Does size matter?
Several years ago, after a church council meeting, some of the taller guys were giving me a hard time about my height compared to theirs. They said, “You know, short people are more accident prone. That’s because they always have to use a ladder around their homes.” I countered, “That may be, but shorter guys live longer in war. We don’t have to duck when the bullets are flying.”
When Uncle Abraham offered him the choice of land for his herdsmen, Lot surveyed the land, saw the acreage around Sodom was “like the garden of the Lord,” (Genesis 13:19) and moved in. Lot pitched his tents to the south of the Dead Sea. Things quickly went south after that.
After a while, Lot moved his family into the city, where his neighbors were “wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord” (Genesis 13:13).
The ten lepers weren’t hoping for the good life. They weren’t camping out in front of the local shops in order to hoard more things they didn’t need. They didn’t camp out in front of Best Buy for a bigger TV. They couldn’t live in their own home. They didn’t camp out in front of Farm and Fleet for good deals in their Toyland. They couldn’t be with their families. They didn’t camp out at Wal-Mart or Target or the mall. They weren’t concerned with the trivial things that can be purchased there.
n the movie, “Talladega Nights,” driver Ricky Bobby is saying grace with his family around the dinner table. He addresses his dinner prayer to “Baby Jesus.” He defends his prayer by saying that he likes the Christmas Jesus best. He tells his wife that when she says grace, then she can pray to the “grown-up Jesus,” or “teenage Jesus,” or “bearded Jesus.”
A small band has left the church and are now gathered at the cemetery. They are gathered together to lay to rest the body of their dear brother in Christ.
They understand what this place is. It is a quiet place. It is a solemn place. It is the place where so many of their Christian brothers and sisters have been buried. The grandfather who died in his sleep. The mother who lost her battle with breast cancer. The teenager who fell asleep behind the wheel. The infant who was never able to celebrate her first Christmas.
Eligah Christian had a $100,000 warrant out for his arrest. He was wanted by the Alaskan police for fraud, 15 counts of theft, and 21 counts of issuing bad checks. Understandably, the police wanted to catch Mr. Christian. Also understandably, Mr. Christian didn’t want to get caught.
This past April, an Alaskan State Trooper spotted the 49-year-old Mr. Christian around the town of Wasilla. The officer turned on his lights and siren and began to pursue him. It wasn’t difficult to keep him in sight. And, it certainly wasn’t considered a “high-speed” chase.
Let’s face it, Christianity is not for everyone.
If you are a religious person who looks down on those who are not as faithful in worship as you are, who doesn’t understand why other Christians struggle with sin so much, who can detect the angels’ clapping their wings at your record of obedience, and who has led such an exemplary life that you’re sure you’ve landed a spot on heaven’s honor roll, then you’ll feel like you are slumming in Christianity, for Jesus calls, poor, miserable sinners, not those who sport homemade halos.
There are Christians who kiss the crucifix, yet I have yet to see pious lips laid on the Ten Commandments. There are no telltale lipstick markings left on Moses’ two tablets of stone. Instead of kissing them, many want nothing to do with them.
Case in point: under the cover of darkness, a two-ton granite monument of the Ten Commandments was removed from the Oklahoma Capitol grounds earlier this month.
Some people hate the Ten Commandments. Others mock them. Most ignore or endure them. We certainly don’t kiss them in adoration and love. Why not? Because the Law condemns, that’s why.