Divinely un-Divine // 2-25-09
It’s time for the Furnace – where
you and I get burned up by the Word and all the crap melts away
leaving only what God wants us to be.
That’s the plan anyway.
Let me ask you a question.
How many people here would say that
they read the Bible more than they watch TV? More than you read
books? More than you watch movies or listen to music? How many people
would say that you read the Bible more than all those things
combined?
We have a problem!
The Word of the Lord is a lamp for us
to see where we are going. How are we to see where we are going if we
are overwhelmed with all these other things and we don’t have
enough time for the Word?
Dwen was a researcher of planetary religion who
was traveling with Dr. McCoy (from the original Star Trek – you
know, “Bones,”) to speak on other planets. Spock joined
McCoy and Dwen for dinner one night where Spock commented that he didn’t
believe in magic or faith. Dwen said she could prove it. So she
prophesied over Spock and McCoy.
She prophesied that Spock would die and
possibly one other person who he was close to.
At the end of the book, Dwen made a
choice to sacrifice herself for McCoy and Spock to live. (If you want
to know how – read the book.)
McCoy is profoundly affected when he
realizes that he should have died but someone else died in his place.
He is moved to live a better life. He wants to save as many people as
possible (after all, he is a doctor.)
He wants Dwen’s sacrifice to mean
something – so he decides to live in such a way as to prove that
her death matters.
He knows that he will never be worth
her dying; he will never be able to make it up to her. But he is
going to try.
Romantic, huh?
Dwen isn’t Jesus. But Dwen’s
sacrifice echoes Jesus’.
In our culture, we are surrounded by
stories on TV, movies, comic books, regular books or in music where
people overcome evil, change their lives for good, sacrifice
themselves.
You may even be one of these stories.
I’m reminded of some of your personal
stories on Facebook. How you overcome adversity.
These stories are testimonies. They
testify to something. McCoy’s pain and resolution to do right by
Dwen’s sacrifice is a testimony to Dwen’s memory. It shows the
reader the right way to handle pain.
In other words: it lights our path.
I’m not saying that pop culture
stories replace the Bible. In fact I am saying just the opposite!
I am saying is that sometimes we get a
glimpse of something in our every day life that reminds us of God and
how He wants us to live our lives.
Here is the catch: we only get that
glimpse if we are looking for it.
When I read this Star Trek book I
wasn’t expecting anything but an adventure. But when I got to the
page we read just now I immediately made the connection to Jesus’
sacrifice. I was reminded of Jesus.
“Whenever you break bread do it in
remembrance of me.” Jesus said, in as boring and every day task
such as eating, to be reminded of Him in what we do. Bread reminds us
of Jesus. Drinking juice reminds us of Jesus.
Star Trek reminded me of Jesus. In a
normal, boring every day moment I got a glimpse of Heaven.
That’s how we are asked to live out
every day life – with God in mind.
We may not be able to read the Bible
24x7. But we can dwell on the Word of the Lord, on His sacrifice, on
His love while we do anything we do.
That’s my challenge to us all today.
Remember God in whatever you are doing.