Black Oak

No. 13,974

Today, my father, brother, and I drove down into “the country,” that part of rural Washington County, Ark., which produced several generations of the Dockery and Bradley families. After stopping for a brief visit with my dad’s sister, Aunt Mary Louise, we made our way up the hill to the Black Oak church of Christ and cemetery.

This is special ground to the Dockery family. My great-great-great grandfather, James Jefferson Dockery, donated the land for the church building and the cemetery in the 1800s. He and his wife Rebecca are both buried in the church cemetery, as are my own grandfather and grandmother, George and Zelen Dockery.

The church has been meeting continuously here since 1884, as its sign proudly proclaims. Grandpa George, Dad, and I have all preached there before. My brother, who is the youth minister at the Farmington church of Christ, takes his teenagers there once a month to conduct the worship services.

After visiting Black Oak, we also visited Sunset Cemetery and the Terry Cemetery, where other members of our family are buried.

It was a good day, and a poignant one.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so,through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

(1 Thessalonians 4.13-14/ESV)

Teach Us To Number Our Days

No. 13,953

The 90th Psalm is unusual, in that it was written by Moses himself. It is a meditation upon how small a thing human time is, compared to the eternity of God.

(1) Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
(2) Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
(3) You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!”
(4) For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.
(5) You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning:
(6) In the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.

(10) The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.

(12) So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

This final verse from our reading is intriguing. Moses suggests that there is wisdom to be found in numbering our days. Let’s take Moses at his word. Today marks the 13,953rd day of my life. What wisdom is found in this?

1. Numbering my days reminds me of how blessed I have been. Isn’t it interesting that Moses tells us to number our days rather than our years? If I number my years, 38 doesn’t seem like that many. Were I to find out tomorrow that I had a terminal illness, I might be inclined to feel cheated, or short-changed, at such a small number as 38.

But when I number my days, it is a different story entirely. What a big number 13,953 is! And when we stop to think about it, what an extraordinary gift just a single day is! Each day comes with a sunrise and a sunset, and with a span of hours in between to make of what we will. Each day is so chock full of possibilities and excitement, of beauty and grace. Each day provides new opportunities to love and be loved. Rightly did the Psalmist (118.24) declare: "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

When we number our days, it is impossible not to realize how extravagantly blessed we have been. This much is clear: having bestowed almost 14,000 of these amazing gifts upon me already, God does not owe me even one more day! If the Lord were to end my earthly days today, how could I possibly complain? When I have been blessed 14,000 times already?

2. Numbering my days reminds me that I cannot change the past. Today is the 13,953rd day of my life; that means there are 13,952 days that I cannot do anything about. These are the days gone by. They are full of regrets … full of words I wish I could unsay … full of mistakes I wish I could unmake … full of sins I wish I could un-sin — but of course, I cannot. Not only are there the bad things I have done, there are also the good things I have left undone. One of the most humbling things about numbering my days is the realization of how many of them I have squandered — of how little I have to show for God’s investment of 14,000 days in me. I can do nothing about the days past, except lay them at the feet of Jesus. Can there be any doubt, from numbering our days, that we need a savior?

3. Numbering my days reminds me that I am mortal. The anonymous writer of Hebrews states, in 9.27, that “it is appointed unto man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” When I count up my days, this point is driven home. I am forced to realize that I am getting closer and closer to my appointment with death with each passing day.

In the 90th Psalm, Moses gives us a rule of thumb concerning the human life span, when he says “the years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty.” I find it absolutely fascinating that Moses’s estimate from 3500 years ago corresponds so closely with our average life spans today! To me, this is a proof that Moses was receiving divine inspiration as he penned these words.

But these are averages; they are not promises. We have seen too many people die much younger than 70 to delude ourselves on this point. This is a dangerous world. How many of us in the last month have ridden in a vehicle traveling 55 miles per hour or more? Have you ever realized how inherently dangerous that is? How many of us have ridden with a driver who was on their cellphone? Studies show that drivers who talk and drive are about as impaired as those who drink and drive, and that those who text and drive are actually more impaired! The point is, there is no real safety on this side of the grave. Truly, we can say with David, “there is but a step between me and death.” (1 Samuel 20.3)

Because of that, none of us know how many days we have left. Solomon observed, in Ecclesiastes 9.12, that “man does not know his time.” While it is relatively easy for us to number the days which are past — (especially if you use a computer spreadsheet!) — only God can number the days ahead of us.

