Honor

Recently, I hit a spot where I was put in my place in a very good way. There are very few times I can recall where I felt so undeservedly honored to a point where I couldn't really bear it.

I went to our middle-aged fellowship gathering (don't know what else to call them, haha) at one of the senior couples' home. When I got there, I was just making my rounds saying hello to everyone when I got to the man of the house, an original founding member of the church I pastor at, and an incredibly wise man.

He asked me if I could spare a few minutes of time with him because he wanted to know how I studied during my devotion time. I was glad to have the chance to share, but I quickly realized that he didn't really ask me what he wanted to ask me. So I get brought into his study room, and I'm blown away by the amount of books and bibles laying around, from shelves to tables, much like a scholar and deeply devoted man would. He started pointing out a little bit of what he did, how he tackled the Word of the Lord, and I was so blown away at how devoted and faithful he had been all these years. I saw commentaries, dictionaries, maps, shelves of notes, teaching material, etc. My initial thoughts were that I could learn from this man, he's got wisdom of generations stored up in his house.

And then the moment came. He turns to me and asks, "Can you give me advice on how I can do a better job in studying the Word?"

Picture an 80 something year old man, essentially bowing down, and asking his 25 year old pastor on advice on how to study the Bible better. I can count on one hand how many moments in my life where I'm so caught off guard by something that I am literally left speechless, unable to open my mouth even if I wanted to. This situation added to that number.

I stood there with a dumbfounded smile on my face, not able to come up with anything to say, because I'm thinking to myself that I should be learning from this man. But instead, he has the grace and humility to ask me on how to do better in studying God's word. Needless to say, I felt embarrassed; I wish I was half the man this guy was in diligence and faithfulness to studying the Word.

Sheepishly, I confessed to him that I think I really should be learning from him, but he asked again. Looking at his anticipation of my response, I simply couldn't offer him anything that I thought would enrich his studying. This man has traveled the world, served tirelessly for years, studies with fire, and is asking me, some dork, who grew up in Edmonton and could barely keep a conversation moving, on how to better study the Bible. Honestly, what can I even say?

My response is irrelevant because I've already been put in my place. Humbled doesn't even begin to describe the honor that I felt that he would ask me. For a while I'd been concerned that I can't make a difference in the lives of those who are beyond my experience and stage in life, but God just really has a way to show me how he's going to use me however he pleases.

It's been a few days and I'm still not over the fact that this happened. I can't help but to praise God for giving me the opportunity to know this man and to learn from his example of humility. What do you even say to that?

Vapor

Two nights in a row, I'm reminded of how fragile life is and how quickly we come and go. We're not as invincible as we try to be.

"Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." James 4:14 (ESV)

For the Christ follower, "to die is gain" right? If that's so, and if I truly believe it, then death shouldn't be all scary like people make it out to be. What has begun to concern me more is what precedes that phrase in the well known Philippians passage.

"To live is Christ." When standing before the face of death, especially these last two evenings, I'm becoming more convicted that we, ones who call ourselves Christians, do an awful job at living the way Christ has called us to. We're too concerned about our own comfort and safety that we'd rather not cause any trouble, fearing that we might get hated on or something - because we're totally unaware and surprised that people don't like us to begin with, right?

When will we rise up as the Church to bring hope to the broken hearted? We lose good people everyday. I can't help but think that the people who are affected by such loss will only be able to find peace in Christ. I've been praying for revival, for the Holy Spirit to be blowing the winds of a resurgence, and for the sails of the church to catch this wind. There's been no other time that I've been alive where a need for Christ has been so strong. The world's been preaching a message of false hope and false salvation long enough. I want to be part of what Christ is doing in this city and this country; I firmly believe I'm no longer content to just sit quietly in my space and let people wander aimlessly with no real hope in their lives.

Our lives are way too short and fragile to just casually waste away.