championship.  And the pep band begins to play the fight song – and though you’ve heard it a million times before, at that moment it’s as if it’s the first time, and it’s the most beautiful and exciting song you’ve ever heard.  And you can hear the rip of paper as the team charges the field, and you can feel the roar of the crowd as they swell to their feet.  And the mixture of shouts, and laughs, and horns, and shakers, and the band playing mix together into this wonderful symphony of sound.  And as you feel the sound, your hand trembles.

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What’s heaven feel like? I can only imagine.

“It is my aim to live today – in this very moment, fresh and enthused;…to be interested, so that I will be interesting…to work with what is and not wish for what isn’t …to remember that no place is obscure and no moment is unimportant.“

It happens every time I walk into a convenience store…

Even if I’m trying to mind my own business and just pay for my gas, positioned so that I can’t help but see them are all of the Beauty and Fitness Magazines.  Gazing at me from the covers are men and women with ridiculously perfect bodies.  Shirtless, tanned men ripple with muscles without even flexing.  Big-haired women with flawless forms are clad in nothing but tiny swimsuits that seem to be holding on for dear life.

And next to the portraits of these impossibly toned bodies are headlines shouting at me:

• Lose Your Thigh Jiggle in 14 Days!
• 5 Ways to Chisel a Killer Body!
• Flatten Your Belly in 4 Easy Steps!
• Blast Cellulite and Firm Every Inch Before Bikini Season!

Just in case I never hear it anywhere else in society, I am encouraged even at the 7-11 to DREAM THIN! Not only should I have it as my goal to look like these models when I’m wearing a swimsuit, but if I just set my mind to it I should be able to do it in 4 easy steps and 14 short days.

But as I ponder a bit further, something else strikes me about this scene.  For stacked right next to those portraits of bronzen perfection, are racks and racks of delectable delights enticing me to LIVE FAT! It’s not just the Chili Cheese Ruffles and Fiery Hot Cheetos, but it’s the Jumbo-Sized bags that they come in these days.  It’s not just every variety of candy bar known to mankind, but it’s that they are now available in these ridiculous sizes:  KING-SIZE Dark Chocolate Snickers – and SUPER-SIZED Butterfingers – and SHARE-SIZED Kit Kat Bars.  Waiting beyond these are the Deep Fried Pork Rinds, the Little Debbie Snack Cakes, the Chips-Ahoy Cookies, and the Jerky Sticks.

Right there at the checkout, side by side, is a ridiculously impossible goal on the magazine cover to DREAM THIN, right next to a bloated temptation on the snack rack to LIVE FAT.  Truly, the irony is DELICIOUS.

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Now it only takes any one of us about three seconds to figure out that if we buy the junk on the convenience store shelves we will never land anywhere close to the images they are selling on their magazine covers.  (That doesn’t mean that none of us has ever thrown a fitness magazine and a Butterfinger in the same bag.  We just know, down deep, that it won’t work.)

The point is this: The convenience store isn’t the only place in life where this happens.

The fact is, that every single day the world offers me one ideal, and then recommends a path that has no chance of getting me there.

In the book of Proverbs it says it like this:

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12)

Buyer Beware!  There is not necessarily a connection between the path that they recommend and the destination that they promise:  The exhilarating LOVE they say you can have… The unending HIGH they say you can experience…The ultimate FULFILLMENT they say you can know…The final ANSWERS  they say you can find…

The snack racks and the fitness magazines may only be separated by 6 inches, but they might as well be a million miles apart.

I just wanted to remind you that the END that they promise and the WAY that they recommend don’t always go together.  It may SEEM right in the moment, but in the end it may not land where you were hoping.