To Move Mountains

Last week I shared about the Lone Ranger and our need to live and grow in community with others. Well, as I was preparing to deliver that message, I was hit by a thunderbolt out of the blue. Actually, it wasn’t a thunderbolt, but it came out of the blue. Or rather, it came out of eBay.

You see, I originally wrote about receiving a Lone Ranger action figure along with his horse Silver. I even described how Silver was made of plastic and his tail was made of rubber. As I had been working on the piece, I visited a website devoted to Lone Ranger toys and saw a picture of The Lone Ranger astride Silver. Having that visual helped immensely, and I thus proceeded to finish the story and send it away via email and Facebook.

Well, Sunday morning, I was going over my notes and decided to see if the Lone Ranger set was being sold on eBay (which sells anything that can be sold as well as some things that can’t). It was there that it hit me. I saw a picture of Silver for sale (minus the Lone Ranger). You know, I remembered Silver very clearly. VERY CLEARLY. But things started getting foggy whenever I tried to think about the rider. The more I thought about it, the less I “remembered”.

The truth hit me. We never got the Lone Ranger! We only got his horse!

Isn’t memory funny that way?

Memory and perception are peculiar things. Two people can witness the same event yet have widely different opinions over what exactly transpired.

While this can provide depth to our understanding, differing views can also bring disagreements. Minor disagreements can escalate into full-blown war. Relationships can get broken with wounds that stay raw. You say that you’re fine, that it’s all in the past…but you run across “that” person again and your blood pressure goes up.

The tragedy of it all is that sometimes people follow disconnected lives because of an imagined or widely exaggerated slight that occurred deep in the past.

In speaking of the power of faith, Jesus mentions how it can move mountains. He then adds that before you move mountains, you must forgive those who’ve wronged you. That can be a mountain all its own! Thank goodness that the power to forgive comes from God Himself!

Are you not speaking to someone because of anger towards them? What would it take for you to forgive them?

Does anybody refuse to speak to you because of an issue in the past? Is there anything you can do to help mend the fences? How do you deal with the cold silence?

Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing about doing our part to move mountains.

Hope you hang out with us!

Joe

Mark 11:22-25
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”

Luke 15:11-32
To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

“A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.” ’

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. ’

“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’

“The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’

“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’ ”

NLTse