4. Numbering my days reminds me that today must be put to good use. I can do nothing about the days past. I cannot depend upon being here tomorrow. This may be my last day. Therefore, if I am wise, I should make the most of today.

The Roman poet Horace coined the phrase, “Carpe Diem” which means “Seize the day!” I love the way that a more recent poet, Rudyard Kipling, expressed the same idea:

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Nor am I the only one who likes Kipling’s advice. One of the most aggressive American generals of the Second World War — or of any war, for that matter — was George S. Patton. He once said that this passage from Kipling was the “whole art of war.” (Patton certainly understood the idea of covering distance quickly, as the Germans found out the hard way.)

“Seizing the day” — or “filling the unforgiving minute” — is very much a Biblical thought:

• Jesus said in John 9.4, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.”

• Paul, in 2 Corinthians 6.2, declares, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

• In Ephesians 5.15-16, Paul adds — in the words of the Old King James: “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (I particularly like quoting this verse to my students, as I am keeping them to the bell, or just a little bit after, with my lectures; I’m not sure, on those occasions, that my students are as appreciative of the teachings of Paul as they should be!)

One of Satan’s most devastating weapons is his ability to tempt us to procrastinate. We intend on doing so many good things — but we’re going to do them tomorrow, as if, somehow, they will be easier to do tomorrow than they are today. And then tomorrow comes, and we put these good things off ’til another day, and another week, and another month, and they don’t get done — and “the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” as the old saying goes.

As we’ve just seen, in the Bible, the emphasis is always on today, not tomorrow. To borrow a phrase from Martin Luther King, Jr., the Bible speaks of “the fierce urgency of now.”

• Today is the day to start that big school project you have looming over you …

• Today is the day to share a cup of coffee with an old friend, or with a new one …

• Today is the day to tell your loved ones that you love them …

• Today is the day to make amends with those you’ve hurt …

• Today is the day to repent of an ensnaring sin …

• Today is the best possible day to be baptized into Christ …

My late grandfather had, hanging in his study, a meditation written by Dr. Heartsill Wilson, entitled “A New Day.” It is an especially appropriate passage to share with you, as we bring our remarks to a close:

This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it — or use it for good, but what I do today is important, because I am exchanging a day of my life for it! When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something that I have traded for it. I want it to be gain, and not loss; good, and not evil; success, and not failure; in order that I shall not regret the price that I have paid for it.

Moses said, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Of course, he was right; there is wisdom to be gained in numbering our days. Numbering our days reminds us of how blessed we have been; reminds us that we cannot change the past; reminds us of how mortal we are; and reminds us to make good use of today.

Some time ago, I went into a grocery store to pick up an item or two. It was morning. The lady running the cash register was mature in years. As I concluded my business, I offered an banal “have a good day.” I was not expecting a life lesson, but I will never forget what she said. She kindly explained that over the years she had learned that you don’t really have good days; you make good days.

And so, as we take leave this morning, make a good day! You are dismissed.

(Note: I delivered this in chapel the same day.)

The Same War

I’m back in Fayetteville this week on “spring” break, though there is nothing particularly spring-like about the weather of the past couple of days. With a little downtime on my hands, I thought I would update my blog. In part, this is prompted by a remark from my brother today, who said that he was going to be removing dead links from his blog, and threatened to remove mine, since it has been so long since I have posted.

Although it has heretofore gone unremarked on my blog, I am now teaching history at Harding University. This is not entirely unconnected to the fact that I have not been posting; teaching four classes — with a total of about 180 students in them — does keep me pretty busy. But it is a very happy kind of busy. 

Several months ago, during a dark time, I complained that youth ministry seemed like an unwinnable battle. As a teacher at a Christian college, I actually feel like I’m in the same war, against the same enemy. But the fight no longer seems unwinnable — perhaps a bit like the difference between being in the Polish cavalry in 1939, and the 1st Polish Armoured Division in 1944.

Horse Soldiers & Youth Ministers

On the first day of World War II, September 1, 1939, elements of the Polish 18th Uhlans Cavalry regiment attacked German infantry in a delaying action. In this they succeeded, but they soon encountered German armored cars, which hit the Polish cavalrymen with machine gun fire. About a third of the cavalrymen were killed or wounded before they could retreat. This story was exaggerated in the press to the effect that the cavalrymen had attacked German tanks (not armored cars) with their sabers and lances. This was an exaggeration, but still: Polish cavalrymen were no match for German armor.

