The Sheep and the Wolf

I remember my first varsity wrestling match. I was in 8^th grade and worked off 7 lbs to drop to the next weight class and claim a spot on the Wadena Varsity Wrestling Team.  I still recall the excitement of running out with the team under the low lit gymnasium and the pep band playing an anthem by Queen.  As I ran around the circle, second from the front, I almost believed that I…even I…a lowly 8^th grader at 112 lbs…would in fact… “Rock You!” as the song suggested. 

Despite my brief wave of confidence, I was quickly brought down to reality as our 103 lbs wrestler, the first of the night, received a quick forfeit and propelled my time to shine to the forefront.

Beings that this was my first varsity match ever…and that I was a mere 8^th grader…and the fact that I was going up against a state ranked senior…I was a strong underdog. 

After our sweat-less 103 pounder received his hand raising and walked off the mat; the coach gave me a swat on the back side and said, “Go get him!”

Even at this young age I was a believer in my Savior Jesus Christ, and so I took to the scriptures to find comfort.   However, the only passage that I could bring forth from the nether reaches of my mind was, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves…you will be hated…don’t be afraid of those who can kill the body…we are considered sheep to be slaughtered…”

This was not comforting…it was terrifying.  Yet, there was no other choice before me.  It was my job to walk out onto the center of the mat and do battle with an elite wrestler 5 years my senior. 

The outcome however was better than I had expected…it only took 34 seconds.  My opponent graciously helped peel me off the mat after he had laid me out with a half-nelson that nearly broke my neck.  He smiled at me, we shook hands and he said to me as the referee raise his hand, “Good match.”

Obviously this guy didn’t have any qualms about lying.

This passage in Matthew 10 is a challenging scripture for sure.  In this text we find Jesus taking the time to describe what his disciples (and followers of Christ) should expect as they continue to follow him and do the things that he is asking them to do.

Yet, woven throughout these verses, we find a canvas of encouragement.  In no way do the commands of Jesus seem easy, however, the love of God is revealed and it is good! 

When we truly come to learn to put our trust in Jesus, we will live our lives as a testimony to him.  Jesus tells us that this testimony that we live will lead to heavy persecution, but the eternal promises of God…are worth every bit of it.

May we come to live our lives as a testimony of the saving grace of our great Savior…trusting that He will do all that he says that he will do!

 Rocket Fuel

A woman shared a story with me recently.  Apparently she was shopping at a local store making her purchase of pasta noodles and garlic mushroom sauce, when the young woman working the register engaged her in conversation.

“Looks like Spaghetti is on the menu for tonight!”

“It sure is.  Imagine my surprise when I went to get it started and didn’t have the noodles or the sauce!? I have a pan of browned burger but nothing to go with it.”

“I know that! I don’t have either in my pantry either. Looks like you will be feeding quite a crew, two boxes of noodles and two jars of pasta.”

“Not really, I just like to buy two of each so that I actually have it in my pantry for the next time I want to make spaghetti.  Not to mention, it is often a little cheaper to buy two of each than just one of each, I like to try and save whatever money I can in this economy.”

“Tell me about it, I can’t even afford one box of spaghetti and one jar of pasta.  As of now, I have nothing…nada…not a cent to buy groceries.”

The woman didn’t know what to say. She finalized her purchase and walked out the doors to her vehicle.  She climbed in, started the engine, dropped the transmission into reverse and pondered at the grocery bag next to her. 

She didn’t take her foot off the brake, she just sat there, looking at the bag…thinking…filled with compassion.

Making up her mind she set the vehicle back into park and killed the motor.  The woman reached into the bag and removed one box of noodles and one jar of sauce and walked back into the store.  She walked straight to the checkout area and placed the two items in front of the clerk and said, “I want you to have this.”

“No! you don’t need to do that!”

“I know, but I want to and even more so I want YOU to have them.”

I don’t know that either of these women said anything else to each other or not, but the impact is clear.

It was clear to me as to what led to this exchange…compassion.  One person had compassion for another.

Compassion is like a match that ignites transformation. Compassion leads to reconciliation. Compassion is the catalyst that takes the Good News…the Gospel into the entire world. It is the rocket fuel for evangelism. 

In Matthew 9:35-10:8, Jesus sees the crowds of people and he has compassion on them because they are like sheep without a shepherd.  They are lost and wandering.  His compassion is a catalyst for change.  It is what motivates him, motivates his disciples and transforms those who will put their trust in him. 

Are we ready, to allow the compassion that we have received overflow in our testimony as we live our lives for him. 

 Desperate

Many people are not aware that when I was younger, I was the survivor of an abduction attempt.  By younger I mean that I had just turned 40.  I was alone in the church one Sunday night…at least I thought I was alone.  I heard some scuffling of feet approaching my office from a nearby hallway. This seemed unusual as it was already past 8:30 p.m. and unless there was an appointment…which there wasn’t…there was no reason for anyone else to be in the building.  I rose from my desk and made my way to the office door to inspect the hallway.  When I looked to the right I saw five young men of various statures looking at me with curious smug smirks. 

“Hello boys, is there something I can do for yo…”

“GET HIM!” the largest of the 5 yelled, and I was suddenly bear hugged from behind.

I saw large heavy white zipties appear in the hands of a long haired mugger and heard him bark, “I got his feet!”

This was not good!  Instinctively, I allowed 20 plus years of wrestling experience to take over and I fought back.  With the use of my arms, hands and legs I was able to bring one of the five assailants to the floor and reverse the position of the bear hugger.  Fortunately for me, another of the five was either not expecting the retaliatory fight back or was too anxious to continue the attempted abduction, because he fled, leaving only four.

Two of the remaining four would be considered smaller in stature than average, but the other two were much more stalwart.  I was able to keep the four young men from securing me with their bonds for a fair amount of time before my ankles were finally encased in the zip-ties…though not yet securely. 

I succeeded in immobilizing one of the smaller assailants with his own zip-ties and held one of the larger attackers securely in my arms, preventing his efforts. Despite this, the remaining two continued to attempt to bind me and I knew I could not win this fight. I felt myself becoming desperate. 

I considered my options which were few.  Then I noticed the long locks of hair hanging from the tall skinny mugger and I did what I had to do.  I reached up with my only free appendage and I grabbed a handful of the 28” rockstar hair and I pulled.

“Oh man! Dude! Not the hair! Ahhh! The hair! He’s got my hair! Let go of my hair!”

I did not let go.  In fact nothing short of death was going to get me to let go of this fistful of hair.  In fact, I took the liberty of pulling the hair harder and in different directions with every shift of my fighting body.

“Whoa! Ryan! Take it easy!  Let go of Daniel’s hair!”  Said the largest of the remaining four, “We just wanted to take you out for your 40^th birthday!  We asked Sarah if we could kidnap you and she said , “yes.” So that’s what we are doing.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“What?! We were going to throw you in the trunk and take you to Buffalo Wild Wings for your birthday.”

“I repeat…What’s wrong with you?...Next time…just ask.”

We went to BWW’s, and it was amazing.

There comes a time in our lives where we will in some way find ourselves desperate. These are the times when we may be willing to do things that we wouldn’t normally think ourselves capable of.  It is possible that may find ourselves desperate and looking for hope and will do just about anything to find help.

In Matthew 9:18-34, we find a series of events, filled with desperate people.  We find desperate parents, desperate men and desperate women, of which all have something in common…they are desperate for something that can only come from the hand of God.  Jesus meets them in their desperation.

May we too find Jesus in the moments of our desperation.