I was asked to preach a sermon for 15 to twenty minutes, and Thursday I found out I had misunderstood that request, so bear with me as I stretch the word for 30 minutes.
As you may be able to tell I am sort of new to this… so instead of preaching I have a testimony I want to share with everyone here today. But I have to say, I write things down because I tend to ramble if I don’t have a plan for what to say. So, excuse me if I look down every now and then to keep on track. This is my testimony about the ride I’ve had with Jesus.
G-d cares about ALL of us. I learned that the moment I asked Jesus into my heart as Savior and L0rd. Indeed, the bible says of the L0rd that he will “…ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness,” and that He will “… let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!” So, in Psalm 45:4 G-d cares and demonstrates that he is victorious in truth, meekness and righteousness, and that he cares about throttle control, where the throttle represents our life.
I’ve always had a motorcycle in my life, even if the dry periods were decades apart, but never a Harley. The first Harley I bought was because G-d told me to buy one. I am not kidding, G-d told me to buy a Hog. Here’s how that went.
I was driving home from work on day on the access road, because I wanted to drive passed Legends Motorcycle Shop. Not stop in, I didn’t think I could afford a Harley, but to just drive past to see the Harley’s in the lot. Getting closer to the Legends I heard a voice, a small quiet voice in my head say, “Buy a motorcycle.” I didn’t need one because I already had one, a Yamaha V-Star 650, and I reasoned to myself that I must be imagining I wanted a Harley. So, I kept driving by. The voice came back but louder, more insistent this time. His voice in my spirit was so much louder and insistent that I slammed on the brakes, sliding sideways before turning into the lot. I was now certain that I’d heard a command and walked inside, introduced myself to the dealer and his son and within 2 hours I had a new to me bike in my garage. And unlike the old saying that, “everything that could go wrong, will go wrong” nothing went wrong in the purchase. It was used, but the former owner had a stage 4 kit and custom pipes, and a fully custom bike. And as I sat on the new bike wondered what it all meant. I wondered why G-d would want me to buy a new bike.
I’ve been a believer for a long time, and I knew there was a reason for the command to buy a bike. I mean, the word of G-d in 1 Corinthians 9:24 ESV tells us, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So, run that you may obtain it.” I knew that my ride with G-d wasn’t over, and that I wasn’t anywhere near where I should be, and this was a chance to run! To ride! But I had to figure out why.
Because I am a Jewish believer in Messiah G-d I started my internet search with Messianic… zilch. I expanded to Christian and Motorcycle and found CMA, the Christian Motorcyclists Association. I looked up the first meeting and went. I was welcomed with open arms and warm hearts from the first night I walked into a meeting. But I was still wondering why I was commanded to buy a motorcycle. Anyway, that first meeting my bike was blessed and I rode home.
It wasn’t until many meetings and several rides back and forth to work and everywhere I could ride that I found out why.
At about 0730 in the morning November 5th 2017 I was riding to work along Cobbs Drive, just headed across New Road, I had the light and the right of way. If you’ve been on that drive, you know that Cobbs slopes upward to New Road and then quickly levels off. I saw an SUV turn left in front of me, and the sudden change in slope, plus trying to brake on a downhill slope when I’d just come over the top meant I had little control. It was like floating and in slow motion and confusing. I was trying to avoid being hit, trying to lay the bike down, trying to maneuver… none of which worked. I hit her broadside at 30 miles per hour and I know this because it’s the last thing I remember before coming to on my back on hot pavement and in pain. I found out later I had 3 broken ribs, bleeding kidneys, a hematoma (sort of a blood blister) inside my right thigh the size of a fist near my hip, and torn muscles. But I didn’t know this as I lay there in pain. There was noise. Lots of noise. People coming in and out of my visor view of the sky. Looking over me, asking questions for which I had no answers. The pain made it all so confusing.