Though these cavalrymen have been ridiculed throughout the years, I have nothing but the profoundest respect for them. Two things stand out. First, they realized they were in the presence of vast evil. Second, even though they were unable to turn back that evil tide, they proved for all time — many of them at the cost of their lives — exactly where they stood. This was not true of everyone who lived in lands invaded by the Germans.

This week I completed my career as a youth minister at the Bella Vista church of Christ. For the past seven years, it has been my job to keep teenagers out of alcohol, drugs and sex, and to keep them in the church. It has been a near-hopeless task. I can identify with those Polish cavalrymen.

Though I have largely failed as a youth minister, I am comforted by two thoughts. I realized evil forces were at work trying to destroy the teenagers I love. And, though I was unable to keep these teens from making terrible decisions — they knew exactly where I stood.

Indescribable Gift

I love the story of the woman in Mark 5 who had a hemorrhage of blood. She had gone to many physicians of her day and spent all of the money she had but the problem had only grown worse. In her desperation she turned to Jesus. She only touched His cloak (vs. 27), but this was enough to instantly heal her.

It seems, from reading the text, that Jesus did not purposefully heal the woman. Think about that! What the human experts of her day could not do no matter how hard they tried, Jesus did without even trying.

It is doubtful that Jesus was born in the month of December, much less on December 25th. In a sense then, the association of his birth with this season is unintentional on his part, much like his healing of this woman’s issue of blood was unintentional.

And yet, just as he brought healing to this desperate woman in Mark 5, so too he brings love and peace and goodwill to this season.

Because we associate this time of year with his birth, this is a time when family ties are strengthened and when gifts of love are given — an imitation of the presents brought by the magi given so long ago.

But the ultimate gift associated with the birth of Christ was not the gold, nor the myrrh, nor the frankincense. It was the child Himself.

I like the way the Amplified Version renders 2 Corinthians 9.15: “Now thanks be to God for His Gift, [precious] beyond telling — His indescribable, inexpressible, free Gift!”

If Christians Were Like Christ

Ronald Sider, in his 2004 book The Scandal Of The Evangelical Conscience, writes that “evangelical” Christians are about as likely as the population at large to view porn, have sex outside of marriage, exhibit racism, get divorced, and abuse their wives. Sadly, Jesus can still say, as he did in the days of old, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.” (Mark 7.6)

The word Christian carries the name Christ embedded in it. Peter said that Christ “suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps.” (1 Peter 2.21) How might things be different today, if Christians behaved more like Christ, and less like themselves?

What if Christians actually led lives of moral purity? Peter says in 1 Peter 2.22 that Jesus “committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth.” What if there were no more public scandals involving famous evangelists?

What if Christians, instead of dealing in gossip and obscenity, actually let their “speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt”? (Colossians 4.6) If gracious words fell from our lips, as they did from Christ’s, would not the world also speak well of us, and wonder? (Luke 4.22)

What if Christians actually placed no faith in earthly things? Jesus once told a rich young ruler to sell all that he had and to give to the poor. We try to rationalize away this scripture, forgetting that Christ himself was homeless and owned only the clothes on his back. What if we cared little for material possessions?

What if Christians actually turned the other cheek? This is another commandment we like to soften. But Peter says of Jesus that, “while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats.” (1 Peter 2.23)

What if Christians had the same burning sense of urgency that their Lord possessed? “We must work the works of him who sent Me as long as it is day;” Jesus once said; “night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9.4)

What if Christians actually went about doing good? What if they spent the night in prayer? What if they actually told the truth, no matter the personal consequences? What if they were so familiar with scripture they could recall passages to help them fight daily battles? What if they reached out to the desperate?

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike Christ.” But what if Christians really were like Christ?

Consequences

A couple of years ago I was driving my jeep (her name is Gracie) around on some back roads near my parents’ house. It was a beautiful day, I had the top down and was frankly driving faster than I should have been. I was driving on a gravel road and when I attempted to make a left-hand turn instead of turning I skidded pretty hard into a ditch.

Thankfully I was not hurt, though the same could not be same for Gracie. The most immediate problem was that rocks had been lodged between my tire and rim, giving me a flat tire. I had to put on my spare and take the tire in to get it repaired.

A problem of a more long-term time, however, occurred underneath the jeep. I bent a stabilizing arm which was connected to the front passenger-side wheel assembly.

I drove the jeep like this for the past couple of years, until finally the stabilizing arm broke loose several days ago. This necessitated a trip to the mechanic’s shop, and left me with a bill for $315.91.

