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In CONSPIRACY OF KINDNESS, Steve Sjogren (pronounced “SHOW-GREN”) tells the true story of Joe Delaney and his eight-year-old son, Jared, who were playing catch in their backyard.
“Jared asked, ‘Dad, is there a God?’
“Joe replied that he went to church only a few times when he was a kid; he really had no idea.
“Jared ran into the house. ‘I’ll be right back!’ he yelled.
“Moments later he returned with a helium balloon from the circus, a pen, and an index card. ‘I’m going to send God an airmail message,’ Jared explained: ‘Dear God,’ wrote Jared, ‘if You are real, and You are there, send people who know you to Dad and me.’
“‘God, I hope You’re watching,’ Joe thought, as they watched the balloon and message sail away.
“Two days later, Joe and Jared pulled into a wash sponsored by Sjogren’s church. When Joe asked, ‘How much?’ Sjogren answered, ‘It’s free. No strings attached. We just want to show God’s love in a practical way.’
“‘Are you guys Christians, the kind of Christians who believe in God?’ Joe asked.
“Sjogren said, ‘Yes, we’re that kind of Christians.’ From that encounter, Steve led Joe to faith in Christ. Many people may be only one act of kindness from meeting a true Christian” [--Tom Lundeen in FRESH ILLUSTRATIONS FOR PREACHING AND TEACHING (Baker), from the editors of LEADERSHIP.]
Matthew Rogers
Christian author Dallas Willard says in "The Divine Conspiracy," “To cut the root of anger is to wither the tree of human evil.” (p. 150)
The Academy Award winning film, A Beautiful Mind tells the life story of John Forbes Nash. Nash was a brilliant mathematician attending Prinston University; on his way toward receiving world acclaim, he became involved in a mysterious conspiracy against the US. Nash worked to break Russian codes hidden within newspapers and magazines.
Unfortunately, this top secret work was not being done for the government in order to prevent a real threat. Nash was living out an imagined schizophrenic world made within his own mind. When Nash is hospitalized for his schizophrenia, his paranoia only increases. John is convinced that the Russians are trying to prevent him from discovering their secret messages. Only the love of his wife is able to help him hold on to reality.
Far worse than the death of a friend, John Nash slowly comes to realize that many of the people in his world never existed at all. Electric shock therapy and medication helped to control Nash’s delusions. However, his life is far from normal. Wanting to have a normal life he secretly stops taking his medication, but his schizophrenic world re-emerges. When his psychotic behavior is discovered, Nash again faces returning to the psychiatric hospital for treatment.
Nash tells his wife if he returned to the hospital that it would kill him; he believes that somehow he would be able to beat his disease. The doctors have told her that because John could not differentiate between what was real and only imagined that he would be a threat to himself and even to her. If Nash would not be willing to commit himself to the hospital then the doctors had prepared papers for his wife to have him committed.
With the support of his devoted wife John Nash is able to overcome his schizophrenia. Years later having beaten his disease, Nash is honored by his fellow professors at Prinston and is also awarded the Nobel Prize in economics. Who said dreams can’t come true?
John Forbes Nash and his wife let go of their painful past; they dared to dream again. Together they overcame the obstacles that would hold them back and worked to see their dreams become a reality.
HISTORICALLY PROFOUND MORAL UNDERSTANDING
COMMUNION MEDITATION
Dallas Willard writes: "What Jesus had to say about human good and evil was of sufficient depth, power, and justification to dominate European culture and its offshoots for two millennia. Nobody even has an idea of what 'Europe' and the 'Western world' would mean apart from Jesus and his words. The historian of morals W.E.H. Lecky describes the teaching of Jesus as 'an agency which all men must now admit to have been, for good or for evil, the most powerful moral lever that has ever been applied to the affairs of man.'"
It wasn’t just what Jesus had to SAY about morality that changed the world forever. It was what Jesus had to DO that changed everything--and that continues to change everyone who will believe on him.
At communion time, we remember the greatest moral teacher and ...
Illustration: Love truly does compel us to go the distance for the object of our affection. Mel Gibson, playing cab driver Jerry Fletcher in “Conspiracy Theory,” said this to someone riding in his cab:
“Love gives you wings! It makes you fly. I don’t even call it love—I call it Geronimo. You see, when you are in love, you’ll jump from the top of the Empire State and you won’t care—screaming Geronimo all the way down!”
“Then you’ll die,” objects the passenger. “You’ll squash yourself.”
“Love gives you wings,” Fletcher replied.
