For the past couple of years my wife and I have traveled out to Sheridan, Wyoming, for the Leather Crafters & Saddlers Tradeshow, and then spent some time visiting places of interest in Wyoming and Montana. So far we’ve been to Cody and Jackson Hole, walked out among the Pryor Mustangs north of Lovell, seen the wildlife, mud bogs, and Old Faithful at Yellowstone, visited Glacier National Park, gone horseback riding in the Bighorn Mountains, and even seen Hulk Hogan & family filming their reality show at a waterfall in Wyoming (we later saw that episode on TV - the only time we‘ve ever watched the show). It’s breathtakingly beautiful out there, and we really enjoy these trips.
Of course, you can’t head out west through South Dakota without stopping at Wall Drug along the way, and we generally find ourselves pulling in around noon or so to have a meal (there really isn’t anyplace else to stop anyway). Now, I’ve been to Wall Drug before these trips began, once when I was growing up and again six or seven years ago when we went out to the Black Hills (another beautiful area to visit), but I had never known the history of Wall Drug until two years ago when I read one of their pamphlets over lunch. Though Wall Drug is little more than an expensive tourist trap today, the story behind their success has become one of my favorites.
In 1929 Ted Hustead graduated from pharmacy school, and after two years of working for other druggists, he and his wife Dorothy were itching to find their own store. Ted’s father had just died, and he'd left Ted a $3,000 legacy that he could put towards their own business. As they searched together for the right opportunity they had two requirements; they wanted to live in a small town, and they wanted the town to have a Catholic church where they could attend daily mass. In Wall, South Dakota, where a drugstore was for sale, they found both. The priest, the doctor and the banker in town all insisted that Wall was a good place to live, with good people, and they encouraged the couple to come and set up shop.
While Ted and Dorothy were excited about the opportunity, their extended family was decidedly less so. A cousin warned them that the town was in the middle of nowhere, and that everyone there was broke. Even Ted’s father-in-law noted that Wall was “about as Godforsaken as you can get.” But together the family prayed about it, and in the end they all agreed that God seemed to leading Ted and Dorothy to Wall.
The first few years did little or nothing to confirm that decision. As Dorothy wondered whether they could use their talents to the fullest, Ted promised that they would give it five years, and if things didn’t pan out by then they would leave.
Those five years were nearing an end when the breakthrough came. Dorothy had gone upstairs for a nap while Ted minded the empty store, swatting at flies with a rolled up newspaper just to pass the time. An hour later Dorothy was back down. The conversation that followed her return appeared in 1982 in Guideposts Magazine.
Ted: "Too hot to sleep?"
Dorothy: "No, it wasn't the heat that kept me awake. It was all the cars going by on Route 16A. The jalopies just about shook the house to pieces."
Ted: "That's too bad,"
Dorothy: "No, because you know what, Ted? I think I finally saw how we can get all those travelers to come to our store."
Ted: "And how's that?"
Dorothy: "Well, now what is it that those travelers really want after driving across that hot prairie? They're thirsty. They want water. Ice cold water! Now we've got plenty of ice and water. Why don't we put up signs on the highway telling people to come here for free ice water? Listen, I even made up a few lines for the sign:
"Get a soda . . . Get a root beer . . . turn next corner . . . Just as near . . . To Highway 16 & 14. . . Free Ice Water. . . Wall Drug."
Over the next few days Ted and a high school boy put some signs together, modeling them after the old Burma Shave pattern of using staggered signs, placed a distance apart, to convey their message, and the next weekend they went out and put them up. By the time Ted got back to the store people were already lining up for their free ice water, and Dorothy was bustling around trying to keep up. A few bought sandwiches, ice cream and other items. The next summer they had to hire eight girls to help run the business, and the rest, as they say, is history. The place is famous today. I’ve actually seen signs for Wall Drug at the intersection of dirt roads in Africa, pointing towards Wall and informing travelers of how many miles they’ll have to travel to get there. Imagine that trip with your kids asking “Are we there yet?” It’s a fascinating story. Free ice water, and some creative advertising, saved a families business and launched an icon.
