Imagine coming home from a family day at the beach, and finding your house
not quite as you left it. The front door was ajar, without a voice reminding
you, the furniture had been rearranged, the kitchen cabinets were open, as was
the refrigerator, stove left on, and dirty dishes on the table. As you went up
stairs to change, you found all the beds a mess, as though someone had been
sleeping in them, and then in the master bedroom you find a strange girl
sleeping in there. Imagine her surprise as she encounters the family....and
yours! Your first thought was maybe that one of your kids had come by, but they
are out of town. And you wonder, do I call the police or what?
In one afternoon, your security has been threatened, and your privacy
invaded. The alarm the ads had been telling you you needed now becomes a
necessity. The furniture you carefully take care of is in a disarray, the rooms
gone through, as if the person found in bed was looking for someone. The dinner
you had prepared for when you got home from the beach is left on the counter,
who knows how long, and you end up throwing it out. Now you are really hungry.
And to find the beds a mess, who knows what kind of party went on here. And
then to find someone sleeping in your bed, their head on your pillow, that is
too much. And the truth behind the fairy tale unwinds....
The Goldilocks Conundrum, a riddle that answers itself sometimes using a
pun has unfolded. Who is this blond woman, where is she from, and why did she
break in our house? And when she saw Papa, gets up, bolts out an open window
and is never seen again. Did all this really happen? Could it be a bad dream?
Are there others in the house with her? Will she return? Questions pondered,
some unasked as you sit down to dinner, then clean up her mess. With the peace
and security of the home in shambles, they lie awake before falling asleep, and
any noise in the night makes them sit up and wonder.
Although there are many versions of the story, they always seem to cast her
in a favorable light, it is the bears fault one bed is too hard, and one too
soft. It is not her fault the porridge isn’t to her liking, and in fear of
retribution she runs out. Not quite as we heard it in kindergarten. But true
in today’s society. When we went back to Joplin in 2011 to assist after the
tornado wiped out most of the town, we got an inside view to the survivors
homes, or what was left of them. Everything they had was out in the open, some
sorted through, some not worth it. But when assisting at one home, as
volunteers we had to get permission to help, and did, a group next to us smelled
something dead. The police were called, and it turned out to be a dog, but for
a few moments we were not sure of what they would find, for in this particular
house they had found Granny, in her shower in the middle of the house, covered
in debris, but still alive. Her house and neighborhood gone, she survived.
Unlike Goldilocks she had her house broken into, and when danger hit, could not
escape. Now she has no windows, no kitchen, no bed, and no neighbors. But we
were welcomed into her confidence as friends who had come from thousands of
miles away to help. A humbling experience for all, and something to think about
when you lay me down to fall asleep tonight. Both the bears and Granny had the
sanctity of their homes violated, where was Goldilocks when it came time to
help?
A minister of Christ is a person, a steward that God trusts to reveal the
mysteries of Christ through. And as Christians, we all are called and
qualified. Some show compassion, some just write a check, and are unfeeling
until it happens to them, then their whole world changes. “Why did this happen
to me, where were you God? Don’t I attend faithfully, I give my tithes, I’ve
been to Israel? I even have a Jesus sticker on my car...what else could you
want from me? I just don’t deserve this...” And his reply is, yes you do, for
except for the grace of God, go I. Jesus had to address the congregation, the
church, not strangers, and not an evangelistic message. In Matthew 25 the
church brags on their accomplishments, much like they do today. “We send
missionaries, we go to Israel, we have programs and processes. We teach the
Bible and do fundraisers, look at how holy we are.” But the answer Jesus gives
is heart wrenching, “be gone from me, for you never knew me. When I was hungry
you didn’t feed me, thirsty I got no drink from you, I was a stranger you didn’t
greet, and when I was alone at home, sick, or in prison, you forgot about me.”
And when they asked when did we see you, they were more shocked, “when you did
it to the least of them, you did it to me.” But God....and they just don’t get
it as the excuses flow. And it is still all about them.
Ministry is no more than seeing a need and meeting it. Yet some are like
Goldilocks, haphazardly entering people’s lives, doing what they want, and
leaving destruction behind. No love involved, and when the one witnessed to
won’t say yes, they leave winning the argument, but damaging the family of God.
Fleeing leaving the world to think all Christians are like that, they just want
our money. And to give us a set of rules to ruin our lives. They may be saved,
but they don’t know Jesus, or his mysteries revealed. They have been given the
spirit, but over ride him with their own desires. And when they don’t get their
way, when their genie in the lamp they pray too doesn’t say yes, they blame
God. It is never their fault. And even when crisis hits their house....it is
still all about them.
Paul tells us in Corinthians that these truths, the mysteries are far
beyond natural or secular research, and don’t involve surveys. Observation and
reasoning will not help, it takes the holy spirit to reveal them, not leaning on
your own understanding. It takes faith and continually trusting the spirit to
make the mysteries make sense, they are only revealed by the spirit, and not our
own desires. And when the spirit reveals Jesus to our hearts, we see lives
changed, people changed, and become stewards of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And no matter what happens, we see Jesus is always with us. And how life is
worth the living.
In one afternoon the bears saw how one event could change their lives. So
did Granny....but both got out with their lives still intact. They were
changed, and without the spirit would become bitter. Yet with Granny and her
neighbors I saw an outpouring of love, of caring, and helping one another. In
the toughest times, they drew strength from God, and he took them through. They
had lost all their possessions, but still had life. And a new normal, with more
questions and mysteries to be revealed. No word on how the bears handled it, or
if Goldilocks was ever apprehended...
No matter the trial, no matter how dark, God’s love will shine through,
from within. He will give you the peace to go on, to rebuild , to start over.
We were all in the shambles of sin when we met Jesus, and look how he changed
us, by his spirit. So have hope in your trials, and know you cannot have Easter
without Good Friday. No resurrection without dying first. And no hope without
Christ. He is our blessed hope, and when our lives are invaded, will take us
through. Even despite our excuses...Jesus loves me this I know, do you?
Reduced to nothing without any possessions what do you have? In Christ you have
it all, remember that the next time your lives are invaded, or you invade
others. Goldilocks blew in and blew out, causing destruction. So did a
tornado. It is those of us here and now to act as the stewards God has provided
to minister his gospel of love. Many hands make light work, and if called, he
has supplied all you need in Christ Jesus. You may get your hands dirty, it may
stink, and it will require all you have to give. But remember the words of
Mother Teresa when a reporter interviewed her among the smell of death and
dysentery, and cried out “I wouldn’t do this work for a million dollars.” To
which she replied “either would I.”
Now about those splinters, how do they compare to the nine inch nails that
saved you? Goldilocks, are you listening?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com