That was $315.91 that would not have had to be spent on my jeep had I not been driving like an idiot. That amount of money would have purchased:

• 319 songs on iTunes

• 53 upper pavilion tickets at Turner Field for Braves Games

• 39 evening adult tickets at the Pinnacle Hills 12 Theater

• 37 meals at Panera Bread Company

• 23 adult tickets to the D-Day National WWII Museum in New Orleans

• 1 round trip airline ticket from Tulsa to Denver (with $41 to spare)

• all but $15 of a new 80-gig video iPod

Actions have consequences. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” (Galatians 6.7)

Replacements for Jesus

In the novel Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor, there is a street preacher named Hazel Motes who preaches the “Church Without Christ” and speaks of the need for a “new jesus”:

“What you need is something to take the place of Jesus, something that would speak plain. The Church Without Christ don’t have a Jesus but it needs one! It needs a new jesus! It needs one that’s all man, without blood to waste, and it needs one that don’t look like any other man so you’ll look at him. Give me such a jesus, you people. Give me such a new jesus and you’ll see how far the Church Without Christ can go!” (p. 80)

A follower of Hazel’s named Enoch takes it upon himself to bring a “new jesus” to Hazel. The new messiah? A shrunken, 3-foot-long embalmed corpse, of a “dried yellow color.” (p. 56) Needless to say, the Church Without Christ did not go far.

Oh, but don't we like to try and find replacements for Christ? Don’t we place our trust in stock portfolios and IRAs? Don't we give our time to reality television, or shaving a couple of strokes off our golf games? Don't we seek happiness in buying more knick-knacks and baubles for our already cluttered houses?

And some of the things we try to replace Christ with are even worse, things such as drunkenness and carousing, porn and illicit sex—the very sorts of things which Paul warns in Galatians 6.21 will keep a person from inheriting the kingdom of God.

Whether a thing is wicked in its own right (porn) or merely neutral (shopping), when we turn to it in place of Christ, it becomes just as ugly and dead as the shrunken corpse which Enoch brought to Hazel. God said, of Jesus, “This is my beloved Son… hear ye him.” (Matt. 17.5)

“Go and tell John...”

In Matthew 11.2-3, we read these words: “Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”

John the Baptist has been put in jail by Herod. The depraved Herod had stolen his brother’s wife and married her, and John—being a man of God—naturally condemned this wickedness. And so he found himself in prison.

It must be especially hard on John being cooped up in jail. He has spent his ministry out of doors, breathing in God’s good air and feeling the warmth of His sunshine. Now he is confined between four walls.

He has had a remarkable career; he has done magnificent things for God; he has prepared the path for Jesus himself; but John’s career, and his life, are almost over. And now he does something which is startling, something which almost disappoints us.

He sends messengers to Jesus to ask if Jesus is really the Messiah after all.

Some find this troubling. Why would John doubt now? Some even think that John wasn’t really doubting himself, but was simply asking on behalf of his own disciples, so they will start following Jesus. Others think John knew that Jesus was the Messiah but was impatient for him to reveal Himself and establish His kingdom.

But probably the best explanation is the most obvious. In the dark of night, in the narrowness of his cell, as he fears for his life, in a small dark corner of his mind, John begins to have doubts. He had gambled everything on Christ. Had he gambled his life for nothing?

There is no indication that Jesus was offended or troubled by John’s question. Though Christ was never shy about pointing out lacking faith when he encountered it, He does not accuse John of a lack of faith. Rather, Jesus soon launches into a discourse praising John, referring to him as something “more than a prophet” and declaring “among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” (vss 9, 11) Jesus did not hand out compliments lightly; His admiration for John was real.

The answer which Jesus gave to John’s question is particularly moving. When John’s emissaries asked if Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus replied:

“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (11.4-6)

This was a coded message, containing snatches of Old Testament prophecy, from the book of Isaiah (chapter 35 and 61). This was the job description of the promised Messiah. John would have understood exactly what Jesus meant.

Jesus was affirming that He was indeed the Messiah. So John had chosen right. His gamble had paid off. He had risked his soul on Jesus and, though he was about to lose his life, he was about to gain everything. John’s career, his life, had not been in vain.

And so we are reminded of the trustworthiness of Christ. We too can build our lives upon Him—stake our souls upon Him. Thus Paul, not long before his own appointment with the executioner, could say:

“I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Timothy 1.12/KJV)

Stake everything on Jesus. Peter assures us that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4.12)

An Inconvenient Verse

Former vice-president Al Gore has on numerous occasions (here, here and here) referred to his “faith tradition” as he tries to persuade Americans about impending catastrophic climate change.