But I’ve been thinking (that’s the curl of smoke you see rising over SE Minnesota). Don’t we (the Church) have Living Water to offer? In John 4 Jesus, pausing by a well outside of Sychar in Samaria, asked a Samaritan woman for a drink of water. Now, if you understand the culture and religious practices of the day, this request is extraordinary on so many levels, but for our purposes I’m more interested in the conversation that follows. When the woman expressed surprise the he, a Jew, would ask her, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink, Jesus replied that "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." A few verses later Jesus explained himself this way. "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
On a dusty, hot summer day, not much beats a glass of cold ice water. Dorothy Hustead recognized this back in the 1930’s. But all around us are folks who are thirsting for the water that Jesus is offering, the Living Water that quenches an even deeper thirst. Travelers were driving by Ted & Dorothy’s shop every day even before the signs went up, they just weren’t stopping. I wonder how many people drive by our worship centers every day who are dying of thirst? And what will we do to reach them?
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
“As One With Authority”
The gospel lesson a few Sundays back was from Mark 1:21-28. On the surface what Mark records is a common enough occurrence in the gospels. Jesus teaches in a Synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath, and a man who is possessed by a demon is healed. Pretty common fare for Jesus. But look deeper and you’ll find that Mark is still setting the parameters for Jesus’ ministry. It wasn’t uncommon for Synagogues to host visitors on the Sabbath, or for them to invite those visitors to read the scriptures and expound upon what they have read. But Mark tells us that the gathered congregation senses something different about this guest, for He spoke to them “as one with authority,” and not like the scribes. And it seems to me that in a world that is unraveling around us, and where folks are increasingly searching for a voice of truth, that it might behoove those of us who are seeking to offer truth to ask where Jesus’ authority came from, and what made His words so different!
In most cultures authority is granted to us for a variety of reasons. For instance, it can accompany a position. Visit a courtroom and you’ll find that when the Judge enters and departs the Bailiff will say “all rise.” There’s a certain authority that is invested in a Judge’s position, and his or her authority in that courtroom is nearly absolute. We find that type of authority in the military too, as well as in the workplace. You may have heard about the boss who hung a sign in the office that read:
Rule #1: The Boss is always right.
Rule #2: When the Boss is wrong, refer to rule #1.
Mark’s gospel doesn’t really make it clear whether or not Jesus was invited to speak as an itinerant Rabbi or as a laymen, but neither situation would have made Him particularly unique - in other words there was nothing unusual about His position that would have explained the aura of authority that accompanied His words!
Authority can accompany our expertise in, and our grasp of, a subject! A group can be gathered around the open hood of a car broken down along the highway, speculating on the problem, but when the mechanic arrives the group will defer to his expertise. And it’s the friend who is a computer science major, or who builds her own computers, who is called upon when our own machines are not working properly.
But there were other experts in the law who had spoken to the people of Capernaum in the past, without this response, so this must not be our answer either!
It some places authority can accompany our age. Asian cultures in particular operate under the assumption that wisdom is acquired with many years of experience, and so the elderly have traditionally been greatly respected. But here again Jesus really doesn’t qualify. He’s a relatively young man still, only around thirty years of age, so His authority can’t come from the wisdom that (sometimes) is gained over many years!
In some cases authority can be given to us by another. In ancient times a King could give his Signet Ring to a trusted aid, and that ring would authorize that aid to carry out whatever the King wished. Today when law enforcement agencies want to conduct a search of private property, they first acquire a search warrant from a Judge. If the property owner refuses to grant access law enforcement can then conduct the search under the Judge's authority. That doesn't always work so well. You may have heard about the government surveyor who brought his equipment to a farm, called on the farmer, and asked permission to go into one of the fields and take some readings. The farmer objected, fearing that the survey would ultimately result in some highway being built through his land. "I will not give you permission to go into my fields," said the farmer.
Whereupon the surveyor produced an official government document which authorized him to do the survey. "I’ve been given the AUTHORITY," he declared, " to enter any field in the entire country to take the necessary readings."
With that the farmer shrugged, open the gate, and allowed the surveyor to enter the field - and then he promptly marched to the far end of the field, and opened another gate-- which allowed his fiercest bull to charge forward into the field!
