A Hammer, a Chisel and a Mountain

The people of Bihar, India had a problem.  In order to access nearby fields for food and work, they had to hike more than four miles around a mountain.  One of the villagers, Ramchandra Das, 53, asked authorities in the village for help, but they declined. So, Das took it upon himself to do something about it.  Using only a hammer and chisel he began to dig a tunnel through the side of a mountain in the direction of the nearest bigger town, Atri.  The job became even more important once he became the first person in his town to own a truck and was unable to drive it home.  "I could not park my truck near my house since the mountain blocked my path," He said in an interview.  Doing so, he added, left his truck at risk from thieves.  "I had to leave my truck miles away, so I decided to do something about it myself."

Slowly, patiently Das dug the tunnel.  When it was finished it was 33 feet long and 13 feet wide - big enough to drive his truck through, of course.  It took him fourteen years to complete.  Das took on the job because he was inspired by another Indian village who had take twenty-two years to dig an even larger tunnel so that villagers could more easily reach a local hospital.  Talk about patience in the face of opposition.  Of course, his patience was anything but passive.  While he waited, he persevered. While he waited, he worked.  So should we.

Last Sunday's passage (James 5.7-11) began, 

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.  You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

Since judgment is just around the corner, in other words, wait for God to make his move.  Don’t take matters into your own hands.  As I've said, this does not mean that we are to do nothing. No.  In the meantime we work toward compassion, mercy and justice, but we withhold judgment, knowing that God judgment will soon appear.  We dig with purpose and patience and hope.

Ramchandra Das was inspired by another villager who dug and even bigger tunnel.  Who has inspired you with their patience, perseverance and faithfulness in the face of tremendous odds or injustice?

Turning James 5 On Its Head!

Our passage on Sunday was a challenging one, one that sounds like bad news, but is really Good News.  Just as James pronounces judgment on the rich oppressors, he is also describing for us the opposite of what you and I are to become as followers of Jesus.  First, let's re-read James 5.1-6:

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

Next, let's turn James 5 on its head.  What might the passage look like if the rich were doing what God wanted, instead of what God hated?  What does God love, in other words?  You can write your own, of course, but here's my version:

Now listen, brothers and sisters, you who have been materially blessed and do what is right with all that has been entrusted to you.  Rejoice that your good works are pleasing to God!  Your wealth is as secure as treasure laid up in heaven.  It has not rotted, but has been kept safe.  Moths have not eaten away your clothing.  Your gold and silver are pristine, kept safe from corrosion – as is your very life!  You have generously shared what you have been given and because of that, you have truly laid up for yourselves treasures in heaven!  Look!  The fair and timely and just wages you paid those who worked for you shout praises to God Most High!  The choices you made to live just and caring lives honor his name!  The workers you treated with compassion, mercy and justice celebrate your faithfulness to God’s ways and character!  You have lived on the earth modestly and in selfless sacrifice for the needs of others.  You have nothing to fear when Judgment arrives!  Instead of taking life, you have preserved it!  Instead of opposing Christ, you have served him well and partnered with him in the building of his Kingdom!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  Jesus now says to you, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world."

May each of us live fully into God's compassion, mercy and justice and one day hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"  Amen. 

Abandoning Outcomes

Several months ago I saw Phil Vischer, creator of VeggieTales, speak at a conference.  He shared his story of trying to attain his "Big Hairy Audacious Goal" of building one of the biggest animation studios in the country.  And then he told us the difficult and painful story of going too far too fast, of trying to do too much to make it all happen and the bankruptcy and heartache that followed.  He had plans and dreams and great goals, but in the end, they fell apart and people and their livelihoods were hurt.

As Vischer shared his story he gave us one significant learning - a phrase I've not really been able to get out of my mind.  He said that when we are out there doing what we think God wants us to do, "we have to abandon outcomes."  What he meant by that, he said, was that we do what we sense God is calling us to do, we do it well and with great passion, yes.  But we must not try to control what it will look like when it is finished.  We cannot be attached to the outcomes.  Outcomes are God's job.  Our job is to be faithful to do what God calls us to do - in generalities and in particulars.  In general we seek to do God's will as it is laid out for us in Scripture.  In particulars, we seek to go where God has called us to go as individuals, households and church communities.  In neither sphere are the outcomes of our obedience to be our primary concern.

This is similar to what we talked about in James this past Sunday (4.13-17).  If we are to become all that God dreams and knows we can become, we will concede our wills to his.  We will let go of trying to control things and choose, rather, to submit to God's plans and purposes.  To concede our lives to God's will is to abandon outcomes in a sense.  It is to so yield our lives, plans and dreams to God, open and willing to something different than what we had originally envisioned.

Like most people, I have dreams and hopes for ministry, for family and children and for the general shape of life to come.  Do I simply stop pursuing them in obedience to the teaching in James 4?  Sometimes, yes.  Sometimes I believe God tells us we must lay down something near and dear to us in order to pursue something better for us and for others.  Quite often, however, it's not about laying down all my plans and walking away, but yielding the outcomes to God and his purposes - even when they may run contrary to what I initially envisioned or intended.

When we abandon outcomes we are not abandoning dreams.  We're yielding our dreams to God's purposes and design.  We are saying to God, "This is what I sense you are calling me to do, but I might be wrong.  In that case, not my will, but yours be done."

Have you ever felt called to lay down something precious to you?  Have you ever seen disappointing circumstances yield a less than hoped for result, only to discover something better in the end?