Eye-Catching



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My eyes bugged out when I came down the stairs on that particular Christmas morning. The present stood almost as tall as me, and because it was so big and so eye-catching, I was absolutely positive it just had to be the coolest present I had ever gotten or would ever get. My mind raced from one possibility to another about what it could be, and who I would call first to brag about it.


After half-heartedly opening several other gifts and encouraging my mother to hurry with hers, the time finally came to open The Present. Tearing into the wrapping paper, breathless with anticipation, eyes wide with excitement, it was . . .


It was . . .

It was . . .

A long-handled snow shovel.

*Sigh* Gee. Thanks.

Christmas seems like a good time to remember what God considers important is typically upside down from we consider important. That’s why people have such a hard time understanding concepts like love your enemies (Luke 6:27), to be great you’ve got to be a servant (Matthew 20:26), to be first you must be last (Mark 9:35), it’s more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 21:35), rejoice in suffering (Romans 5:3), and so forth.

Therefore, when God gave us all a present on the very first Christmas and sent the long-awaited Messiah and Savior of the world, He was not grandiose, showy and pretentious. The King of King and Lord of Lords was born tiny and helpless into humble, simple beginnings, and rested in an animal’s feeding trough (Luke 2:7). As He grew older, Jesus “had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2). In other words, He was easy to overlook. I overlooked a number of much smaller, more meaningful Christmas presents to focus on the big attention-grabbing one, only to be let down.

This Christmas, remember “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). The person that embodied that gift - the most meaningful and precious gift any of us will ever receive - was so unassuming, modest, and unpretentious, that many people overlooked the tiny gift’s significance, and chose to focus on something eye-catching instead.


Little Things

Nature was calling. Actually, nature was yelling. Loudly.

So I turned off the highway at the next exit, found a convenience store, and hustled into its restroom. The only available location for relief was a sit-down model inside a stall. So up went the seat, I answered call #1, and that was that.

Or so I thought.

As I turned to leave the stall, something made me hesitate, and look back to see a few yellowish drops sprinkled onto the rim of the bowl. If the mothers and wives of the world could get a word in here, I’m sure they would say it is all too commonplace from us boys, no matter what our age.

Typically, I would have thought, “Gross. Well, I’m glad they pay people to clean that stuff up. I’m outta here,” and left. But instead, a little ditty popped into my head: “If you sprinkle when you tinkle, please be neat and wipe the seat.”

My brow furrowed in confusion. The seat was up. Upon further inspection of the seat in its upright position, sure enough, several drops had somehow defied all logic, gravity, and laws of fluid dynamics to end up on the top surface of the seat as well. Yes, on the raised seat. Believe me, I grew up with a single mother and we shared a bathroom. My aim is good.

My typical reaction bulldozed its way to the front of my thoughts, and demanded the hired help deal with it. But a quiet and firm voice insisted I clean up my mess since it would be the right thing to do. So, my good side and my not-so-good side decided to have a non-verbal argument inside my head as I stood inside the stall, brow still furrowed. Hopefully, no one else was dancing outside the stall, putting nature’s call on hold.

“You really should wipe that up.”

“I’m not gonna wipe that up.”

“Please be a nice guy and wipe that up.”

“Why me? This place is a dump. Everybody else leaves it. Maybe it’s not even mine.”

Back and forth, back and forth it went like a tennis volley, until the good side simply said, “If you came in here and had to sit there, would you want to find that on the seat?”

“No.”

“Then, why would you leave it for someone else?”

Correct me if I’m wrong, but “If you sprinkle when you tinkle, please be neat and wipe the seat” is not in the Bible, but “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you” most definitely is (Luke 6:31, NASB). Cleaning up after myself in a bathroom seemed like such a inconsequential, unimportant and insignificant act. Even though nobody would ever know about it and I would never get a “Thank you” for it, my one simple act served the next guy who would come into that stall, whoever that might be. The Lord was not asking me to serve people by venturing off to be a missionary in darkest Africa, or by giving away my entire paycheck to the poor. I was in a convenience store men’s room, for crying out loud.

The Lord fills every day with these seemingly trivial events, but actually, they are tests. Tests to find out who understands His Word, who will do what He asks, and who He can have confidence in. By continuing to answer the test questions correctly, our responsibilities will grow and grow and grow. But if we cannot . . . well, . . . as Jesus said “Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities” (Luke 16:10, NLT).

We cannot leapfrog past the simple tests because they provide the foundation for knowing what to do when bigger and harder tests come along. There is no telling what great and awesome things the Lord has in store for us. Maybe He will send us to Africa someday. But we had better show Him that we can take care of the little things in our lives correctly first, like cleaning off a toilet and not expecting to receive any credit.

Cushion

It seems counterintuitive. More cushioning should make for a softer landing. But as Christopher McDougall cites in his book Born To Run, that’s not always true.

In a series of tests on gymnasts, researchers at McGill University discovered that the athletes actually landed harder and with more force as the landing mats got thicker. “Instinctively, the gymnasts were searching for stability,” and landed harder to “ensure balance,” writes McDougall.

In a different study at the University of Oregon, researchers found that as running shoes got older and worn out, “the runners feet stabilized and became less wobbly.” When the runner used highly cushioned shoes, “their feet tried to push through the padding in search of a hard, stable platform.”

So both studies described by McDougall arrived at the same strange conclusion: More cushioning actually means less stability.

Surprising?

