I mowed the lawn for the first time a couple of
weeks ago. One of the things that I
enjoy about mowing is that it a rather mindless activity. I can sit on the John Deere and let it do the
work as I drive it around the yard, and think.
I can daydream and let my mind wander while, at the same time, have a
sense of accomplishment as the lawn looks better with each trip around the yard.
With each passing year, when I find myself in
those spaces where my mind is free to imagine, I find myself wandering in the
direction of my next great adventure. When
I was younger those dreams would be of some future event of my life. Something I was going to do or something I
hoped to do. I would plan, envision the
future, and slip into the contentment of the musings of my mind. As the years have gone by, and I reluctantly
acknowledge that I have far fewer years ahead of me than behind me, I realize
that the next great adventure will be the moment when my God withholds that
next breath. I’m not being morbid but,
in reality, that is the most significant adventure we have all been moving
toward since we drew our first breath.
As a believer, with my hope and trust firmly planted in
the grace and mercy Jesus poured out on Calvary, I imagine the glory that will
be revealed as I bow before my God. My
Father. My Abba. I envision the outpouring of emotion as I
gaze upon the beauty of my Savior. My
King. My Lord.
There will be, of course, the joy of being
reunited with relatives and friends that have made the journey before me.
But then, there will be the opportunity to meet
the saints and men of God that I have been reading about for nearly six
decades.
I picture Moses testifying about the strength
God gave him to stand before Pharaoh, the
greatest leader and ruler of the time who, with a word, could have destroyed
anyone who dared oppose him. Yet, this Moses,
empowered by the God of creation, boldly walked into Pharaoh’s presence, time
after time, and said, “I don’t care what you want to do. I don’t care what you have decreed. But you are going to have to let my people
go.”
I imagine what it will be like to listen to the
prophets who came after Moses. Men who
stood before the leaders of nations and the religious elites of Israel, and boldly
declared what God was telling them. They
were beaten, imprisoned, and driven into desolate places. Many were tortured and killed, but yet they
defied the people in power, and spoke the words God was telling them to speak.
When the rulers of Babylon told Shadrack,
Meshach, and Abednego to bow before the image of King Nebuchadnezzar, they
refused and were threatened with a fiery furnace. I picture their testimony before the heavenly
congregation as they tell of the power of God that allowed them to stand before
the furnace and the king and say, “Our God can deliver us. And our God will deliver us. But even if our God does not deliver us, we
will not bow down to anyone other than our God.”
And Daniel, talking about refusing to obey the
law of the land that forbid anyone from praying to any god but King Darius. Telling of the empowerment of God that caused
him to throw open his windows three times a day to pray to Yahweh.
Then there will be the Apostles, and the people
of the early church. Again, beaten,
tortured and martyred for speaking of Jesus and for gathering in his name. The leaders of the Jewish nation, and later
Rome itself, prohibited it but were met with a resounding, “We must obey God rather
than men.”
There will be the largely unheard testimony of
the church throughout the centuries including the one in which we live. Men and women who defied the leaders of nations
and the laws they passed prohibiting the followers of Jesus from gathering to
worship. Despite the threats, they spoke
of the one they were prohibited from speaking of, they came together to honor
him, and received as their reward torture, imprisonment and martyrdom. I can only begin to imagine the crowns they
received in glory.
Testimony after testimony of the power God gave
these fellow saints to stand before rulers and say, “I don’t care what you
say. I don’t care what your laws
say. I’m more prone to listen to Jesus
regardless of the consequences.”
As I’m finishing up the lawn, I imagine what I
might say when it comes time for me to testify.
“Well, there was this really bad virus going
around. Our leaders told us that we
might get a really bad cold if we met and so, in our best interests, they
passed a law saying that we could no longer meet to worship. So we quit meeting. You need to understand that this was a bad
virus, and that there was a small chance that someone getting the virus could
die. But they closed our churches, in
our best interest, to prevent us from getting sick, and since it was a law
passed for our benefit, we locked the church doors.”
To be sure, I am glad that I am not a local,
state or national leader that had to make decisions during this troubling
time. I’m not a church leader, and I am
thankful that I did not have to make decisions that would impact the physical
well being of my congregation. I am not
in a position to second guess any of the actions that were taken. I’m just a guy on a mower trying to make the
lawn look nice.
