Got a Minute? Smoldering Wicks and Bruised Reeds

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

Remember that prophetic description of the Messiah (the Christ) that appears in the book of Isaiah? Here it is: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out” (Isaiah 42:3). When the Messiah met a person who is as vulnerable as a reed that has become bent over from the wind or the heavy foot of someone passing by, He would not break it off. When the wick of the candle in someone’s heart was barely smoldering, He would take care not to snuff it out. He would handle broken people with restorative love rather than condemnation.

Read John 4 for an illustration of this. Jesus broke with custom to travel through Samaria, and He shocked and amazed His disciples when they found Him having a conversation with a woman who had a reputation in her city. She was as shocked as they were. He listened to her; He answered her questions; and He revealed Himself to her as the Messiah. She was a “bruised reed” if ever there was one. How gently our Lord leads us toward restoration as those made in God’s image.

Smiley Mudd

Got a Minute? “Warn the Idle.”

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

I read about a high school girl who was trying to follow Christ. A young man she liked was trying to cheat off her test answers, and she wouldn’t let him. Her first-grade teacher, Mrs. Ayers, had drilled into her class, “Keep your eyes on your own paper!” So, she wrote, “I curled my arm around my answers. Then, just like in the movies, that mini-angel and mini-devil seemed to pop up on each of my shoulders: ‘He’s your friend, and what are friends for?’ ‘You know it’s wrong.’ ‘But he’ll think you’re a snob.’ ‘Remember Mrs. Ayres.’ ‘But he’ll think you’re self-righteous.’ …. I knew I had to do what I felt was right, even if it made Joel mad. For the rest of the test, I guarded my paper so there was no way he could cheat off me.” Predictably, he gave her the evil eye when the test was over. She stood her ground, but then also offered to help Joel study for the next test. He softened and agreed. [1]

Paul writes, “Warn the idle” (1 Thessalonians 5:14). This young lady seemed to practice that well.

Smiley Mudd

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[1] Allison Asimakoupoulos, “He’s Copying My Answers!” Campus Life (Nov/Dec 2002).

Got a Minute? Albert Einstein and the Train

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

In January of 2000, Billy Graham was honored by the citizens of Charlotte, North Carolina, his hometown. On that occasion, Graham told a story about Albert Einstein, who was traveling on a train from Princeton when the conductor came down the aisle punching tickets. When he came to Einstein, he couldn’t find his ticket anywhere. “The conductor said, ‘Dr. Einstein, I know who you are…. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it.’ Einstein nodded appreciatively.” When Einstein later was on his hands and knees looking, the conductor came back and reassured him: We know who you are, and we are sure you bought a ticket. Einstein said, “Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going.”

Graham then remarked about his new suit. He said, “When you hear I’m dead, I don’t want you to immediately remember the suit I’m wearing. I want you to remember this: I not only know who I am, I also know where I’m going.”[1] That’s because Jesus was driving his train, and He was taking Graham home. Do we know who we are and where we are going? John 3:16.

Smiley Mudd

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[1] John Huffman, “Who Are You, and Where Are You Going?” Preaching Conference 2002, from PreachingToday.com.

Got a Minute? Honor Given and Returned

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

As the Apostle Paul closed his first letter to the ancient church in Thessalonica, he instructed them to give respect, honor, and love to their church-leaders. He says that they are “the ones who work hard among you and lead you and admonish you in the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-2). Of course, the calling for those like me is to be those leaders that are worthy of such respect, honor, and love.

Every year during “Pastor-Appreciation Month,” folks in our local church have done many things to honor and love their pastors and other ministry staff. They have written cards, said encouraging words, given gifts, had special dinners, and more for us. Honestly, I often feel unworthy of such expressions of love and honor. But on the other hand, this motivates me to do my best as a shepherd of God’s flock. I want to be worthy of their respect because I am seeking the Lord with my whole heart. I want to be worthy of honor because I am seeking only the glory of God and not of myself. I sincerely want to love them all in return.

Smiley Mudd

Got a Minute? Pilot or Pump Jockey?

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

Berny May told this in Leadership journal: “An airline captain who flies overseas routes also runs a small filling station near his home. Between trips to Europe and the Middle East, he gets a kick out of changing plugs and points and talking to the folks while pumping gas. One Saturday morning, dressed in his greasy overalls, he walked down to the local hardware store to pick up a wrench. ‘What’s new?’ the store owner asked…. ‘Ah, I’m thinking of taking the Cairo run this month,’ the captain said. ‘I enjoy flying to London and Frankfurt, but I think the change of pace will do me good.’”