Several summers ago the Cleveland Plain Dealer ran an article entitled "The Gold Circled Ring." It told about some Kent State University students that were arrested because of their involvement in a conspiracy to steal from their employers. The students stole over $150,000 worth of goods. They took everything from VCR’s and clothing to small items such as Pepto Bismo and Aspirin. Some of the goods were given as gifts to their friends but most were kept for themselves. One girl had 32 pairs of shoes closeted away in her room. Now, these were not some of the campus hoodlums but these were some of the brighter students and to add a touch of irony, many of them were criminal justice majors. It was especially disturbing to read the student’s comments when they were interviewed in the article. There seemed to be little or no remorse. Nobody said we were wrong. But some did comment they regretted that some of their group got careless and got caught. Most expressed anger that certain members of the group couldn’t control themselves. One student said, "You know, certain individuals just seemed to get so caught up in it all that they didn’t know where to stop."
In Mike’s book he tells the story of Carl.
It was little league and Carl was at bat. It was the last inning, two outs the bases were loaded, and depending on how Carl did, it would decide the winner and the loser of the game...!
Carl came from a large family and they were there the mother and father, grand parents, aunts and uncles to cheer him on and the opposing crowd was there to jeer Carl. The stakes were high, the energy was reaching an amazing pitch as the pitcher threw the first pitch. Strike one, the crowd really got into it, both yelling support and ridicule.
Carl was going to be the hero or the loser with the second pitch, Strike two. The crow continued the noise as the third pitch came across the plate Carl swung a might swing and everyone saw the ball fly into the catchers mitt. Strike three your out. Not only was Carl out, the game was over and he was the cause of the loss.
The winning team went crazy, their families swarmed out onto the field, everyone having their own kind of celebration. All except Carl’s team. As Carl’s team walked quietly off the field. dejected, they mingled with their families and headed back to their cars in silence.
Carl was still standing at the plate, devastated, alone his head down in disgrace.
Then it happened Someone yelled “Come on Carl, pick up the bat. Grandpa’s pitching.”
Bewildered Car; slowly picked up the bat and swung at Grandpa’s first pitch. He missed, and he missed the next six pitches. On the seventh pitch he got hold of the ball and sent it into left field. His aunt ran, picked up the ball and threw it to first base with plenty of time for the out. The first baseman Mom, must have lost the ball in the sun because it went right through her hands into the dugout. “Run” everyone yelled. As Carl was running to second, the first baseman recovered the ball and threw it. Amazingly Uncle David was blinded by the sun as well. “Keep running!”, yelled someone and Carl headed for third, where the throw went at least two feet over the head of the third baseman. “Keep running, Carl” and Carl raced for home, running as hard as he had ever run. The ball was thrown with deadly accuracy as the catcher, blocking home plate, waited to tag him out, but just as Carl reached home plate, the ball bounced in and out of the catcher’s mitt, and Carl was Safe.”
Before he knew what was happening, Carl found himself being carried around on Uncle David’s shoulders while the rest of the family crowded around cheering Carl’s name.
One person watching this whole thing said “I watched a little boy fall victim to a conspiracy of grace.”
Carl was the loser, the one who struck out, failed his team, disappointed his family went from loser to hero. Carl, who would have been left with the awful memory of his failure, was instead given a memory of grace, love, and acceptance. Just like the woman at the well.
Dallas Willard, in his excellent book, The Divine Conspiracy, writes about what the church would look like if we were as inclusive as this band of believers that Jesus led:
“If I, as a recovering sinner myself, accept Jesus’ good news, I can go to the mass murderer and say, ‘You can be blessed in the kingdom of the heavens. There is forgiveness that knows no limits.’ To the pederast and the perpetrator of incest. To the worshiper of Satan. To those who rob the aged and weak. To the cheat and the liar, the bloodsucker and the vengeful: Blessed! Blessed! Blessed! As they flee into the arms of the Kingdom Among Us.
“These are God’s grubby people. In their midst a Corrie Ten Boom takes the hand of the Nazi who killed her family members. The scene is strictly not of this earth. Any spiritually healthy congregation of believ...
I have a close friend who tells the story of how used to live next door to a poor couple who had a little girl about five years old. He knew that she didn’t have many toys and she played by her self often in the back yard.
One day my friend went to the neighbor and explained that the church where he attended at the time had some toys left over from a previous years Christmas toy drive. He very unassumingly asked the little girl’s father if he would like some of the left over toys for his daughter.
The father was pleased to receive them… In truth there were no left over toys, though there had been a toy drive. My friend went to the store and filled a shopping cart full with toys and clothes. He didn’t have a lot of money himself and it was a sacrifice to do it.
It was a sacrifice that was well worth the cost. One day my friend and his wife saw the little girl skipping to school carrying the doll that they had bought her. They were both moved to tears. Though the little girl had been blessed, they had been blessed much more… because they had been used by God as agents of mercy and had been part of a conspiracy of kindness.
Blessed is the season that engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.
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