At Times Life is Like a Used Car Lot

As I approach the end of each school year, I prepare for my annual office renewal ritual.  Part of the ritual is finding the left end of my desk.  You see the left end is where projects, reports, investigations, reviews, assessments, etc., etc. that have been handed my way collect over the course of a year.  It’s always nice to start the summer with the opportunity to see that my desk actually has a non-paper surface.

I was shuffling through the stack (actually that’s a very kind way of putting it, it’s more like a potential avalanche) in preparation for the renewal ritual and I was struck by the fact that it reminded me of a used car lot.  Some of the assembled clutter were reports and projects that had never started.  Most were reports and projects that started and stalled . . . started and misfired . . . started and died.  Some were reports and projects that were ‘important’ but were just sitting there rusting.  And a couple were reports and projects that had started sometime ago and were barely running at the present.

Actually what bothered me the most was the amount of time from my past year that they represented.  Although some only represented hours; others represented months of work.  None were being pursued in the present.  Other ideas had come to mind and replaced them.  Other things, for whatever reason, had become more pressing and more significant.  Consequently, these were moved to the ‘used car lot’ end of my desk.

I was feeling a bit upset about the pile, the amount of time it had removed from my life, and those who had initially assigned the project to me only to move on to other ideas and projects.  Then I was struck by 1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 

“All” means “all.”  The Bible doesn’t tell us to do the easy things to God’s glory.  Or the things that make sense to us to God’s glory.  Or the things that can be done quickly.  Or the things that actually work out and are profitable.  The Bible tells us to do “all” things to God’s glory . . . even the things on the ‘used car lot’ end of my desk.

That thought has echoed through my mind in the days since the Holy Spirit first renewed it to my attention.  So once the renewal ritual starts, and I’m walking that pile to the shredder to be turned into confetti, I’ll do it to God’s glory.

Have any ‘used car lots’ in your life?  Do them to the glory of God.

A Lesson from a Toll Booth

A few weeks ago we were traveling to one of those family reunions that are put together in less than 24 hours.  This was a wonder in light of our inability with any amount of planning to get enough family members committed for an annual reunion.  We were going to my aunt’s funeral. 

We were at the end of the third day’s drive when we approached a toll booth.  It appeared to be no different than any of the other toll booths we had approached and ‘E-ZPass’ed our way through on the trip.  I double checked the signs to make sure we were in the correct lane.  I pulled into a lane with two cars in line.  The booths had traffic control arms that dropped for each car and rose once the E-ZPass signal registered.

As we came to a stop, the arm rose, and the first car left the booth.  The second car pulled up into position and stopped.  We pulled up and stopped.  And waited . . . and waited . . . and waited.  Finally an attendant came out to the car in front of us.  The driver rolled her window down.  The two conversed for a bit.  Then the driver looked into her purse, shuffled some things around, picked up her E-ZPass transponder, and handed it to the attendant.

As I watched the attendant take the transponder into the toll booth, I laughed to myself and at myself.  I fully thought the driver was going to hand the attendant money for the toll, not an E-ZPass transponder.  It was a welcomed laugh at the end of a long day on the highway.

It wasn’t until the next day that the lesson of that stop at the toll booth struck me.  As we went through our first toll booth of the day and I began to reflect on the events of the previous day, I realized that what we witnessed as very much like what Christ spoke of in Matthew 5.  It could easily be a contemporary equivalent of what Christ told his disciples.

In Matthew 5:14-16, He begins his instruction with a statement—v. 14a “You are the light of the world.”  Christ is simply saying here is the situation or condition that you must recognize.  This is not potential or prophetic.  This is positive, individual, and factual.  He follows that with a second statement—vv. 14b-15 “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”  This is also individual and factual.  Light has a purpose—to illuminate.  Consequently, lights belong on hill tops and lampstands, not under baskets.  A covered light cannot fulfill its purpose.  Both truths are undeniable.

An E-ZPass transponder in a purse cannot fulfill its purpose.  It may be fully functioning, but if it is concealed it isn’t going to serve its purpose and the control arm will never rise.  Traffic will come to a halt.  An attendant will have to leave their booth.  The driver will be embarrassed (I assume).  And other drivers will be upset.

Christ ends this lesson with an admonition—v. 16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Don’t hide our light.  Don’t limit your light.  Be a reflection of the heavenly Father in all you do and say.

As believers, we each have an E-ZPass transponder that will open heaven’s gates.  It is the salvation that we received through faith in Christ’s redemptive work on Calvary.  If we keep it in our purse or in our pocket, it cannot illuminate the world around us.  It cannot open the gates of heaven for all who need to enter.  So . . . “Let your light shine.”  And let it shine today.

Interrupted Routine

By all accounts it was just another Monday morning . . . at least as normal as Mondays can be.  It was that transition time of the year in September when our grasp on summer is beginning to slip.  Fall was just around the corner, but the smells and sights of fall hadn’t quite begun to replace the warmth of the sun’s rays. On this Monday morning that transition wasn’t too noticeable.  So Brandon Wright jumped on his motorcycle and headed to town.

On this ordinary, routine September morning as Brandon drove down the street near the campus of Utah State University in Logan, Utah, he could not have known how abruptly his life was about to change.  Most of us have heard, at least, some of the story and, no doubt, have seen some of the pictures.

In less than an instance, Brandon spotted a BMW pull out of a parking lot and turn into his lane of traffic.  The problem, of course, was that the driver did not see Brandon and was driving right at him.  To avoid the head-on collision, Brandon laid the motorcycle down.  His reaction may have averted the head-on collision and may have prevented him from being thrown over the car; however, the end result was Brandon under the car, the motorcycle leaking gas, and the collision igniting the gas.  Both the cycle and the front end of the car were on fire . . . and Brandon, he was practically out of sight under the BMW.

What follows is a story of redemption.

By all accounts (at least, those I have heard and read) the bystanders and witnesses to the accident without hesitation, once they realized what had happened, sprang into action.  After one person attempted to lift the burning car off of the cyclist without success, person after person left the sidewalk; left their way to school, work, or home; left their schedule; left their Monday morning routine; and joined in the rescue effort.  As the ad hoc rescue team grew, the car was lifted higher and higher until one of the rescuers was able to grab Brandon by a limb and drag him to safety away from the burning wreckage.

Brandon was taken to a hospital where he was treated and began his recovery.  The rescuers? . . . Well, they just blended back into their Monday morning routines . . . they simply returned to their daily life.  Apparently no need for comment or acclaim or whatever might follow.

This story of redemption is a story of deed, and not of dialogue.

From what I’ve read and seen about this incident, not one bystander did anything but go to the aid of this total stranger.  No belittling comments about the safety issues of riding motorcycles.  No speculations about carelessness, texting, or getting just dues.  No assigning of blame or judgment.  No wondering about whether or not he would have to be rescued again if he survived this one.

As the account of this Monday morning story of redemption crossed my mind, James 5:19-20 surfaced from the recesses of my memory.

“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

The Christian life, in this fallen world, is a life of opportunity to participate in redemption stories.  On a daily basis, opportunities to rescue either a fellow member of the human race or a fellow believer in danger of temporal or eternal loss cross our paths.

The story of redemption—whether temporal or eternal— is the story of seeing real needs and bringing real grace.  It is the story of deliverance.  It is the story of judgment averted, not decreed or predicted or questioned.  It is the story of deeds, not simply dialogue.

Let’s get off the sidewalk and into action!