Finding Inspiration in Strange Places

 Several years ago as a fairly new Christian I ran across a Bible passage that perplexed me, it was John 3:7-8, where Jesus said, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

The perplexing part for me was that if I was going to show the evidence of being “born again” then I needed to be like the wind in that you can hear the sound, but where it comes from and where it goes to is a mystery.  Frankly, that made no sense to me whatsoever.  I read, read and reread the passage.  I hunted down cross references and commentaries but was unable to find an answer that satisfied me, so I prayed and asked God to help me understand what Jesus meant by those words.

About that time we began hosting a Bible study in our home.  A few weeks into that study a regular participant brought a friend with him one evening.  In the course of the discussion something was brought up about our Christian witness in the community.  The visitor, Jeff, told a story that seemed appropriate.  He was a garbage man for the city of Mount Vernon.  City garbage workers worked in two man crews.  One guy was a real pill to work with.  He was lazy and complained a lot, so many of the other employees refused to work with him.  But Jeff saw a possible opportunity to share Christ with him so he agreed to work with him. 

Sadly, working with the guy was worse than Jeff imagined, the guy was the most negative man he had ever encountered, by the end of the second week Jeff was ready to rip his hair out.  But Jeff continued to pray that God would show him a window of opportunity to share the gospel. 

One of the agreements among the garbage men was ‘if you find it, it’s yours’.  That means that if you are dumping the cans into the truck and you see something you would like to keep for yourself you may and whatever you find does not have to be shared with your partner.  Jeff’s partner was particularly bad about this.  When he found something not only would he keep it, but he would make a point of telling Jeff to keep his hands off it and if it was a ‘good find’ even laughing at Jeff because he had it.

One day Jeff was on the back of the truck picking up the trash, when he came across a brand new unopened case of canned chili.  Jeff opened the box, inspected the dates, saw it was good and decided to keep it.  He took the case up and slid it in on the floor board in front of the passenger seat and went back to doing what garbage men do.   With dozens of stops left the two men went silently about their work, until they reached the end of the route, when Jeff left the back of the truck and moved to the cab for the ride back. 

As soon as he got in he saw the box of chili was open more and it appeared some of the cans were missing.  Jeff said his blood began to boil, the thoughts were in his mind and the words were in his mouth to tell that co-worker exactly what he thought of him, but he decided to hold his tongue until they reached the shop.  As Jeff pondered what he was going to say, he felt the Spirit of God speaking to his heart the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:38-41, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”  So when they reached the shop instead of letting the guy have a piece of his mind, his looked at the open case of chili and said, “Oh good, you got some already, here take some more you should get at least half the case.”  Jeff went on to say, the guy sat there in stunned disbelief, finely almost whispering the words, “Thank you”. 

The next morning when they arrived the guy told Jeff, “I need to talk to you”.  After they were alone the guy apologized for being so hard on him, asked for his forgiveness and promised to treat him better.  This opened the door for many conversations about faith, salvation and a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

As I heard that story recapped, that’s when it hit me, “you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  It is about our motivations, they don’t come from the natural cause and effects we experience in this world, our motivation comes from the very heart of God and when people see that kind of compassion, love and generosity they don’t know where it’s coming from. When Christians are motivated by the things of this world, they are living as this world lives.  Money for the sake of security and power, good health so your jeans fit right and a plan for the future because you must take care of yourself; these are worldly motivations.  There’s nothing wrong with money, good health or planning for the future.  But, our motivation for those things and what we will do with those things must above all else, glorify God.

What’s important to you?  Family? Children? Health? Money? Land?  Whatever it is, see that it is in the hands of God.  Let Him control it and use it, in that you will find the freedom and joy of unloading the ultimate responsibility, the stress and the pressure on God. That’s when the peace kicks in, as well as joy and hope.  How does God do that in our lives?  Sometimes it’s through a box of discarded chili.

I hope you are having a great summer!

God bless you all,

Pastor David