Mickey Mouse, the I-95 and the Repentant Thief

Recently, my family and I traveled to Orlando Florida, to visit Walt Disney World, a trip we make every so often. As usual, we decided to drive to Florida, in order to keep costs to a minimum. As you might imagine, the drive to Florida from Montreal is a long one. We spread the drive over two days, stopping after the first day in southern Virginia.

As you might expect, parts of the drive can be tedious, with nothing to do but watch trees go by as well as many billboards. I found that watching the billboards can be very interesting, especially in the southern states. Interspersed among the many billboards advertising adult book stores, truck stops, massage parlors and factory outlets, you can find some billboards with Christian messages.

This mix of the sacred and the secular is mirrored on the radio. It is hard to keep any one station for a long period of time while driving, so while scanning the FM stations, we realized that there are very many Christian radio stations in the south, found amongst the rap and heavy metal stations. Some of the subject matter on these secular radio stations was definitely not family friendly!

So, as I drove down the I-95 through the Carolinas, and as the rest of the family dozed, I began to meditate on this dual nature that was unfolding before me. It was as if I were being shown two divergent paths, the high road and the low road, as it were.

After a little while more, I began to notice a recurring pattern. Every now and then, I could spot three crosses. There was always one tall yellow cross and two smaller white crosses, one on each side of the yellow cross. Sometimes these sets of crosses were right beside the highway. Other times they could be spotted high on a hill in the distance.

With little else to do I began contemplating these crosses. Who had placed them there, and why? There was nothing to tell me! So, without any obvious answers, I began to develop my own theories. Of course, the crosses were placed there by someone or some group to honour Jesus and remind us travelers of his sacrifice. We are all familiar with the image of the crucified Christ, dying on the cross to save us from our sins. I think we all know the Easter story very well.

As that aspect was very clear to me I turned my thoughts to the two small white crosses that stood on either side of the tall yellow cross. Now here was something fresh to meditate on! Now, as we know, two thieves were crucified alongside Jesus. The New Testament doesn’t tell us very much about them. Only the Gospel of Luke has very much to say about them. Knowing a little bit about the story, and still having nothing else to do other than drive and drive, I began to imagine being there as witness to the crucifixion, and I tried to focus my thoughts on the two crosses beside Jesus’ cross.

Surely, these men were common criminals, and were being punished according to the law at that time. What really interested me about the story is, what did they really know about this man who was being crucified along with them? They might have heard about Jesus in advance. Maybe they had witnessed his teachings or healings. Maybe not. Maybe they knew nothing about Jesus. They certainly now noticed, that for some reason, Jesus was receiving a special amount of attention, with the crown of thorns, a sign that read “King of the Jews” being mounted on his cross, as well as the abuse and mockery that was being directed at him throughout the entire, brutal process.

Whether they knew about Jesus or not before fatefully arriving together on Calvary, they certainly realized that, for some reason, this man was different. Now comes the part of the story that doesn’t seem to get too much attention, but that I found to be very, very interesting.

The Gospel of Luke tells us the following:

Two criminals were led out to be put to death with Jesus. When the soldiers came to the place called "The Skull," they nailed Jesus to a cross. They also nailed the two criminals to crosses, one on each side of Jesus. Jesus said, "Father, forgive these people! They don't know what they're doing. "While the crowd stood there watching Jesus, the soldiers gambled for his clothes. The leaders insulted him by saying, "He saved others. Now he should save himself, if he really is God's chosen Messiah!"

The soldiers made fun of Jesus and brought him some wine. They said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!"

Above him was a sign that said, "This is the King of the Jews."

One of the criminals hanging there also insulted Jesus by saying, "Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and save us!"

But the other criminal told the first one off, "Don't you fear God? Aren't you getting the same punishment as this man? We got what was coming to us, but he didn't do anything wrong." Then he said to Jesus, "Remember me when you come into power!"

Jesus replied, "I promise that today you will be with me in paradise." -"The Message"

Wow!

Imagine that. One of these criminals, while suffering one of Man’s most horribly designed punishments, found the way through his own pain and suffering to recognize something special about Jesus and then he spoke up to defend Jesus. Although tradition calls this man the Repentant Thief, he does not directly repent for his wrong doing. What he does do, is recognize that Jesus was innocent and did not deserve to be punished in this way. He then asks Jesus; “Remember me when you come into power”. Whether he knew anything of Jesus before this moment or not, he realizes something very special about Jesus. I believe that in this moment he was clearly sorry for his sins and it is also clear that Jesus recognizes this man’s repentance when he lets him know “I promise that today you will be with me in paradise.”

Again – wow!

In the midst of his own suffering, Jesus offers this man the grace of forgiveness. I can imagine this thief smiling as he breathes his last breath…

This is powerful stuff, and I had lost track of time as I drove and drove and drove. Please note I never lost track of the road, as I safely drove on as my family dozed.

