Monday, January 19, 2015

The people whisperer

Jesus used agricultural stories for the meat in his parables because that's what he knew and that's what the people around him knew. Me? From time to time, I use what I know, and what I know is sports.

Yesterday in a game that would produce the National Football Conference's representative, a game between a team from Seattle, Wash., and a team from Green Bay, Wisconsin, the young quarterback for the Seattle team threw four passes that were caught by players from the Green Bay squad. This is not a good thing, especially for a quarterback known for not throwing the ball to the theory team.

Then in the game's final three minutes, he shook off all that bad stuff and began throwing the football to his teammates. In overtime, an extended period of time after the game was tied 22-22 at the end of regulation, the young quarterback was near perfect, finally finishing the game with a 35-yard touchdown pass.

Let's recap: Four interceptions; one touchdown -- on the game's final play.

Friends, I know there is someone out there this morning who has thought heavily and for long periods of time about giving up and giving in. I know there is someone who has tried everything they know, and everything they know is not nearly enough. I know there is someone who has lost someone they love. I know there is someone who thought they had found the answer (Andre Crouch, Jesus is the Answer), and the answer seemingly wasn't enough ... AT ALL.

When the young quarterback was run down by a sideline reporter for a brief TV interview, as tears streamed down his face, he began the interview by saying, "God is good all the time." He took a breath the way great jewel thieves snatch diamonds and added the familiar refrain (or at least it's familiar to me because of a great friend, Freddie Henderson), "And all the time, God is good."

A band named SidestudioB has a song called Be Still.

I offer the lyrics as a balm not just in Gilead but in Louisiana, Mississippi and wherever this piece is read.

"I remember all the times
The good times and the bad
I'm still holding on to You
Some days I wanna run
Sometimes I come undone
But I still belong to You
And that's how I know that
when I feel like caving in
My heart, my should is wearing thin
I just wanna give up
And nothing seems at all to add up
Can You hear me, Lord?
My face is down upon the floor
It's then You whisper in my ear
Be still and know I'm here"

Here's what I think on a beautiful Monday morn:
Run into a desperate wind.
Scream and shout like your hair was ablaze.
Remember not just the good but the frighteningly bad.

No matter the outcome or the circumstance, God is good all the time. If we can get the world to understand that no matter the outcome or the circumstance, God is good. He doesn't give us good times to ply us and recruit us. He is good, all the time. And all the time, he is good, swell, wonderful, awesome, amazing, beautiful, worthy of praise and adulation at all times.

If the last pass the quarterback threw was intercepted and returned for a touchdown, ending the game in a Green Bay victory, the true believer, true worshipper, true lover of the Creator and the Savior and the Holy Spirit will say the same thing: God is good, all the time.

So that when the inevitable bad stuff happens, we have not just a security blanket, not just a reasonable assurance that things are going to turn out all right in the end. No, what we have is a Savior who looks into the old cracked faces of the tired and weary and says, "I will be with you."

Oh, oh, oh, what a great promise. He could easily say that the bad wind will cease because he told it to. Oh, he can do that every bit as easily as he water into wine. He could do that, but he doesn't because he gets it, understands it on a human gut level that the beautiful, sweet life is not about him fixing the bad. It's about us living through the bad to get to the beauty and sweetness that is life with him.

And if we're with him, none of the other stuff matters, anyway.

The song concludes:

"I see a side of you, my friend
Same struggles that I have
And my heart goes out to you
I know it's hard to feel alone
And this world's so unforgiving
I've been feeling that way too
But I can tell you
When I feel like caving in
My heart, my soul is wearing thin
I just wanna give up
And nothing seems at all to add up
Can You hear me, Lord?
My face is down upon the floor
It's then You whisper in my ear
Be still and know I'm here"

Be still, be quiet, be rested, be filled with a peace that surpasses all understanding. He is there. He is waiting. Till the end of the age, he is there.

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