Clay in the Hands

This past Saturday I had to finally bring myself to cut down three trunks of an oak tree.  We noticed last year that the leaves were not coming out as well in that area of the tree but thought maybe next year . . .  But, no that part of the tree is truly dead.  So I spent the day cutting, hauling and stacking wood and branches. 

As the first trunk crashed to the ground, I noticed in the cut I had just made, some white worms.  As we looked at the wood, we found holes bored all through it.  It appears that we found the culprits.  The first thought I had was, “I wonder if these little guys have friends and family eating away at our other oak trees.”  From the outside, the other trees look fine, but so did this one just a few short months ago.

The tree may have looked fine on the outside, but the inside was a different story.  The tree was being eaten away and was rotting.  It got me to thinking about people (as do most things I encounter).  Do people ever get into this situation – looking normal on the outside but suffering death on the inside?  Jesus used the metaphor of whitewashed tombs,  you can read about it here.  

What about you.  Do you work at appearing great on the outside but neglect the inside?  When people look at you, do they see a true picture or are you hiding what is really going on?  The point of the story today is not to make us feel bad, but rather to alert each of us to two facts.  The first is that we cannot ignore the inner life.  We must be committed and disciplined to spend time in God’s word and in prayer.  We do not ever want to fit Jesus’ description.  

The second fact is that we must never forget that the people we encounter may look like they have it all together but in reality, on the inside, they may be hurting.  God calls us to show grace and compassion – to everyone.

I realized last night at worship here at youth camp in the midst of the mountains of Ruidoso and the smell of the pine trees that my own batteries have been dangerously low for a while now.  Sometimes it takes getting out of our normal environment for God to show us how empty we have become.  

I honestly wish I had more time to be here in this place with the students to witness what God will do here this week.  But God showed me something last night and even again this morning – even in times of drought, our call is simply to follow – just follow.  That is a good reminder for me.  I have committed myself to take the time this week to recharge and I have also committed myself to remember that even when I am not sure what God has for me, the best thing I can do is simply follow.  To follow means to do the things I know to do and that means to continue to seek God in prayer and in God’s word.  So that is what I will do!

In a few minutes I will get behind the wheel of our people mover and make the 4 1/2 hour trek to Ruidoso, NM.  We are taking our students to youth camp.  As I am hurrying around to get things done before I leave, I can’t help but think about my days at camp when I was a teen.  We spent our summers going to two or three camps normally.  Most of them were at Paisano Baptist Encampment between Marfa and Alpine.

 I have many, many fond memories of camp.  I made new friends at camp.  I strengthened existing relationships at camp.  I sang with friends at talent shows at camp.  But the thing that stands out most in my mind about camps was the spiritual “high” I always came away with.  In fact, I surrendered to full-time vocational ministry at camp.

But without fail, the spiritual high only lasted a few weeks once I returned home.  Now one might be tempted to think, “Then what is the point?”  The point of having these experiences is extremely important.  I may not have grown very wise in my 43 years but one thing I have noticed about life is the constant ebb and flow.  Some days are better than others.  We need the times when we feel close to God to help us through the times we don’t.  But more importantly, the realization that the “high” slipped away with time also helped me realize that my spiritual walk is so much more than a feeling it is a commitment to a growing relationship.

So look for those spiritual high’s – that’s great, but realize that it is in the consistent day to day that real relationship is formed.  Stay strong!

Today marks some rites of passage for some people close to me.  My oldest son Jared  officially becomes a high school senior and my middle son Ethan officially becomes a high school freshman.  Both of these markers were announced early this morning when Jared got up early to go “kidnap” some incoming freshmen and as a couple of other seniors came to capture Ethan from his bed.  I made sure that Jared knew he needed to look out for his brother.  Other than some lipstick and hair gel, Ethan escaped with no damage.

Another passage is happening today in the closing of a restaurant.  Charlie and Brenda Jordan have been here and served this community for years.  They are closing the business today.  We will miss their home-cooked meals but more drastically will their friendly welcome be missed as we enter to eat.

Life is full of these mile markers.  They serve to show we are moving.  There are two points to this rambling today.  Are the markers in your life marking progress?  The right kind of progress?  And just as importantly, what are you doing with your life between these markers?  We can’t allow ourselves to be duped into not doing what God wants us to do by the excuse that once we reach . . . (high school graduation, retirement, that new job – you fill in the blank) then we can begin to live for God.

Don’t let another life marker come and go without actively pursuing God’s desires for you.

I was driving back from doing some hospital visits this morning and (yes, I confess) I was feeling like a little rock and roll.  So I had the radio set on a local station for said genre.  At any rate, an old classic Pink Floyd song came on and I began singing along.  As I did, I listened to the words for the first time and began to see how what the song was describing (while most likely a drug induced sense of reality) also described what many Christians experience regularly.

The lines that caught my attention were:

When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown, the dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.

How many Christians do you know that fit this description – better yet, how often do these words describe you?  They fit me all too often.  I get so wrapped up in the day to day that I loose that heart-felt excitement that came when I decided to commit the rest of my life to following Jesus.  As Christians we are called to mature and become more like Christ in the way we live.  But way too often, we lose that excitement as we grow and  what happens is that we become “comfortably numb!”  

What is worse, is that we have begun to define that numbness as maturity!  May it never be with me!  May it never be with you!