"Save Your Fork!"
As
you know, I’m just a cynical old guy whose saving grace is that I’m more
cynical about me than I am about you or anybody else.
My
cynicism about the world is bubbling up again as I look at the problems all
around civilization. There was a time when I was very political and thought
that if the right people had the power, then things would get fixed. But both
sides of the political spectrum have assumed power in the last few decades and
things were still not fixed.
Then
I turned to the church and I really thought that the right presentation would
build the kingdom and the world would flock to the church and her King.
But
the kingdom still tarries and they aren’t flocking to us – in fact many are
running away. Perhaps this is slowly changing – I hope that it is.
My
mind keeps turning to the words of Isaiah about the idyllic future promised by
God. You may know the words, but let me give them to you. They are appropriate
words to cover any cynicism:
What
a beautiful biblical message! But I surely don’t see it around yet. I see sin.
But I’m no longer surprised at sin – mine or yours. The older I get, the more I’m
aware that if the message I hear and teach on radical grace isn’t true, then
we're doomed!
But
there is still Isaiah and his dream – the lion, the wolf and the calf together,
and a child leading in a world full of the knowledge of God. That promise would
be a pipedream were it not for the One who made the promise.
It
is God’s promise. And as I pause over Isaiah’s dream, something in me is
hopeful and even excited by the future.
Something
in me, even when it’s dark, sends me to the dawn of a new day and the beginning
of a time of joy. Maybe today or this year God will say, “It’s enough! That
society of men has had its chance!” The trumpet will blow and God will bring
down the curtain of history.
If
I were not a believer, wishing people a “Happy New Year” at the start of each
year would be mindless drivel with no possibility of anything but the darkness.
If I were not a believer, common pessimism about any meaning in this mess would
make a drunk out of me at best and suicidal at worst.
It’s
the reason I don’t begrudge the unbeliever his or her life of denial because
that’s all unbelievers have. Go ahead: amuse yourself to death or do it with
pills. If all we have is environmentalism, politics and New Age drivel, go for
it!
“Men
must work, and women must weep, and the sooner it’s over, the sooner we sleep.”
If
that’s all there is…go for it!
But
now this cynical old guy is, believe it or not, going on record with a great
degree of hope. It’s anchored in the promise of a Creator God who loves us and
promises to clean up the mess. It’s enough for anyone to hold onto in the dark.
I
don’t remember his name. He was a Christian comedian who talked about having
dinner with a friend who was a wonderful cook. He said that the most glorious
words in the English language were often spoken when she was cleaning up the
dishes on the table after the main course.
She
would always say, “Save you fork!”
The
comedian said when he heard those words, knowing that dessert was on the way, “All
the fat cells in my body stood up and sang the Hallelujah Chorus.”
Something
sort of like that happens when I read those words from Isaiah 11.
I’ve
read them many times more than I can remember, and can come close to repeating
them by heart, not because I memorized them but because they have always stuck
with me.
When
I think about those words from Isaiah, all the cynical cells in my body groan,
get off the couch, and stand up and sing the Hallelujah Chorus.
I’m
forgiven, loved and accepted just the way I am – and so are you when you see
your need for a Savior, Jesus Christ, and desire to make Him the Lord of your
life.
And
not only that, you have a future promised by the only One who can make and
fulfill that promise.
SO
SAVE YOUR FORK! THE DESSERT IS COMING!
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