It’s wonderful to occasionally go back and remember those people’s influence, how much they have meant to me. In many ways they are markers of places in my life when someone else’s life has made a huge impact on my life. I suspect many of those people don’t know how much they have meant to me; some in huge ways and some in just small things that I consider a huge blessing. A few names I’ve shared in these letters over the years; others just simply bring a smile to my face when their names are mentioned in our everyday conversations.
Jesus taught us to share, to care and to be confident that if we followed his stories, ‘messengers’ would come into our lives. Telling their stories to us would make differences in our lives; they would be God’s messengers. Markers like that should never be taken for granted or overlooked but recognized as blessings. People filling in part of the ‘dash’, filling in between our birth date and our death date, messengers in our lives.
Sunday morning’ Preacher said Life’s a mist it’s just a breath
We’re only here for a little while
He talked about His daddy’s grave, It read 1910 to ’98
But the years between were just a little line
Got me wondering what I’m chasing, Don’t want another minute wasted
There’s a day we’re born, Day we pass, In between there’s just a dash
What on earth am I doing
Yeah I got time But time goes fast, Yeah that line is all I have
I could take this life and live it well, Or I could keep on living it for myself
What’s He gonna say when He calls me up? Was I just words or was I love
Did I love great or just good enough, I just hope He says well done
I keep on wondering what I’m chasing, Don’t want another minute wasted
What on earth am I doing, Cause real life’s in the trenches, not from the stands
In our lofty benches with manicured hands
I want a dash that’s dirty, a life fully spent
Weathered and scarred from all the life that I lived
The times that we go out of our way, To paint beautiful blue over somebody’s grey
When we stopped and defended injustice, Or sanded the heart of a friend that got rusted
I don’t know my number or year that I’ll pass, From this cold world to the kingdom that lasts
But carpe diem it’s worth it to live it not blur it, Or years could fly by and you still ain’t met purpose
There’s a day we’re born Day we pass, In between there’s just a dash
What on earth am I doing
Life’s short, but a vapor What you gonna do, what you gonna do with yours
What on earth am I doing
‘Dash’: When I first heard those lyrics from David Crowder and Toby Mac I stopped what I was doing and paid close attention. WBVN gets song after song that teaches the Gospel, often simplified but still the Gospel. Crowder is one of the best at taking everyday life and getting something Jesus tucked into it. I liked this song because it causes us to evaluate our ‘dash’. What happens between birth and heaven? Did we simply consume to ourselves or did we plant the seeds of a better life, one for us and also for others? That song is very much like many of the songs we play over the station; uses simple words to give us huge meanings; a simple story to make a big impact. Just that little ‘dash’ after hearing that song floods my imagination with ‘life’s-purpose’ thoughts.
Similarly, as with some of the songs on WBVN, Jesus occasionally did that kind of teachings. Short, allegories, stories to explain and share his thoughts. Often he used the little things in our daily lives to share about the big things of the Kingdom of God. We call them parables and they reflect our everyday experiences and tell us of much larger mysteries and glorious truths about the Gospel.
The Messiah of God teaching about mustard seeds, yeast, the wind, sowing seeds, hidden treasures, a father and a son, a house foundation, coins, bread, birds, flowers, wheat, thorns, little lambs; simple stories, but profound. Jesus did that to teach of how the Kingdom of God works; constantly encouraging us step by step in the directions that would lead us to ‘greener pastures’ and more revelations of Him, His Father and The Spirit. Telling those stories to let those gathered with him ‘know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.’ (Mathew 13) In that chapter (a chapter with 8 parables: 4 spoken outside the house and 4 spoken in the house), the first 4 are spoken outside for all to hear, the next 4 spoken in the house for the disciples to consume. (Some have suggested the first 4 are for the world to hear and the next 4 for the ‘kingdom seekers’ to hear.) Jesus knew well that some would hear, some would see and other people’s hearts were ‘waxed gross’ (literally, grown fat) and some could not hear; some would be apathetic, while others were happy to hear his Wisdom stories. Jesus unpacked the message for us in little moments letting those that ‘have ears hear.’ As I’ve said before, all present had little floppy things on the side of their heads but some heard with their heart’s ears.
Jesus came to reveal the things that had never been revealed before; to represent the exact nature and character of God the Father. He went so far as to declare, ‘If you see me you have seen the Father.’ Literally, if you can perceive who I am you can perceive who He is. (John 14: 7,9) To know who Jesus was is to know who the Father was.
‘God, who at sundry times (in many portions and various ways) and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness (flash) of His glory, and the express image (character) of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high… (Heb 1:1)
Jesus’ birth was at the appropriate time for Messiah to come, to step into the world and express the heart of God as no one else had expressed it before. Jesus was the heart of God manifested. Messiah was what God wanted to share about Himself. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. There is no other way. True, there are many truthful things in the world (it is true that 2+2 equals 4, etc.) but Jesus only is The Truth. There’s no other way to the Father, no other way to understand the Father, to have a personal relationship with the Father, other than Jesus. We live in a time when there is a temptation to teach the Kingdom of God without teaching the knowing of Jesus. The Gospel is not a morality or an ethic, it’s the Power of a Messiah. That social Gospel won’t fly. It’s only by knowing Jesus that we can know the Father. He flips the light switch on and shows us Life as the Father, Son and Spirit would have it for us. It’s the design of the Gospel that His Life should fill in the dash in between our two dates. 