I remember this next part though. If I close my eyes, I can see the man kneeling next and talking to me, but of all he said I only remember, “The lady that hit you is coming,” and he vanished. I mean he left me so fast he could have been teleported out like Star Trek. I saw the woman, crying, loudly wet tears, hysterically crying. She knelt down next to me, “Oh, why did this happen?” …and “I know better I used to ride motorcycles!” and repeating “why” over and over.
I saw a gloved hand reaching up to touch her shoulder and this surprised me, because it was my hand in my glove. I mean you know when you reach out for people or to touch something, but this was a surprise because I reached up without reaching up, my hand went up rested on her shoulder and I heard myself say, “I forgive you.”
From the moment I spoke those words all the pain went away; all the noise went quiet. I felt good, NO, I FELT GREAT. I felt as if I were the best me, the best version of me that I could ever be and all I had said was, “I forgive you.” And I did. Nothing in me was left that was upset, or angry, or resentful. It all left when I said that. This, this forgiveness is from G-d it is what HE wants from us for others. It is what he does for us. He forgives. But we have to ask.
1 John 1:9 ESV lets us know that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Forgive our sins. And because HE forgives us Ephesians 1:7 ESV “In him we have redemption through his blood.” Forgiveness and redemption because G-d loves us AND provides the way to that redemption in His son Jesus Christ.
I don’t really know what I thought would happen when I reached out to touch her, it was beyond my control. Even saying “I forgive you…” because these words were not from me. It felt so good to say and to mean it, yet it wasn’t me. IT was G-d’s Holy Spirit speaking through me. I know this now. The bible lets us know in Luke 21:14 “I will give you the wisdom to know what to say.” Though this usually refers to when we are before judges and police arrested for being a Christian, for me, at that moment it was to forgive her as He forgave me. And He said it through me.
She began to wail and cry even louder, “Why did this happen!?!” And I was stunned because I didn’t know what to say… I tried to think of a way to say it was okay… when the words to Romans 8:28 came out of me, again, not me, but the Spirit through me said. “All things work together for good for those who love G-d and are the called according to his purpose.” When the last word “purpose” came out, all the pain returned, all the heat and noise and confusion rushed back in. The woman was hustled away by paramedics waving scissors trying to cut my helmet, trying to cut my jacket… I told them NO, I can get my helmet off, I can get my jacket off. Though they managed to cut my riding jeans from ankle to thigh. And I liked those jeans.
They were black and thick and I’d had them for 20 years but they were so well made they were like new. That was 3 years ago and I haven’t worn them since, but I am wearing them today. I sewed the Frankenstein line up the leg to fix them, and this is the first time I’ve worn them to ride since then.
I told you this about the accident to let you know this… I didn’t reach up to forgive that woman. It was G-d through me that said that. The sad fact is she died one month after the accident. For all I know I may have been the last voice of G-d reaching out to her before she died.
I went to the hospital by ambulance, in pain, fuzzy headed because it hurt so very much, and the doctors said if I could walk, I could go home and not stay overnight. So, despite the pain, huddled over and holding onto doors and walls and the railing in the hall I made it 10 feet before I couldn’t go any more. I was sent home with drugs I was allergic to (they made me break out in hives and a rash that made my skin look like a bruised peach with welts), so I quit taking them despite the pain.
At home I began to talk with G-d. I told Him that was the most amazing experience I have ever had. I said, “G-d, if you want me to do that again, I will, but only if you really, really, want me to.” Since that day I learned what it means to be made complete in Him. And though I still struggle with some fears I don’t fear death.
In a way, that experience was a preview of what I will be when He returns for us. The book of Revelation 1:7 ESV tells us, “He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.” What this means to those of us standing here is in knowing and accepting Him as L0rd and Savior, or to go on going on as we’ve always gone. In that case the choice has been made, but personally, after that accident, knowing what I can be, I am glad that I made my choice when I was 15 years old and that, was a long time ago.