As I continued to ponder these crosses, and to see billboards reading “Jesus Saves” right beside ones reading “Adult Book Store – Next Exit”, I realized, although that middle, golden cross was the most important one, as it represented our Saviour, we should however turn our attention to the two smaller crosses on each side, for they represent us, and our dual potential. As the billboards and radio stations were offering up divergent paths of sacred and the profane, so too are these two white crosses offering us a choice. Do we follow the example of the unrepentant thief and selfishly mock Jesus, or do we follow the example of the other thief? The one who recognized something special in Jesus and reached out to him in his time of despair, and in doing so, found his redemption.

Which one will you choose to follow?

© Jamie Kerr, 2008

Teach Us To Pray

“Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be your name…”

As Christians, we are all familiar with these words, perhaps a bit too familiar. Every Sunday in Church, we recite this prayer. But, do we truly pay attention, or has it become a mere habit, rolling off our tongues but not residing in our hearts? It is known as “The Lord’s Prayer”, for it was given to us by Jesus. To be more precise, Jesus taught this prayer to his disciples after being asked “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples…” .

When we read the Bible, we may feel removed from events that happened 2000 years ago as well as from the people, the disciples, who received this prayer from Jesus, but we shouldn’t. We are the disciples of today and are no different from those first followers, who were also full of doubt, joy, fear, guilt and numerous other human qualities, flaws and emotions.

I believe that this prayer is the perfect prayer, for it includes everything that we need to pray for and about, summed up simply, and most profoundly, in just a handful of words. I also believe this prayer summarizes how, as disciples of Jesus, we are supposed to treat those around us in this chaotic world of today.

Let’s look at the prayer closely and see just how we can approach it as a guideline for living…

Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be your name.

This line causes us to recognize that we are to venerate our God as holy, as the Middle English origin of the word Hallow means just that – holy. In fact, many modern translations of the Bible us the word holy instead of hallowed, as in “may your name be kept holy”.

Your Kingdom Come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

We all have our own ideas of what heaven is. I like to imagine heaven as a place where there is no fear, no doubt, no guilt but rather a powerful sense of infinite, all encompassing love. When Jesus taught us to pray that God’s will be done, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN, I believe he was teaching us that perhaps the Kingdom is not something that will come in the far future after a final judgment, but rather can be achieved here and now, by us! That we are to endeavour to make the world we live in today a little more like heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

As God provided a daily ration of manna to the Israelites as they wandered in the desert, so too do we ask for God to provide the food that we need to survive. In a community that truly follows the teachings of Jesus, hunger and want would not be an issue.

Forgive us our sins as we also forgive those who sin against us.

This sounds like a simple instruction, but perhaps is the hardest part of the guideline to truly follow. True forgiveness is a hard pill to swallow. I could spend a lot of time discussing forgiveness, as it is the keystone of our faith, but today I will be focusing on another theme. Just know that as God forgives all, we are expected to do the same to those who wrong us, as well as forgiving ourselves.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

I don’t think that this line implies that God would actually lead us to be tempted, but is rather a recognition that we require God’s help and strength to avoid it.

I’m sure that Jesus’ disciples adopted this prayer immediately and spread it throughout the early church. As the modern-day disciples of Jesus, we continue to pray this perfect prayer, along with many other prayers, some written by others but many we make up ourselves. Maybe some of us only pray in Church on Sunday, maybe some of us pray more often. One thing I’m sure of is that we all pray in our own personal way, and for our own reasons...

“God, please help me…”

“God, please end the war…”

“God, someone I love is sick…””God, I’m lonely….”

“God, I need your help…”

“God, if only I could just win the lottery this time…”

So, how does God answer prayers, and how do we know he is even listening? If you’re familiar at all with Bible stories, (and I hope that you are), you would think that God only speaks to us via burning bushes, or storm clouds on the tops of mountains, or pillars of fire in the desert. How often have you prayed and asked God to “please just give me a sign that you’re listening”?

I’ve been walking my daughter Caitlin to her swimming classes every day, and one thing Caitlin likes to do is look at the clouds to try to see what they might look like.

One day as we were walking along, she pointed to a cloud formation and said “Dad! Look at that cloud! It looks like a soldier playing a trumpet!”.

To me, it looked just like an angel blowing a horn, with wings and all! I pointed this out to Caitlin and she saw it too!

Wow! This was really exciting! Maybe God was sending us a sign! Then, a few moments later, Caitlin said, “You know Dad… it really looks more like a duck…”

So, what might be one person’s sign from God is another person’s duck.

Perhaps the days of signs and wonder are over, or maybe we just have trouble seeing them, or hearing God’s voice, or realizing that He indeed answers our prayers.