After he left, “another customer, curious, asked, ‘Who’s the world traveler?’ Rolling his eyes, the store owner nodded …, ‘Some nut who runs the gas station down the street. Thinks he’s an airline pilot!’ Both men got a good laugh out of that one.”^[1]

We may not look much like children of God, either, but that is what we are, if we have placed our faith in Jesus Christ (see 1 John 3:1). We may not look like much now, but just wait.

Smiley Mudd

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[1] Bernie May in “Under His Wing,” Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 3.

Got a Minute? The Sun Is Always Shining

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

This morning, as I drove south toward our church’s facilities, I noticed an unusual cloud formation to the east. Just about halfway across the sky a dark cloud barely obscured the sun. The cloud ended in a ragged edge running from the horizon across the sky directly above me. The edge was lit with sunlight, although the sun was not yet visible. I kept driving, and suddenly, it seemed that I drove out of the twilight into the full light of day. It almost felt like I drove right into the morning.

I have often felt like this present life is something like my drive to my study today. We are right on the edge of the light breaking through. We see the glimmer, getting brighter and brighter, as we draw ever nearer to the fulfillment of God’s promise, the realization of our hope: “the resurrection of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). So we drive forward still in the darkness, but with a confidence born of faith. “Weeping may remain for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5). The sun is always shining, just beyond the clouds.

Smiley Mudd

Got a Minute? A Thief and a Pregnant Woman

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

The Day of the Lord—what a phrase! When the Apostle Paul was writing to a church buzzing with conversation about the End Times, he spoke of the Day of the Lord as the time when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would return to the earth in power and glory. At that time, He will call all the people of the world to account, leading to the remaking of the world as we know it.

Paul used two metaphors to teach about the Day of the Lord. The first was this: “People will be saying “Peace and security” but “the Day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2, FJV)—suddenly and unexpectedly. It will also come “as birth-pains on a pregnant woman, and [people] will not escape” (v. 3). Sudden, unexpected, inescapable. The clear point he was making was the same that Jesus Himself made: we cannot know exactly when He will return, so we should be ready always, with confident faith in Him, a growing sense of hope, and a consistent practice of love.

Smiley Mudd

Got a Minute? Crossing the Bar

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

Some generous friends took me on an ocean fishing trip recently out of Ilwaco, Washington. We caught our limit of Rockfish, and aside from a bit of seasickness for some, we all had great a great time. The most perilous part of the trip was crossing the bar at the mouth of the Columbia River. On the way back, it was so bumpy that we were motoring through white-capped waves higher than the boat. Just as I turned to take a photo of a giant wave behind us, we were hit by one from the side that turned us at least 45-degrees over. “Worst bar crossing I have seen” in thirty-four years, our captain said. She was skilled and got us safely in.

Tennyson wrote a poem in which he compared crossing the bar to passing from this life. Placed last in his collections of poetry, it ends with, “I hope to see my pilot face to face, when I have crossed the bar.” If that Pilot is Jesus Christ, then we have nothing to fear. He will see us safely home. “Because I live, you also will live,” He said (John 14:19).

Smiley Mudd

Got a Minute? Saved from a Wildfire

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

The Toronto Sun reported, “A wildfire erupted on September 1, 2002, in the Angeles National Forest … [in] California. Sigrid Hopson, age 60, was alone in her home with her three dogs when she noticed walls of blazing fire roaring toward her house. She called for help. Two deputies, Paul Archambault and John Rose (who both knew Hopson), drove their Ford Expedition” through the flames, stopping 200 meters from the house. Just as Deputy Rose ran to the house a gunshot rang out. Hopson had shot the dogs and was about to shoot herself before she died in the fire. Rose called out to her, and they raced down the mountain through walls of flame as two of the tires melted and the engine finally seized up. But they made it to safety.^[1]

Despair is the condition you are in when you can’t remember the last time you had hope. But there is hope. Jesus Christ has raced into this burning world and taken all the risks to save us. We should turn to Him in faith. He will carry us to safety. See John 3:16.

Smiley Mudd

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^[1] Toronto Sun (9-04-02), from PreachingToday.com.

Got a Minute? Ever Feel Like This?

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

Does it seem like things are going from bad to worse and that no one cares? That feeling is not so rare. The Hebrew prophet Jeremiah was called The Weeping Prophet. He wrote, “Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jeremiah 9:1, ESV). He preached for forty years and no one seemed to listen. God said that the people would go into exile for their evil, but after seventy years they would return to their own land.

Even in his book of Lamentations, there is a shaft of light streaming into the darkness. “Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! ²⁰ My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. ²¹ But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: ²² The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; ²³ they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:19-23, ESV). We can hold to such hope, as well.

Smiley Mudd