Someone probably ought to tell Mr. Gore that his “faith tradition” actually teaches:

While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
And cold and heat,
And summer and winter,
And day and night
Shall not cease.
(Genesis 8.22)

In short, you can believe Al Gore and the doomsday environmentalists ... or you can believe the Bible. You really can’t do both.

God Knows Their Names

In the 26th chapter of Numbers, God told Moses to take a census of the people. So Moses did, and the passage is filled with many unusual names, such as: Hanoch (vs. 5), Nemuel (vs. 9), Zerah (vs. 13), Ozni (vs. 16), Jashub (vs. 24), Helek (vs. 30), Zelophehad (vs. 33), Hoglah (vs. 33), Shephuapham (vs. 39), and Ishvi (vs. 44).

It is hard for us to read lists like this in the Bible, and yet there are several such lists. Maybe sometimes we wonder why God would bother to include these lists of names in His Bible. Maybe sometimes we wish we weren’t supposed to read them. But such lists remind us of a very important point: God knows their names!

When the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded a few years ago, President Bush gave a speech in which he quoted Isaiah 40.26: "lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power, and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”

Then the President said, “The same creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today.”

How amazing to think that even though there are billions of people on this planet, God still knows each of us by name. In fact, Jesus says that God even knows the number of hairs on our heads.

This reminds us of how much God is concerned about us. Even though He is vast and mighty, even though we are tiny and so many, God still loves each of us.

And He knows our names.

(Photo source: AP)

TR, on leaving the Dark House

It is hard not to like Teddy Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States. As a boy he was sickly, but he compensated for this by living a very active life — and advocated that others live a strenuous life as well. Becoming President did not mean that he ceased his athletic exertions.

In fact now, now he was in a position to make others participate in his athletic hobbies. Roosevelt seemed to especially enjoy torturing French ambassador Jules Jusserand. One day, Jusserand came to the White House to play tennis with Roosevelt. They played two sets of tennis, and then Teddy suggested they go jogging. They jogged around the White House lawn for while, and then they had a workout with a medicine ball. When they were through with their medicine ball workout, Roosevelt asked his guest what he would like to do next. The exhausted diplomat sighed, “If it’s just the same with you, Mr. President, I’d like to lie down and die.”

Roosevelt, like Lincoln before him, was an indulgent father while President. One day a friend came to visit him in the White House and while the two of them were speaking Alice, the President’s daughter, kept coming into the office and disrupting them. The friend finally asked if there wasn’t something that TR could do to control Alice. TR replied, “I can do one of two things. I can be President of the United States or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both.”

While he may have been a man of action, Roosevelt was by no means shallow. In fact, he had a keen insight into the nature of man. Once, in a letter to the poet Edwin A. Robinson, TR wrote:

There is not one among us in whom a devil does not dwell; at some time, on some point, that devil masters each of us; he who has never failed has not been tempted; but the man who does in the end conquer, who does painfully retrace the steps of his slipping, why he shows that he has been tried in the fire and not found wanting. It is not having been in the Dark House, but having left it, that counts…

This is good theology. All of us have a past to be ashamed of. Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6.9-12)

Some of the Corinthian Christians had been caught up in these very sins. But the glorious message of the New Testament is that we do not have to stay in the Dark House of sin. We don’t have to remain sexually immoral, or idolatrous, or drunkards. Jesus came that we might be washed, sanctified and justified. Jesus came to break us out of the Dark House.

(Sources: Paul Boller, Presidential Anecdotes, 194-195, 206; John Morton Blum, The Republican Roosevelt, p. 161; English Standard Version of the Bible.)

Christmas 1914

The First World War broke out in August of 1914. Many rushed to war almost gleefully, confident in victory for their particular side. Many thought the war would be over by Christmas. But when Christmas came the war was still young. It would last another four years and claim the lives of some 8 million soldiers before it was through.

In the midst of this bloodshed, though, a remarkable thing happened. In many places along the Western Front, particularly where the British and the Germans faced each other, unofficial Christmas truces were made in 1914. And here, for a brief few hours, the killing ceased.

Instead of firing bullets at each other, the mortal enemies sang Christmas carols to one another on Christmas Eve. German soldiers even decorated their trenches with candles and with Christmas Trees — tannebaum, they called them. On Christmas morning, soldiers from both sides met in no man’s land and exchanged what gifts they had: buttons and medals, candy and tobacco and liquor. Soldiers who had once been barbers gave free haircuts. One German soldier who had been a juggler in happier times gave a performance in no man’s land.

