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According to the Chicago Tribune, on June 22, 1997, parachute instructor Michael Costello, forty-two, of Mt.Dora, Florida, jumped out of an airplane at 12,000 feet altitude with a novice skydiver name Gareth Griffith, age twenty-one.
The novice would soon discover just how good his instructor was, for when the novice pulled his rip cord, his parachute failed. Plummeting to the ground they faced certain death.
But then the instructor did an amazing thing. Just before hitting the ground, the instructor rolled over so that he would hit the ground first and the novice would land on top of him. The instructor was killed instantly. The novice fractured his spine in the fall, but he was not paralyzed.
One man takes the place of another, takes the brunt for another. One substitutes himself to die so another may live. So it was at the cross, when Jesus died for our sins. (Choice Contemporary Stories and Illustrations, Baker Books, compiled by Craig Brian Larson, pg57).
God's Promise to Christ
There are many truths to grasp in Isaiah 53. A truth worth grasping today is found in Isaiah 53:10, "But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief. If He would render Himself as a guilt offering. He will see His offspring, He will prolong His Days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand."
Our Lord Jesus Christ submitted to the curse of God for the sins of mankind. Christ did not sin, but the results of our sins were laid upon Him. This was all decided among the eternal Counsel made up of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and Jesus accommodated Himself to this dispensation. A dispensation is a way determined by God for which someone may prove their love to Him. Christ was obedient unto death (Philippians 2:8) because He loved God His Father.
The death and burial of Christ was not the end but the beginning of the honor and joy that was to be given Him for His obedience. The promise to Christ from God was that He would see a people raised up who accept Him as their Savior and Lord. These Christians would not only trust in Christ to save them from eternal death and hell, but actually save them from the dominion of sin over their hearts. These Christians experience the same kind of life that the Apostle Paul lived, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20) It is true, that Christians are not perfect people, however, there is the promise of Christ to do a work in their hearts and lives to bring them to completion (Philippians 1:6) so they can effectively proclaim the truths of the Lord.
King David foresaw a time when "Future generations will be told about the Lord. A time when a people of God would "...proclaim [Jesus'] righteousness to a people yet unborn." (Psalm 22:30-31) The Apostle Peter wrote about this adopted people of God, "But you are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praise of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light..." (1 Peter 2:9 -10)
Are You a Fulfillment of God's Promise?
If Not, Surrender to Christ as Savior and Lord!
THE BELTWAY OF GRIEF AND GUILT
Just a few days ago we celebrated, if that’s the right word, the thirtieth anniversary of something we all love to hate. Imagine observing the anniversary of something that has cost us dearly in dollars and also in blood and tears. Something we cannot live without, but sometimes wonder if we can live with. Something which has become a symbol of Washington and its ways; something which stimulates growth and yet stifles it; something which ties together the diverse people of our area but also divides them. You love it but, unless I miss my guess, you also hate it. What am I speaking of? The Beltway! We observed the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Capital Beltway!
This peculiar road, the Beltway, is a symbol of many things. It represents the nearsightedness of Washington insiders, so that the rest of the country says, "Ah, the real people don’t believe that stuff. That’s an inside the Beltway viewpoint."
The Beltway represents the self-importance of Washington. Places to go and people to see. Go, go, go; fast and faster. Some of us remember when the legal speed limit was 70 instead of 55, and they ignored the 70 then just as much as they ignore the 55 now. But we who drive the Beltway aggressively seem to be saying, "We are on our way, somewhere, somewhere important, and fast." As the Bible says, or at least ought to say, "Blessed are they which go around in circles, for they shall be known as big wheels."
The Beltway even represents this city’s dividedness. It hasn’t been so very long ago that "inside the Beltway" was said to mean old, decaying neighborhoods, laden with crime; and "outside the Beltway" was taken to mean neighborhoods of refugees, struggling with crabgrass and pretending to live in the country. None of that was really true, but the Beltway provided a nice big fence through which we could not see.
But this highway is also, for me, a symbol of our spiritual realities. This noxious road, this engine of pollution, this trail we have to use but hate to use (every time she visits us, my mother-in-law says, "Do we have to ride on that road?") – this Beltway teaches us about our spiritual realities.
I want to talk this morning about grief and guilt. Grief and guilt. Two aspects of our spiritual reality, two things we know we want to leave behind. Sixty miles of concrete will teach us about grief and guilt.
I
First, grief. Have you noticed that the Beltway doesn’t go anywhere? It has neither beginning nor ending, neither start nor finish. It’s just a circle, 60 miles around, going nowhere.
One reporter, writing on the occasion of the Beltway’s anniversary, remembered his parents’ confusion the first time they drove on the new highway. His father insisted, despite all that the mother had read about this new road, that all highways go somewhere. They have to. It was impossible for a highway to go in a big circle. So they drove and drove and about an hour later found themselves right back where they started! Lots of going, lots of driving, but no actual progress. The Beltway is a big busy road that goes nowhere.
