People do matter to God and they should matter to us as well!

It is Friday, November 6, 2009 and many today can hardly wait for the workday to end so that the official weekend can start. In fact, many actually do what they do each day just to get to the parties and activities they anticipate each weekend. (How does this spirit of getting crazy on a weekend work? Just watch the opening Hank Williams Jr. song on Monday Night Football and it provides some tangible insight!) While I would tell you this is a very shortsighted view of the life God has given to us and how He would have us to spend it, none-the-less, there are entire generations who operate in this way. I’ve known many who start Friday evening with an expectation of hoping to be sober enough to make it back to work on Monday morning. While this approach to life may be offensive to us, know that these are the very people that God sent His Son to die for. Jesus made it clear that He didn’t come to save those who were smug in their sense of not needing to be saved, but He came to seek and save sinners who desperately need a Savior. (See Mark 2:17)

People matter. People count. They are made in the image of God. Last week we had a forecast of some really stormy and potentially damaging weather that was predicted for our area. I was at a company dealing with this huge African American guy and he asked me in a little boy’s voice about this impending storm. I was shocked but he went on to say that he had recently moved from Cleveland, Ohio, and was unfamiliar with how much danger we might be in. I thought to myself he would be the last person who could be uneasy about any impending danger. But, he wasn’t sure, and a little skittish, just like most of us. Day before yesterday I was at another company talking with this fellow I’ve known for several months. I asked him how he and his family were doing. His eyes moistened as he told me about his seventy-six year old mom coming here from Honduras to have cancer surgery on her face. He told me how brave she had been to undergo an eleven-hour surgery and now daily radiation treatments. I put my hand on his arm and we had for a second this bond of connection that confirmed our human frailty.

I can remember so well how much I thought of myself as a young up and coming manager. I most likely needed two trips to my office each day, the second just to get my big head inside the door. There was a life altering moment that I remember so well. I was constantly being reminded how fortunate I had been to become one of the youngest managers in the company, especially when so many others had waited so long. Eventually I tired of hearing this and rebelled against that thought and begin to tell people that I had worked for it and earned it, indicating that I deserved it. Something about that shift from my recognition of my progress as being a result of a blessing as opposed to it being deserved brought about a huge hit on my life. For way too long that arrogance militated against me seeing myself and others in the way God would have me to. This attitude created huge problems in my life. However, as God would have it, thankfully, in due time, I, like the prodigal, came to my senses one day, and returned to seeing all that I had as being provided by Him. Where was this change of heart most obvious? In my appreciation for people, every person, from the fellow who checked my badge in the morning to the young guy pushing a cart filled with reports being delivered. They were just like me. They were just like the huge black guy concerned about the weather or the Hispanic fellow tearing up about his mom. May God help us all to see folks the way He does and to respond accordingly. Amen. Have a blessed Saturday and Lord's Day Sunday and Lord willing we'll see you next time on this same station! …..More later.