It's been nearly half a century since I made that decision, but it has been an awesome ride! I do not regret a minute of that ride. There’ve been bumps like the accident but no regret.
Finally, here’s the point of all this… you can live life without faith in G-d. You can live without a decision to accept Jesus as your L0rd, but if I had NOT had Jesus in my heart, to use me when it was my time to be used… what would have happened during that accident? What would have happened if I had died and did not know Him as savior? Or what would have happened and I was not a witness of His love for her? If I had been damaged, hurt, lain out on pavement for no purpose?
But there was a purpose. 1 Peter 2:9 tells us that “You are a chosen people, priests of the King, a holy nation, a people for G-d to possess! Why? In order for you to declare the praises of the ONE who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Well, even though I got to play Superman for a few seconds and survived being thrown 30 feet to the ground at 30 miles per hour because He had a purpose for the bike I bought - (even if I no longer own it) and more than that He had a DIVINE purpose for me to be there for her as a witness of His forgiveness and love.
She was distraught and that was G-d’s way of telling her that life in Jesus matters, living for Him can be a life with no sadness and no regrets. And I genuinely forgave her, but that didn’t come from me, it came from the Heart of the Messiah, his blood, his life given as a sacrifice to pay the penalty WE OWED.
It is important to remember that even if I still held onto unforgiveness for being hurt so badly, for losing my bike… G-d never fails. His power to forgive is infinite. His love is forever. And even if we mess up once we are walking in the way, it’s like the movie “O’ Brother, Where Art Thou. Escaped criminals, guilty of the sins that had them imprisoned on a chain gang, Delmar and then Pete are shown the way to repentance. Though the movie doesn’t tell us outright they’ve turned their lives over to Jesus, but we know they have because the song, “Come on brothers, let’s go down, down in the river to pray” is about coming to repentance.
Delmar and Pete went down in the river to pray and were saved by the free gift of G-d, through repentance, through forgiveness of sin by the blood of Jesus. What makes the proof of their repentance so much more real is the depiction of Pete after he is captured again and tortured. As he is about to go “meet in the by and by” Pete curses, but then we know his conversion is real when he also cries out, “G-d forgive me.” The reality of that scene is because of the infinite power, love and grace of G-d even when we mess up, falter, stumble or fall He is there for us. And all we need to do is call on the name of the L0rd.
Romans 10:13 “For there is no difference between Jew and Greek” (or between cages or scoots): “The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” And Paul repeats this in Acts 2:21 saying again, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'’ Paul is in fact repeating a theme found in the Old Testament, in quoting Joel the prophet 2:32 in very nearly the same words - G-d makes no distinction and in His patience calls to us to repent. Over and over through the bible G-d is telling us the way to ride His way, to ride in eternal life because
2 Peter 3:9 ‘’G-d is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’’ He is there for you as he was there for me on that day, and because He is there, because he was there with me the day I was run down, I still ride.
I ride because Jesus has a purpose for my life. I don’t know all that purpose has in store for me, and I certainly don’t know what purpose He is calling you to fulfill, but He has a purpose in store for you. Consider this… everyone who was ever born, who is yet to be born has to decide, everyone born into life has only 2 simple choices. Ride with the Messiah or ride your own way. I don’t know what you will decide, but my family, my wife and I are still riding for His glory! Now here comes the easy part because you decide how you want to ride. You decide if you are going to get up one more time than you fall down, you decide if your eternal destiny is to ride with Him.
Yes, you have to decide if you want that kind of ride. If you haven’t asked Jesus into your hearts, now is the time. All you have to know is this one verse Romans 10:9 “if you confess with your mouth” that is if you speak the words aloud, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that G-d has raised Him from the dead,” MEANING Jesus died as a substitute for your sins, “ you will be saved.” That is all it takes to live for Him. Forever. Because the good news is You WILL live forever. And the bad news is YOU WILL LIVE FOREVER. There are only 2 options to live forever, so the question is where will you live forever?
Pray.