Seeing the bull, the surveyor dropped his equipment and began to run for his life. As he did he could hear the farmer shouting after him, "SHOW HIM YOUR PAPERS! SHOW HIM YOUR PAPERS!"
In the gospels Jesus does state that "all authority" has been given to Him, and he fully vested his disciples with that authority. But I’m convinced that the “authority” that Jesus spoke with in Capernaum came not from His position, or His knowledge of the Law, or His age, or even because God gave it to Him - but for another reason - because of His personal intimacy with the One of whom He was speaking.
Scott Hoezee recalls a charming anecdote involving the Pope John XXIII. One day the pontiff was having an audience with a group of people, one of whom was the mother of several children. At one point the pope said to this woman, "Would you please tell me the names of your children. I realize that anyone in this room could tell me their names, but something very special happens when a mother speaks the names of her own children."
The Pope was right. There is something different about the way we speak of another, or even utter their name, when we have an intimate connection with that person!
I think that's what made Jesus' teaching so different from that of the scribes. They knew something about God - but Jesus knew His Father intimately!
So it is with us. Our words will carry far greater weight when they are backed by lives that demonstrate Christ’s presence in them!
In the end I’m convinced that others will listen to us not because we know about our subject - because they think we know something about God - but because they sense that we know God!
In most cultures authority is granted to us for a variety of reasons. For instance, it can accompany a position. Visit a courtroom and you’ll find that when the Judge enters and departs the Bailiff will say “all rise.” There’s a certain authority that is invested in a Judge’s position, and his or her authority in that courtroom is nearly absolute. We find that type of authority in the military too, as well as in the workplace. You may have heard about the boss who hung a sign in the office that read:
Rule #1: The Boss is always right.
Rule #2: When the Boss is wrong, refer to rule #1.
Mark’s gospel doesn’t really make it clear whether or not Jesus was invited to speak as an itinerant Rabbi or as a laymen, but neither situation would have made Him particularly unique - in other words there was nothing unusual about His position that would have explained the aura of authority that accompanied His words!
Authority can accompany our expertise in, and our grasp of, a subject! A group can be gathered around the open hood of a car broken down along the highway, speculating on the problem, but when the mechanic arrives the group will defer to his expertise. And it’s the friend who is a computer science major, or who builds her own computers, who is called upon when our own machines are not working properly.
But there were other experts in the law who had spoken to the people of Capernaum in the past, without this response, so this must not be our answer either!
It some places authority can accompany our age. Asian cultures in particular operate under the assumption that wisdom is acquired with many years of experience, and so the elderly have traditionally been greatly respected. But here again Jesus really doesn’t qualify. He’s a relatively young man still, only around thirty years of age, so His authority can’t come from the wisdom that (sometimes) is gained over many years!
In some cases authority can be given to us by another. In ancient times a King could give his Signet Ring to a trusted aid, and that ring would authorize that aid to carry out whatever the King wished. Today when law enforcement agencies want to conduct a search of private property, they first acquire a search warrant from a Judge. If the property owner refuses to grant access law enforcement can then conduct the search under the Judge's authority. That doesn't always work so well. You may have heard about the government surveyor who brought his equipment to a farm, called on the farmer, and asked permission to go into one of the fields and take some readings. The farmer objected, fearing that the survey would ultimately result in some highway being built through his land. "I will not give you permission to go into my fields," said the farmer.
Whereupon the surveyor produced an official government document which authorized him to do the survey. "I’ve been given the AUTHORITY," he declared, " to enter any field in the entire country to take the necessary readings."
With that the farmer shrugged, open the gate, and allowed the surveyor to enter the field - and then he promptly marched to the far end of the field, and opened another gate-- which allowed his fiercest bull to charge forward into the field!
Seeing the bull, the surveyor dropped his equipment and began to run for his life. As he did he could hear the farmer shouting after him, "SHOW HIM YOUR PAPERS! SHOW HIM YOUR PAPERS!"
In the gospels Jesus does state that "all authority" has been given to Him, and he fully vested his disciples with that authority. But I’m convinced that the “authority” that Jesus spoke with in Capernaum came not from His position, or His knowledge of the Law, or His age, or even because God gave it to Him - but for another reason - because of His personal intimacy with the One of whom He was speaking.
