Up, Up and Away!

            I think I can relate to Superman.  I know a truth, but I live among a people that I am trying to hide from.  Am I truly “not of this world”?  Have I really been given the mission “to be in the world, but not of it”?

I find myself doing things and thinking things with a power that is otherworldly.  I have been feeling more comfortable in my earthly clothes than in my super suit.  When Superman was in costume, or maybe it was what he was truly born to wear, he became a target and a magnet at the same time.  It wearied him, it can weary me.  Unless…  I live in the power of the One who sent me.

            I have had a mission ever since I was adopted.  Bought back from the Enemy with the blood of Jesus, I am infused with the life of God through the work of my Redeemer’s cross.  I have a mission to take the saving power of God to those who are dying.  But, I hear many confusing voices. I have rubbed up against some kryptonite.  It looks beautiful, but it is deadly to the soul of an alien.  It is even more seductive to those who once were bound to its lies.  Sin.  Bondage.  Death.  Only One has ever lived and walked and had no need of rescue; He always was and always will be the God-Man Jesus Christ.  But, oh, the power of this Man’s sacrifice has been given to me! Kryptonite, be gone!

            I am realizing that I can duck and hide in a phone booth or disguise my true identity. But big coke bottle glasses can only hide me for so long.  I need to become more comfortable with my super suit.  I have been placed here until my mission is complete.

 I have read and heard the stories of other aliens, of their glories and failures.   I know where every one of their stories ends… in the safety and love of their Father in Heaven.  Every one of them died in the preserving love of God. 

            I do not know what every day holds… the life I live is one of secret mission.  I await my instructions every day.  My enemies are standing by, just as I am.  But they will never have their ultimate satisfaction. One day I will get the call to come home.  Until then, my Father will protect my life.  And when I trade this dying body for one imperishable, the Enemy will feel the sting of the defeat he has already been dealt.  Another soul beyond his grip.

            So, I am getting a little more carless about my cape showing.  I know my disguise only makes other people more comfortable.  Even as I am all things to all people, I know that my super suit shows.  My disguise is getting thinner.  

            So, fellow aliens, do not hide your true citizenship, let it show.  You bear the name of Jesus.  Let your true identity out and be not ashamed of who you are.  You are not of this world.  You are going to be a little “Clark Kentish”, just a little odd.  The more you embrace where you are going, the more the things of this world will fall away.  The closer you come to the world that is not like this one, the more you will reflect its glory.

 When you get the call, go unashamed in the name of the Lord. He is with you, what can man do?  Sojourners are untouchable and have been set free from fear.  Just remember, steer clear of the kryptonite…

                                                        ~Your Fellow Sojourner

            [14] I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [15] I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. [16] They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [17] Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. [18] As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. [19] And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.     

(John 17:14-19 ESV)

Get Down Low

                Most of the time, I do not look up until I have gotten down low enough.  When I am standing up, my eyes focus on what is right in front of me or in a downward direction.  The perspective is small and limited when I stare at the ground.  But, when I look up…  the possibilities are endless.

                Jesus would look for every opportunity to get down low.  He would crouch down to touch a child, to heal a leper, to feed the hungry, sleep in the bottom of a boat.  He knew that this is where His Father was.  His Father’s heart belongs to the lowly.  Jesus came that He might draw all men to Himself.   Where do we find Him?  When we are laid low.  The poor and humble get His attention.

  Recently, while we were at the park, my two year old son was enamored by some exceptionally tall pine trees.  He would throw his arms around the trunks, throw his head back and look up.  “Tall, Tall”, he would say.  And so I crouched down beside him and looked up to see what he saw.  My gaze turned from nothing but brown dry pine needles to a blue open sky with clouds floating past.  My perspective had changed because I had come down low.

                My son is a pretty friendly toddler. It was no surprise to me that a little boy about a year older than him decided to make him his playmate for the remainder of their time together at the park.  My son, blond and white, held the hand of a smiling black boy and together they walked in pure delight around the park.  Both of them were smiling and trusting one another completely.  There was no bias, no judgment, no fear. 

                As they walked around, another woman commented to me. “If we would all be like that.”  “Yes,” I said, “ like little children.”  She then said, “We have to come like little children.”  “Yes,” I said, “ that is how He wants us to come, like little children.”  Jesus was drawing me down low. 

                Life can be like an optical illusion.  We see one thing in the picture, but we try to turn it around to see something different.  Can this picture change?  Then Jesus comes and says, “Come down to where I am and let me show you what I see.”  He changes the picture right before our eyes.