Think about how grief works. Grief is emotional energy spent but going nowhere. Lingering grief is emotional energy being burned off, but without real progress. When we cannot stop grieving our losses, we get so caught up in that grief that we find ourselves stumbling on and on, never getting anywhere.
(From a sermon by Joseph Smith, The Road Work Is Finally Finished, 11/1/2009)
There was a certain Professor of Religion named Dr. Christianson, a
studious man who taught at a small college in the Western United States.
Dr. Christianson taught the required survey course in Christianity at this particular institution. Every student was required to take this course his or her freshman year regardless of his or her major. Although Dr. Christianson tried hard to ommunicate the essence of the gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked upon the course as nothing but required drudgery. Despite his best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously.
This year, Dr. Christianson had a special student named Steve.
Steve was only a freshman, but was studying with the intent of going
onto seminary for the ministry. Steve was popular, he was well liked,
and he was an imposing physical specimen. He was now the starting center on the school football team, and was the best student in the professor’s class.
One day, Dr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he
could talk with him. "How many push-ups can you do?"
Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."
200? That’s pretty good, Steve," Dr. Christianson said.
Do you think you could do 300?"
Steve replied, "I don’t know... I’ve never done 300 at a time."
"You don’t have to do them all at once." said Dr. Christianson.
Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I have a class project in mind and I
need you to do about 300 push-ups in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it," said the professor.
Steve said, "Well... I think I can...yeah, I can do it."
Dr. Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday. Let
me explain what I have in mind."
Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of
the room. When class started, the professor pulled out a big box of
donuts. These weren’t the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra
fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was
pretty excited it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr.
Christianson’s class.
Dr. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want to have one of these donuts?"
Cynthia said, "Yes."
Dr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you
do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"
"Sure." Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then
Steve again sat in his desk. Dr. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia’s desk.
Dr. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked,
"Joe, do you want a donut?"
Joe said, "Yes."
Dr. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut. And down the second aisle he went, till he came to Scott. Scott was on the basketball team, and in as good condition as Steve. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship.
When the professor asked, "Scott do you want a donut?"
Scott’s reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?"
Dr. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."
Then Scott said, "Well, I don’t want one then."
Dr. Christianson shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked,
"Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn’t
want?" With perfect obedience Steve started to do ten pushups.
Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn’t want one!"
Dr. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my
desks, and these are my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don’t want it." And he put a donut on Scott’s desk.
Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just
stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow. Dr. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.
Dr. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"
Sternly, Jenny said, "No."
Then Dr. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten more
Push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn’t want?" Steve did
ten....Jenny got a donut.
By now, a growing sense of uneasiness filled the room. The students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.
Dr. Christianson asked Robert, who was the most vocal unbeliever in the class, to watch Steve do each push up to make sure he did the full ten pushups in a set because he couldn’t bear to watch all of Steve’s work for all of those uneaten donuts. He sent Robert over to where Steve was so Robert could count the set and watch Steve closely. Dr. Christianson started down the fourth row.
The bell rang and Dr. Christianson told all of the students to stay in their seats. Some students in the hall saw Steve doing pushups and wandered in and sat down on the steps along the radiators that ran down the sides of the room. When the professor realized this, he did a quick count and saw that now there were 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it. Dr. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.
Steve asked Dr. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on
each one?"
Dr. Christianson thought for a moment, "Yes. You must pay the full price for each donut." And Dr. Christianson went on.
A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student, came to the
room and was about to come in when all the students yelled in one voice, "NO! Don’t come in! Stay out!"
Jason didn’t know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."
Professor Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in
you will have to do ten pushups for him?"
Steve said, "Yes, let him come in. Give him a donut"
Dr. Christianson said, "Okay, Steve, I’ll let you get Jason’s out
of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"
Jason, new to the room hardly knew what was going on. "Yes," he
said, "give me a donut."
"Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?"
Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason,
bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.
Dr. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those
visitors seated by the heaters. Steve’s arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. His ba...
After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Startled by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother’s wings.
The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings. She could have flown to safety but refused to abandon her bab...
More than one hundred and thirty years ago, God called a man named John Williams to go to the South Pacific Island of Aramonda as a missionary. John Williams, and his friend Mr. Harris, set sail one day to take the Gospel message to a cannibalistic tribe that had never heard about Jesus Christ as Savior. Upon landing, the tribal chief drew a line in the sand and said to the men, “You cross that line and you will die.” Together, both men crossed the line, and that night they were slain and eaten by the people of the island.
It was some time later before the news of their deaths reached their home church back in Spain in the year 1870. The call of God was then answered by George and Ellen Gordon who went to the same island and met the same fate.
A single man, named James McNair, was the next from that church to answer the call of God. Before darkness of the day of his arrival, he saw seven men accept Jesus as Savior before others slew him also.
By the year 1872, word reached the home church, and James Gordon, the brother of George Gordon, was the next to answer the call of God. He too began to work among the tribesmen but soon was killed like the others.
The mother of George and James Gordon went to church early on Sunday after hearing about the death of her second son. Others gathered around the altar where the lone mother had been praying and weeping. Then she said to them, “I am not weeping for my sons who have died, although I feel m...
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