Scott Hoezee recalls a charming anecdote involving the Pope John XXIII. One day the pontiff was having an audience with a group of people, one of whom was the mother of several children. At one point the pope said to this woman, "Would you please tell me the names of your children. I realize that anyone in this room could tell me their names, but something very special happens when a mother speaks the names of her own children."
The Pope was right. There is something different about the way we speak of another, or even utter their name, when we have an intimate connection with that person!
I think that's what made Jesus' teaching so different from that of the scribes. They knew something about God - but Jesus knew His Father intimately!
So it is with us. Our words will carry far greater weight when they are backed by lives that demonstrate Christ’s presence in them!
In the end I’m convinced that others will listen to us not because we know about our subject - because they think we know something about God - but because they sense that we know God!
Monday, February 2, 2009
“Created for Community!”
We have a spring fed spring stream that runs through our pastures – and it’s kind of interesting to see the different ways our horses react to it. A couple of our mares are just plain “mudders” – it seems like they’re always in the water. We’ll hear them splashing in it, but even if we didn’t we could tell how much they like the water by the mud that comes almost up to their knees in the summertime. My wife’s mare, on the other hand, wouldn’t dream of splashing across it. She’s got to tip the scales at over 1100 lbs but she’s afraid to get her feet wet! When we got her we weren’t sure if she’d ever even crossed water, so we had to spend some time working on that with her.
Now, there are actually a couple of different ways to get a horse to cross water. If your horse is trained to seek the release you can actually take your horse out alone to a park with water crossings, line your horse up and reward every small movement forward, and eventually (it might take a l-o-o-o-n-g time) your horse will plunge in and cross. It might literally leap in and race across the first time, but with each subsequent trip across your horse will become calmer and quieter about it.
But I didn’t really want to have to spend that much time waiting for my wife’s horse to finally cross, because she’s pretty stubborn and so I opted for an easier method. I called a friend who was working up at Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch, hauled our mare up there and went out on the trails with just one other horse – one that was both familiar with and completely confident with all of the water crossings along their trails. We started out with the shallowest and easiest crossings, and once my friend’s horse crossed mine – not wanting to be left alone – did likewise! You see, horses are “herd” animals, and they will seek out and prefer the safety and security of other horses. That’s why one of the safest ways to introduce a young horse to something new is to take out an older horse with them. The older horse supports, strengthens, and offers confidence to the younger one.
And I can’t help but wonder whether or not that might be why, when Jesus sent His disciples out here in Luke 10 to “practice” the ministry skills they were learning, that He sent them out in twos! Because the one could strengthen, encourage, and support the other. You see, I’m convinced that we were created to be in community with one another. From the creation account in Genesis when God can find no suitable companion for Adam and so creates Eve to fill that void, the Bible reminds us again and again how much we need one another. Solomon in Ecclesiastes makes this point when he writes that “two are better than one… for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion, but woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.” And the book of Acts tells us of the radical community that is formed in Jerusalem by the new believers, where homes are opened up to one another, property and possessions are sold and the proceeds given away to those in need, and folks care for one another sacrificially! You see, we were created for community, and we’re most vulnerable when we isolate ourselves from others! Oh, we’ll read every so often of some hermit, off living alone in the mountains or in a cave somewhere, and seemingly the happier for it, but the very fact that such a person makes the news proves my point. We were created for community!
Increasingly today we’ll hear from folks – usually younger people – who have forsaken the Church all the while arguing that they can practice their faith – or more often their spirituality – on their own. And you can encounter God in the privacy of your own home. But real growth requires the presence of another, of someone who can encourage us, support us, spar with us, and even help us learn patience and forgiveness. Someone once said that “(You) can acquire everything in solitude except character,” and they're right. You need others for that.
Stu Weber tells of being drafted in 1967, while the country was at war in Vietnam. Stu soon found himself at the U.S. Army Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia. It was brutal. He writes:
"I can still hear the raspy voice of the sergeant: 'We are here to save your lives. We're going to see to it that you overcome all your natural fears. We're going to show you just how much incredible stress the human mind and body can endure. And when we're finished with you, you will be the U.S. Army's best!'