                Nothing is impossible with God.  “Do not come and bother the Master” we want to say to ourselves, to others, with our self-righteous spirits.  “No, forbid them not.  For the Kingdom of God is made for such as these.”  He calls us to become like little children again and again.

                “Come, come on”, my son would call to the little black boy.  The other boy would run over and hold his hand without saying a word.  He trusted him.  And they would run off together.  M y son knew I was there.  He knew I would not leave him.  This was the source of his confidence.  No matter where he went or what he did, I would be there.  Reaching out his hand to this little boy was natural for him.  He could walk through the park without apprehension because I was watching and I was ready.

                My time came when the two playmates decided to follow the path outside of the playground gate and into the parking lot.  I came alongside them and turned them around.  They insisted on continuing along the path right into the parking lot.  I knew they did not understand the danger.  I was not angry, but I knew that I needed to bring correction.  They finally submitted and continued on with their play.  I followed them smiling, knowing that they could enjoy playing together because I was keeping them safe.

                Lord, Lord.  I forget that you are always watching and keeping me safe.  You turn my gaze upward to remind me. “Come, come on”, You say to me.  Keep me low Lord, so that my eyes are staid on You.  There, I can run in the paths of Your commands.  What have I to fear?  For you are with me.  And I become like a child again, knowing my Daddy is walking right behind me. ~ Your Fellow Sojourner

                 I lift up my eyes to the hills.

               From where does my help come?

                 My help comes from the LORD,

                who made heaven and earth.

                 He will not let your foot be moved;

                he who keeps you will not slumber.

                 Behold, he who keeps Israel

                will neither slumber nor sleep.

                 The LORD is your keeper;

                the LORD is your shade on your right hand.

                 The sun shall not strike you by day,

                nor the moon by night.

                 The LORD will keep you from all evil;

                he will keep your life.

                 The LORD will keep

                your going out and your coming in

                from this time forth and forevermore.

                                                       (Psalm 121 ESV)

It is Not Death to Die, Unless You are a Skunk

           I had been thinking recently about how to explain the gravity of death to my children.  How do you convey death’s seeming finality, its sorrow, and its eternal weight?  With Easter coming, I wanted to make the death of Jesus become more of a reality to them.  So, God provided a skunk.

            Earlier this week, Chris and I were observing the children playing outside on another beautiful spring afternoon when I heard my husband say, “I just don’t like the looks of it.”  Then I followed his gaze to a small, but brazen skunk nibbling on something among the pine trees directly across from the back porch.  I too did not like the “looks” of this animal.  It was not shy and looked toward the kids running not several yards away.  “I should shoot it, but it’s going to stink.”, he said.  “Go get your gun.  I don’t want it to bite one of the children or for them to come across its path in the woods.”   So, the family prepared for the death of the skunk.

            All of the children come inside, except for our oldest, who I think has definitely earned the right of passage to observe the shooting of a wild animal in our yard on the outside of the house rather than the inside.  Every face was pressed against the screen door as Chris loaded his shotgun.  He paused.  I knew what he was thinking.  I wish I didn’t have to kill this animal.  He is so cute.  He doesn’t know any better.  But as a father, he knew his children must come before the unwary nocturnal animal that had brazenly snuffled its way into our yard. 

            He took a breath, and carefully shot the skunk.  Or should I say, “blew it away”?  One moment the little critter was enjoying his last meal, the next he was skunk toast.  I immediately looked at our children, and I knew this was the moment I had been looking for to talk about death.  Their eyes were opened and they just stood there looking at where the skunk once was. 

            We later spoke with them about why we chose to kill the skunk and the dangers of guns.  We talked with them about learning to use a firearm safely and the importance of protecting one’s family.  But the one thing we wanted to impress them with was the brevity of life.  One minute a cute skunk was in our yard, the next, his body was being dumped in the woods with a shovel.  They all understood exactly what we were saying.  Life is short and you do not know when it will end.  Death can come suddenly, are you ready? 

            Jesus alone knew when and how He would die.  He spoke of his death constantly to his disciples.  He let them know that He must die in their place to deliver them from sin and death itself.  Without His sacrifice, we would all be under the wrath of the Almighty God of the Universe.  He had to die. 

            We do not know when or how death will come.  For some, death will cause an agony of both body and spirit.  For others, even though their bodies may be racked with pain, their spirits will be at peace because they have hidden their life with Christ in God.  For them, it will not be death to die, but life eternal. 

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” John 3:14, 15