Have you got the time?

Growing up, I always wanted to be a superhero. Don’t laugh, because you did too! To be clear, I never wanted to be aqua man. There just wasn’t a point to being able to summon sea animals and breath underwater. Seriously, what bad guy is living underwater? I thought the best superhero gifts were having the ability to fly and having superhuman strength. I could see very practical ways I could help people with those abilities. When buildings were collapsing in a city, one who had those abilities could be there to stop the calamity. If a plane experienced engine failure at 30,000 ft., if people were surrounded by flames on a mountainside, if an asteroid was hurtling toward our planet, one who had super human strength and the ability to fly could be there to save the day! (And if the ozone layers were dangerously thin, flying to work would be an earth friendly way to travel.) However, it occurred to me during a recent episode of Heroes this season (yeah, this season is lame by comparison to last year), that these two powers are not the coolest gifts. The character on the show, Hiro, has the coolest gift. His ability to stop time is most impressive to me.

Think about it. How many of you have needed more time? You could play all day and still get your work done. Test taking would be a breeze. You would never be late for a meeting (even if you were late, you could go back in time to when the meeting started. And stopping time really makes light work for all your commutes anywhere in the world. Need to catch up on your sleep? Simple, just stop time and nap away! It would be fantastically freeing not to be bound by timed agendas. You could spend as much time as you wanted doing anything you wanted to do. Just imagine how long your next vacation could be!

When I thought about this, I began to think about the greatest gift we could give each other in a time bound world is our time! There is no substitute for being present with people who need some help, perspective, or encouragement. Looking back, those were the most memorable moments for me in my life. When others surrounded me with laughter, wisdom, honor, or admonishment, I caught a glimpse of community like I had never seen before. Others’ investment in me is something I continue to appreciate through the years. It is the time others spent with me that communicated my value and their friendship.

I think that is why the incarnation is such a powerful act in history that is worth noting for all time. Jesus, could have been anywhere, but he chose to come and spend his days with us leaving behind the glory of heaven to experience the mundane of earth. He chose to be born in humility, in scandal. He chose to give himself fully to an earthly mother and father. He chose obedience in the desert. He chose submission on the cross. Jesus chose to engage and love people through his whole journey of life with us on earth. Jesus spent his time with us, and that is no small gift considering he was someone who was not bound by time, yet submitting himself to it. As a result of the time he spent with us, we now know God loves us and values us more than we could have possibly imagined before. We can trust that God’s offer of salvation is solid, because Jesus walked with us.

This Christmas, celebrate with me the gift of God’s in-breaking presence with us through the very human act of a woman’s birth. Pray with me that we would learn to give others our time, like Jesus gave us his. Who knows...our time spent with others just might lead to salvation.

Perspective Shift

When I was growing up, I worked for my Dad. He owned and operated a vending and catering business. I held several jobs during my tenure on staff. I was a JAR (Junior Assistant Repairman), ASA (Associate Stockboy Assistant - to the Manger of Shelving), ASM (Assistant Sandwich Maker), and CBO (Chief Broom Operator).
When I got my license, I was able to move up the food chain a bit. I became a Route man. I delivered the food to all of the local cafeterias in the city. And as I became good at my route, I found that I finished my duties earlier than 5pm. One day my Dad saw me goofing off, so he charged me with the most important job in the business – CA (Cash Runner). I was responsible for taking the cash to the bank.

Each day, I would go into the cash room around 4:30pm with my hand truck, and fill up 5 or 6 milk crates with bags of coins and cash. When I entered that room, I became a different person. I was a man on a mission.

Each deposit would vary anywhere from $10,000 - $20,000. It was more money than I could begin to fathom. When I left the cash room, I was alone, and I was the most alert person on the planet. The way I figured it, everyone knew how much money I was carrying, and that meant everyone was looking for a way to take me out. My job was to safely deposit the money in the bank – unarmed!

It was uncanny how aware I became of my surroundings. When loading the milk crates full of money in the back of my truck, I just knew where everyone was. I heard every conversation around me. I saw exits and evaluated common items for use as weapons just in case someone tried to jump me.

Even when I was driving down the road, I thought about what I would do if someone tried to grab the cash while in transit. Who was driving next to me? Did they look at me in any unusual way? Were cars getting to close? Was there anyone following me? I changed up my route to the bank each day just to make sure no one’s dastardly plans would come true.

When I pulled up to the bank, my entire nervous system was on edge. Extra adrenaline was ordered to every muscle in my body. The real un-nerving process was unloading all of the cash on to my hand truck on the sidewalk. When someone would walk by as I was unloading, I told myself, “Just be cool. That’s just a person minding their own business walking on the street.” The process took about 30 seconds, but in my opinion that was about 29 seconds too long. I never felt safe until the cash was in the vault and the deposit slip was in my hand.

For me, having that kind of money changed how I thought about everything. My view of the world was colored. I saw the money as something to protect. As a result, everyone around me was a potential threat. For me, even though this money wasn’t mine, just being around it changed my relationships with others. I saw how my mind started to shift away from loving my neighbor to being mastered by this money.

Pray with me that we would be a community that understands money as a resource to exercise kindness and grace to one another. Pray that our use of money would lead us to a deeper pursuit of God and his kingdom.