Going My Way

And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.  — Hebrews 11:39-40

"Behind that there was something else at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker.  I can put it no plainer than by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker.  In which case you also were meant to have it.  And that may be an encouraging thought."  — Gandalf speaking to Frodo, Fellowship.

History can be deceptive.  The past is ever with us in effects and consequences, in what has been built and created as well as in what has been lost.  The Epistle to the Hebrews goes on to speak of so great a cloud of witnesses which observes, at least metaphorically, the race that you and I run today.  I believe it is more than a metaphor, but only because I believe I am less real than I will be when this worn and tattered tabernacle is laid aside to return to dust and ash.  For the moment, I am clothed in transience.  

We sometimes look around and wonder what we can do.  We are so small, so individual, in a world of seven billion — a number that, even for one rather numerically inclined, is almost incomprehensible.  There is a natural human tendency to want to be part of a group, to rally support, to find others to stand beside us and amplify our voices.  It's easy to forget that the group — large or small — is only so many individuals, that the amplification comes not from one large megaphone but a multitude of small mouths, speaking in harmony and unity.  A body is a harmony of disparate parts; even more, it is individual cells, working together, each doing alone and only, even blindly, what it can:  living by faith.

Looking at a river, the source and the mouth are the two points that vary the least.  They are the most determined and fixed parts.  All along the course between the only constant is change.  History has two fixed points, the Alpha and the Omega, that are really One.   My life, as yours, comes from Christ and returns to Christ.  In between, a lot is up to us. 

Like Frodo, we must bear the burden that has been laid upon us by those who have gone before us.  Even if they stumbled, took a wrong turn, failed us in some way, we gain nothing by assigning blame, complaining, or acting like victims of circumstance.  We know — or should know where we are headed.  If we are off course, we need to correct it, i.e., Repent, ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  We can change our minds, straighten our thoughts, alter our focus. 

That no one else is willing to choose the right course offers me no excuse.  We, as a nation, as a people, as the human race have something we need to cast into the fires of Mount Doom to unmake fate and find destiny.  Yet, if all the rest of the seven billion riders cling to their precious, may we be a few stubborn stones or a shoal or a boulder standing and pushing history even ever so slightly in the direction it needs to go — the direction that it must go.  The Omega is as unchanging as the Alpha.  

Besides, I have something that needs to go into the fire myself, so it's on my way. 

A Reason for Liberation

And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, He sent forth two of His disciples and said unto them, “Go your way into the village opposite you, and as soon as ye have entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat. Loose him and bring him. And if any man say unto you, ‘Why do ye this?’ say ye that the Lord hath need of him, and straightway he will send him hither.”

And they went their way and found the colt tied outside by the door at a place where two ways met, and they loosed him. And certain of those who stood there said unto them, “What do ye, loosing the colt?” And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded, and they let them go. – Mark 11:1-6

This is how the triumphal entry into Jerusalem began. Jesus knew who He was. He knew His position, His authority, and His destiny. He was born a king. By entering Jerusalem seated on a donkey that had never been ridden, He was proclaiming the initiation of His rightful rule over mankind. He did not come on a great warhorse as conqueror. When the kingdom passed from David to Solomon, David instructed that his chosen successor should be seated upon his own mule, signifying the peaceful and voluntary transfer of authority from father to son.

The Bible does not say, but it is interesting to speculate that the colt was not only one that had never been ridden – but that it was a first-born colt. If that were the case, it would belong to the Lord. The first-born male of a clean animal had to be sacrificed according to the Law, but the first-born male of an unclean animal, such as the ass, could be redeemed – have a price paid for it in exchange for its life. An animal the owner did not wish to redeem had to have its neck broken. It was understood that these animals did not belong to the person but to the Lord Himself. This would go well with the instruction Jesus gave to say “the Lord hath need of him”.

I have a lot in common with that lowly donkey. Like it I have been redeemed, but most of the time I seem to just be going about the mundane affairs of everyday life, hauling loads, packing someone around, or standing tied to a post. My life appears quite ordinary and untouched by the Divine. Yet, again like that colt, I still belong to the Lord. Though I was redeemed, it only means that the price was paid that I might live, but this life isn’t mine. You are not your own; you have been bought with a price.

I am allowed to pursue my own ends most of the time. My life is not given fulltime in service to God as we normally think of it. I can do my secular job to please my earthly employer, to gain money and status for myself. Or I can take the approach Paul recommends: And whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord and not unto men (Colossian 3:23). I can see that because my life is redeemed and truly belongs to Christ, my thoughts, words, and actions take on a new significance. The trivial becomes profound, the profane is made holy, and the common is injected with glory.

The other thing I have in common with the donkey is that when the Lord had need of me for some special purpose, I am set free. Nothing will be able to hold me back. When the Lord calls, I have no excuse. I am free to bear His easy, light and joyous burden.