So we pray, we wait and we wonder. Maybe we start to grow cynical. Maybe we even doubt God, that he will answer our prayers or that he even hears them.
Here is a story you may have heard….

A town had been flooded, and the water was rising. An Armed Forces jeep pulled up outside the preacher's house, where the water was fast approaching the first floor.

"Let us take you to higher ground," they called.
"No, thanks," the minister responded. "The Lord will provide for me."
The water rose to the second floor, and a Red Cross rowboat came past.
"Jump in," they called, "and we'll row you to safety."
"Don't worry about me," said the minister from his bedroom window. "My faith is in the Lord."
The waters continued to rise, and the minister was on the roof when an army helicopter hovered overhead. "I'll throw down a rope ladder so you can climb up here," shouted the pilot.
"I'll be OK," shouted back the preacher. "I'm in God's hands."
Well, the water rose yet higher, and the preacher drowned.
He arrived in heaven soaking wet and furious, and demanded to speak to the Boss.
"Is this how You care for Your people?" he asked. "I kept telling everyone I'd be OK, that You would save me, and instead I drowned!"
"What more do you want?" asked God. "I sent you a jeep, a rowboat, and a helicopter..."

This morning, I’d like to propose a concept to you. Instead of waiting for God to answer our own prayers, I propose that we rather shift our focus to how WE might answer someone else’s prayers. Sometimes, being the answer to someone else’s prayer doesn’t mean we need a jeep, a rowboat or a helicopter, but in reality can be just a simple thing –

A heartfelt hug.

Wise advice.

A shoulder to cry on.

A sympathetic ear.

Words of encouragement.

A shared meal.

Honest forgiveness.

Becoming a true friend.

I’m a big fan of the contemporary translation of the Bible called “The Message”. In chapter 12 of his letter to the Romans, Paul teaches us that:

“In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around.
The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we?
So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't.
If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching;
if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.
Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good.
Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder.
Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath.
Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down.
Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.
Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone.
If you've got it in you, get along with everybody.
Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."
Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness.
Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.”
Also, as quoted in chapter 13 of the gospel of John, Jesus says “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” - "The Message"

Next time you're in Church, take a moment to look around and greet your fellow disciples. Now, think about this possibility - The answer to your prayer might be someone sitting right there with you in Church. What a powerful possibility! But maybe even more powerful is the chance that “YOU” might be the answer to their prayer! Look around again and see each other with new eyes.

I think this is how we’re expected to act as brothers and sisters in Christ. This concept is ages-old, its how the disciples lived, but it can still be revolutionary even today.

Just imagine the power of everyone walking around, living their lives trying to be the answer to other people’s prayers…. If this idea truly caught on, and instead of waiting for answers we rather started trying to BE the answer - we could end hunger, stop wars, help those who are sick… the list is endless. Just imagine!

We could truly establish God’s Kingdom - “on earth as it is in Heaven”. We may not be able to be the answer to every prayer, for truly some prayers can only be answered by God, but I believe we can be the answer to some, maybe many, and by doing so we can make this chaotic world just a bit more like heaven. I believe the Lord’s Prayer teaches us to act in this way.

Continue to pray. Pray often. Pray sincerely and honestly as Jesus taught us, but maybe also ask God for guidance on how you can be the answer to someone else’s prayer. And then listen. Listen with an open heart and an open mind.

Listen for that small voice that may give you a simple, perhaps unexpected answer, for often the simplest answer is the best one, and the right one. You’ll know that it is in your heart…

So, when you feel those flood waters rising in your own life, look a bit closer to earth for rescue and the answer to your prayer, you just might find it! And also look to your sisters and brothers in Christ. Watch out for the rising flood waters in their lives. Let us love and care for each other - just as Jesus taught us.

Be the answer!

© Jamie Kerr, 2007

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my 'Be The Answer' blog! (note: the word 'blog' is short for 'web log')

First of all, I want to state that I am not an ordained minister in any church. I have not formally studied the Bible, Theology, Divinity or any related subjects. I am just a regular guy who wants to share my faith journey. I am a lay member of Greenfield Park United Church in Quebec, Canada, where I serve as a Youth Group Leader as well as a Session Elder. I have also had the honour and pleasure of being asked, on occaision, to share my thoughts with the congregation in the form of sermons, or meditations. My most recent meditation was about the concept of being the answer to someone else's prayers. My goal is to spread the concept beyond the group who first heard the sermon, so therefore the reason why this blog was born. I will be sharing my meditations, thoughts, hopes and prayers.

I also plan to produce a podcast, which will feature news and announcements about Christian activities in the Montreal area, as well as music and book reviews. (note: a 'podcast' is an electronically distributed radio-type show that is distributed via the internet which can be listened to with portable MP3 players or iPods, or even played via desktop and laptop computers.)

Thanks and stay tuned....