Here is how one German officer (Leutenant Johannes Niemann, 133rd Royal Saxon Regiment) described the truce:

“Next morning the mist was slow to clear and suddenly my orderly threw himself into my dugout to say that both the German and Scottish soldiers had come out of their trenches and were fraternising along the front. I grabbed my binoculars and looking cautiously over the parapet saw the incredible sight of our soldiers exchanging cigarettes, schnapps and chocolate with the enemy. Later a Scottish soldier appeared with a football which seemed to come from nowhere and a few minutes later a real football match got underway. The Scots marked their goal mouth with their strange caps and we did the same with ours. It was far from easy to play on the frozen ground, but we continued, keeping rigorously to the rules, despite the fact that it only lasted an hour and that we had no referee. A great many of the passes went wide, but all the amateur footballers, although they must have been very tired, played with huge enthusiasm. … The game finished with a score of three goals to two in favour of Fritz against Tommy.”

And here is how a British counterpart (Second Lieutenant Cyril Drummond, 135th Battery, Royal Field Artillery) described it:

“In the sunken road I met an officer I knew, and we walked along together so that we could look across to the German front line, which was only about seventy yards away. One of the Germans waved to us and said, ‘Come over here!’ We said, ‘You come over here if you want to talk.’ So he climbed out of his trench and came over towards us. We met and very gravely saluted each other. He was joined by more Germans, and some of the Dublin Fusiliers from our own trenches came over to join us. No German officer came out, it was only the ordinary soldiers. We talked, mainly in French, because my German was not very good and none of the Germans could speak English well. But we managed to get together all right. One of them said, ‘We don’t want to kill you and you don’t want to kill us, so why shoot?’

“They gave me some German tobacco and German cigars - they seemed to have plenty of those, and very good ones too — and they asked whether we had any jam. One of the Dublin Fusiliers got a tin of jam which had been opened, but very little taken out, and he gave it to a German who gave him two cigars for it. I lined them all up and took a photograph.”

The goodwill between enemies was only temporary. In a matter of days they were back to the grim business of trying to blow one another apart. But for a few brief hours, the influence of the Prince of Peace had been felt.

(Drawing by Bruce Bairnsfather, 1914. The above quotations, and others, are available here.)

Something To Eat

Mark 5.39-43 (ESV)
And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.”

And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was.

Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”

And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

* * *

There are many things we can learn from this beautiful story. Jesus went to the house of Jairus (Luke gives us the man’s name) during a time of mourning. Lesson: “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12.15).

The crowd laughed at Jesus — the crowd still laughs at him — but this did not, does not deter him from the business of turning death into life. Lesson: Do not be deterred from doing good by the scorn of others.

Christ immediately raised the girl from the dead. Lesson: We can comfort in knowing that Jesus is stronger than death, that in fact he raised himself from the grave as he promised when he said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2.19).

Notice, however, the understated closing to the story: he “told them to give her something to eat.” Jesus had already gone further than anyone else could have — he performed a miracle — but now he goes even further, a third mile. His concern for this little girl existed not only at the great life-or-death level, but also at a more mundane and very human level: Is she hungry?

Food was an integral part of Christ’s ministry and I believe this is a neglected theme of the gospels. He fed five thousand famished men on one occasion, four thousand on another (“I do not want to send them away hungry,” he had said in Matthew 15.32, “for they might faint on the way”). He once allowed his hungry disciples to pick grain to eat on a Sabbath and defended them from the accusations of the Pharisees afterward. After his resurrection, he even cooked breakfast for Peter and some of the other disciples.

Moreover, he was always accepting invitations to eat — and using such occasions as opportunities to teach. It is almost startling to note just how often Jesus was found eating with people: at the home of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7); at the home of Mary and Martha (Luke 10); at the home of a prominent Pharisee (Luke 14); at the home of Simon the Leper (Mark 14); with his disciples the night of his betrayal (Luke 22); with two disciples he met on the Emmaus Road (Luke 24). In fact, food was such a central feature of his ministry that he was unfairly accused of being a glutton. (Luke 7.34)

Sometimes we seem to think that we can win people to the Lord simply by overwhelming them with doctrinal soundness. But this was not Christ’s method: He supplied them with loaves and fishes, in addition to doctrinal soundness. It has been said that people don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care. There are few better places to show how much we care than around a dinner table.

(Painting by Dinah Roe Kendall)