"Then, before he dismissed the formation, he announced our first assignment. We'd steeled ourselves for something really tough—like running 10 miles in full battle gear or rappelling down a sheer cliff.
"Instead, he told us to … find a buddy!"
"'Find yourself a Ranger buddy,' he growled. 'You will stick together. You will never leave each other. You will encourage each other, and, as necessary, you will carry each other.' It was the army's way of saying, 'Difficult assignments require a friend. Together is better.'"
It’s like that for us too. God never intended for us to isolate ourselves. We need one another if we’re going to navigate our way safely through the trials and temptations of this world. We were created for community!
(From February 1st Cowboy Church)
Now, there are actually a couple of different ways to get a horse to cross water. If your horse is trained to seek the release you can actually take your horse out alone to a park with water crossings, line your horse up and reward every small movement forward, and eventually (it might take a l-o-o-o-n-g time) your horse will plunge in and cross. It might literally leap in and race across the first time, but with each subsequent trip across your horse will become calmer and quieter about it.
But I didn’t really want to have to spend that much time waiting for my wife’s horse to finally cross, because she’s pretty stubborn and so I opted for an easier method. I called a friend who was working up at Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch, hauled our mare up there and went out on the trails with just one other horse – one that was both familiar with and completely confident with all of the water crossings along their trails. We started out with the shallowest and easiest crossings, and once my friend’s horse crossed mine – not wanting to be left alone – did likewise! You see, horses are “herd” animals, and they will seek out and prefer the safety and security of other horses. That’s why one of the safest ways to introduce a young horse to something new is to take out an older horse with them. The older horse supports, strengthens, and offers confidence to the younger one.
And I can’t help but wonder whether or not that might be why, when Jesus sent His disciples out here in Luke 10 to “practice” the ministry skills they were learning, that He sent them out in twos! Because the one could strengthen, encourage, and support the other. You see, I’m convinced that we were created to be in community with one another. From the creation account in Genesis when God can find no suitable companion for Adam and so creates Eve to fill that void, the Bible reminds us again and again how much we need one another. Solomon in Ecclesiastes makes this point when he writes that “two are better than one… for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion, but woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.” And the book of Acts tells us of the radical community that is formed in Jerusalem by the new believers, where homes are opened up to one another, property and possessions are sold and the proceeds given away to those in need, and folks care for one another sacrificially! You see, we were created for community, and we’re most vulnerable when we isolate ourselves from others! Oh, we’ll read every so often of some hermit, off living alone in the mountains or in a cave somewhere, and seemingly the happier for it, but the very fact that such a person makes the news proves my point. We were created for community!
Increasingly today we’ll hear from folks – usually younger people – who have forsaken the Church all the while arguing that they can practice their faith – or more often their spirituality – on their own. And you can encounter God in the privacy of your own home. But real growth requires the presence of another, of someone who can encourage us, support us, spar with us, and even help us learn patience and forgiveness. Someone once said that “(You) can acquire everything in solitude except character,” and they're right. You need others for that.
Stu Weber tells of being drafted in 1967, while the country was at war in Vietnam. Stu soon found himself at the U.S. Army Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia. It was brutal. He writes:
"I can still hear the raspy voice of the sergeant: 'We are here to save your lives. We're going to see to it that you overcome all your natural fears. We're going to show you just how much incredible stress the human mind and body can endure. And when we're finished with you, you will be the U.S. Army's best!'
"Then, before he dismissed the formation, he announced our first assignment. We'd steeled ourselves for something really tough—like running 10 miles in full battle gear or rappelling down a sheer cliff.
"Instead, he told us to … find a buddy!"
"'Find yourself a Ranger buddy,' he growled. 'You will stick together. You will never leave each other. You will encourage each other, and, as necessary, you will carry each other.' It was the army's way of saying, 'Difficult assignments require a friend. Together is better.'"
It’s like that for us too. God never intended for us to isolate ourselves. We need one another if we’re going to navigate our way safely through the trials and temptations of this world. We were created for community!
(From February 1st Cowboy Church)
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