Not if you listen to Jesus. He consistently tells us to give up what we think will help stabilize our lives, and lean instead on something that doesn’t move - Him. Like in His instructions before sending out the disciples, Jesus tells them to forget about packing, and says “Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff” (Matthew 10:9-10). He praised and held up a poor widow as an example of ultimate faith and trust after she left herself with seemingly nothing because she gave “all she had to live on” to God (Luke 21:4). Jesus counterintuitively told a wealthy man to sell everything because there was still something he lacked (Mark 10:21).

Now, finish this sentence: “If I could just have _________, I’d be better off.” Our answers (our honest answers) will indicate what we think will provide the most comfort and stability to our lives. More money in the bank. Different job. Bigger house. Different neighborhood. More authority. More friends on Facebook. More real friends. Different family members. But after we get that, what will we need to fill in the next blank?

Jesus is saying, “Forget what you have and what you think you need for comfort and peace of mind. I’ll take care of you. What you think you need is providing too much cushioning between you and me, and is actually destabilizing your life.”

Sean . . . . LIVE!!

I greatly appreciate the chance to write about deep thoughts and questions, like:

• When do we most feel God's presence in our lives,
• How can we be good, Godly examples, and
• Can Sean actually fit into a size-small 3-piece suit that cost $7.50 at Goodwill and flop around on stage without the pants splitting in front of a church full of people while lip-syncing the most horribly terrific version of O Holy Night ever recorded?

Jim Valvano said “To me there are three things everyone should do every day. Number one is laugh. Number two is think -- spend some time time in thought. Number three, you should have your emotions move you to tears. If you laugh, think and cry, that's a heck of a day.”

So to help you have a heck of a day, I humbly submit the following video of my, ahem, "performance" during our church's Cabin Fever Follies recently, so that you, too, can laugh, think and cry - probably simultaneously. I'm the tall guy in the suit; my friend Steve is playing the air keyboard. I found the song on the web a few years ago, and it's been love ever since. A Christmas staple at our house. A special thanks to Steve Mauldin for making the original audio recording years ago that has brought so much laughter, tears and thoughts to so many.

Gorillas That We Miss

You’d think someone in a gorilla suit would be hard to miss. Yet in 1999, Harvard researchers Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris discovered otherwise (Perception, vol. 28, 1999). As part of an experiment, they filmed one team of people in white shirts, and one team in black shirts passing two basketballs back and forth in an elevator lobby. Observers watching the film were asked to count the number of passes made by one of the teams.

Partway through the video, a woman in a gorilla suit walks right through the middle of the action.


After viewing the video, 58% of the observers failed to notice the gorilla. In a similar video shown to a different set of observers, the gorilla stops in between the basketball players, looks at the camera, pounds her chest, and walks off. Again, 50% the observers miss the gorilla. After being told about the gorilla and after seeing the video again, the observers typically responded with “I missed that?!”

Seems crazy, right? But how often have we turned the house upside down looking for keys clearly visible on the kitchen counter? Or searched for someone in a crowd and missed them, even after looking right at them as they waved at us? Just because our eyes are open, does not mean we are paying attention. Just as the observers in the Harvard experiment diligently counted passes yet overlooked a gorilla in their midst, we all neglect the seemingly obvious when we are preoccupied. If that preoccupation constantly focuses on our needs, our wants and our desires, we ignore important situations or people passing right through our midst.

In the final judgment described in Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus divides the righteous from the cursed. The hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned passed in front of both sets of people during their lifetimes, but apparently the cursed failed to notice. Their response of “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?” (v. 44) sounds a lot like “I missed that?!” To avoid the fate of the cursed, who is right in front of us that needs our help and attention? Look closely, since they are probably not wearing a gorilla suit to get noticed.

10%

EVERYTHING ON SALE!!!! Act now!!! Don’t miss out!!! Limited time only!!! 10 to 50% OFF!!! When retailers want to get your attention, sales start at 10%. Anything less than that benchmark just doesn’t seem attractive enough to get someone to notice the advertisement, let alone buy something. Would an ad that blared, “EVERYTHING ON SALE!!!! 1 to 9% OFF!!!” get a second thought?

So is it any wonder that tithing originally started at 10% (Lev. 27:30-32)? I’ll pause to listen for the collective groan from some who right now are thinking, “Ugh. The money talk – again.” Including me. Believe me, if you’re sitting near me on Sunday’s in the coming months during the Stewardship drive, you might just hear me groan, too. I realize I am supposed to give, but how many times do I need to be reminded?

However, my 2¢ on the 10% is this: We were purchased with the life of Jesus Christ, and although nothing we do can repay God, giving up 10% of what we earn helps tangibly demonstrate that our hearts are in the right place and not tied up in worldly things. Although I believe we are not obligated to give 10% if we cannot do it cheerfully (2 Cor. 9:7), what other benchmark should we use to fulfill Christ’s charge to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him (Luke 9:23)?

10% is not something we just mindlessly toss in a collection plate. 10% forces us to deliberately plan and consider what we must give up and let go. 10% compels us to think about why we are giving it up and letting it go.

We may not be able to teach the Word, take care of the widows, support the poor, comfort the afflicted, visit the lonely, heal the sick and feed the hungry by ourselves, but our money enables organizations that do to serve more effectively. Don’t like hearing the church ask for money? Give directly to Good Samaritan, God’s Love, or any other group spreading His Word or helping the less fortunate, and see what happens in your heart.

Giving up 10% of our meager stuff seems like such a bargain compared to everything Jesus gave up. But we better act now!!! Don’t miss out!!! Limited time only!!!