Jump Start # 3609

James 4:14 “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.“

It was a simple box. It wasn’t fancy. Sitting on a shelf in a store, most would walk right past it. It wasn’t very large, maybe two baseballs could fit side by side inside. Just a plain, ordinary box. But where this box was, changed everything. It was sitting on a table in a funeral home. It contained the cremated remains of someone I knew. I remember her soft voice. I remember her concern about congregations. I remember her smile. But on this day, it was a small box that caught my attention. A box that was too small to put one of her shoes in. A box that would not hold her Bible.

We’ve heard preachers for years telling us that “You can’t take it with you,” but how visual and real that all seems when one’s life fits into a small box. When one thinks about all the worries we have carried in this life, all the blessings that have fallen to us in this life, all the memories, all the journeys, all the prayers, and, when life is over, it all fits in a small box.

Our verse today, taken from the King James translation, asks, “For what is your life?” James answers his own question by telling us it is just a vapor. It appears and then it goes away. Like the morning fog, like a cloud floating across the sky, it’s here and then it’s gone. Had James not answered his own question, how would you have answered it? What is your life? How would you define your life?

For some, it’s about achievements. Degrees earned. Houses purchased. Places traveled. The trophies in life. The awards. Being the best. Being on top. Best in sales. Number one in the company. First place in the standings. For many, that’s life. And, when life is defined that way, it doesn’t take very long until one talks in the past tense. “I was number one in my high school,” they’ll say. “I made the varsity team.” “I got my degree in three years.” But as the years roll by, those things simply become memories and milestones of the past. And, one certainly can’t put any of those things in a small box sitting on a table in a funeral home.

Others, will define life by family. The love shared. The memories of vacations and birthdays together. The joys. The laughter. We see in life that the little ones grow up. They get busy with their own projects, families and in time, once again, one looks to the past.

So, what can we put in that box?

First, it is our faith that defines us. It is our faith that has led to the choices that we have made. It is our faith that has gotten us through the dark storms and the scary times in our lives. It is our faith that others have noticed and appreciated. Our faith can not be put on a shelf. Our faith cannot be held in our hands. Our faith does not die when we cross through the doorway of death. Belonging to Jesus is more important than what you have done, where you have gone and what you have bought in your life.

Second, our example defines us. This is why Hebrews tells us that Abel speaks even though he is dead. He speaks by example. He speaks as one who was faithful to God. He speaks as one who loved the Lord. Some will remember the car you drove. Some will remember where you lived. But generations later, many will remember how you helped in a congregation. Little ones will grow up and remember those early Bible class teachers. You may have been one of them. They will grow up remembering preachers. You may have been one of them. They will grow up remembering that you loved them and encouraged them. Most of us can well remember those who helped us in our spiritual journey when we first started out. Full of questions, they took the time to answer them. They molded us to walk more closely with the Lord. They showed us how to teach. They were examples of hospitality.

What fits in that box? A lifetime of illustrations of living for Jesus. Kindness. Patience. Joy. Hope. Trust. Years of singing hymns, listening to sermons, and growing through Bible classes. Worshipping when it was easy and worshipping when it was hard. Spiritual footprints that lead to our Savior.

Just a simple and small box. But it’s more than that. It was a life here and a life now enjoying the sweet promises of God. It’s hearts that will never forget. It’s a family that saw love demonstrated. One can be cynical and think, if life comes down to all that you put in a box, why care? Why do anything? Why buy anything? Why do anything? When it’s all over, it all goes into a small box. But there are things the critic cannot see. Faith. Family. Love. Trust. And, the Lord. One can’t see those in that box, but they are there.

Life is more than just a vapor. Life is living now so we can live later.

Roger

Jump Start # 3067

James 4:14 “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

  This verse has been hanging around in my thoughts for the past few days. As always, there is a story behind this. My wife and I were out on Saturday running around, hitting stores and so forth. It was past noon and I was ready to head home. One of our older members, just a dear, dear saint, was in an assisted living not far from where we were. She is kind, sweet and just a jewel. My wife has visited her often. She wanted to pop in and see her. I really didn’t. I just wanted to go home. We went to the assisted living home. We had a wonderful visit with this Christian. She’s old. She’d tell that she’s old. We laughed. We talked about her family, which is dear to me. We talked about the church. She wanted to know about our family. As we were ready to go, my wife asked her if she would like to sing a hymn. She smiled and said, “Oh, yes!” We suggested, “Jesus loves me,” to which she said that was one of her favorite hymns. She closed her eyes and sang so wonderfully. We hugged. Had a prayer. Kissed and left.

Less than two hours after we left, she suffered a massive stroke. Four days later, she went through that door of death. We were the last ones to have a meaningful conversation with her. And, I was not wanting to go visit her. How terrible I felt for thinking those thoughts. One of her sons served as a shepherd when I was first hired by this congregation. Another son and his wife have gone on multiple vacations with us. Our hearts are connected dearly to these good people.

Some thoughts:

First, one never knows when the last time will be the last time. We sure didn’t. Had we known what was about to happen, we would have stayed, prayed harder, and called for help. There was simply no indication that our conversation would be the final conversation. Over dinner the other day, we went back through that last conversation. We wrote out to the best of our memory what all was said and have given that to one of her sons. I have known others to leave for work in the morning, but death called before they ever made it back home that evening. It sure makes one realize how precious and how fragile life is.

Second, as I thought about our conversation, how meaningful it was that one of the final things we did was to sing a hymn and pray to the Lord. I sure wish I could go out that way. Thoughts of the Lord and a hymn in my heart, something this dear Christian believed for so many years. Her children and their mates, all Christians, the next generation, nearly all Christians, is such a powerful tribute to what really matters in life. James, in our passage today, reminds us of the morning fog or vapor. It’s there for a while, but most times, it’s gone by noon. It just doesn’t last long. So, too, is our time together. We can spend that time making one another mad or using that for opportunity to encourage, grow closer to one another and know the Lord more. We could have talked about ballgames. We could have talked about politics. We could have talked about the price of food. Instead, and what I am thankful for, is that we talked about the Lord. She knew the Lord. We know the Lord. Together, there is much to share.

Third, when her son called early this morning, to tell me of her passing, I wondered just what all she was seeing. I wondered if she would run into my dad. I expect that she was smiling today. I know she was being comforted today. Safe in the arms of Jesus, what a beautiful thought and what a wonderful place our faith takes us. We can get wrapped up with earthbound thinking and talking so much that we forget the better side of life. It isn’t on this planet, it’s with the Lord. Our passage says, ‘You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.” Oh, there is a tomorrow. We all have a tomorrow. That tomorrow might be right here. Or, that tomorrow might be on the other side of the door of death. Either way, there is a tomorrow. And what you do today, shapes and colors what that tomorrow will look like for you.

A lifetime of believing. A heart that centered upon the Lord. A soul that loved Jesus. A mom that raised her children to know the Lord. A grandmother who cherished little hearts and little voices that now have grown to be men and women of God. She left footprints. She was an example. Her kind are fewer and fewer these days. One that puts family above self. One that puts integrity above getting ahead. One that has read the Bible over and over and over and whose heart never tired of that wonderful story of our Savior. One that encouraged preachers, like myself. One that was a friend to the fellowship of Christ. One that knew the Lord and the Lord knew her.

Mary Lou Quinn—while we loved her and wanted to call her one of ours, she actually belonged to the Lord. Her citizenship was in Heaven. She had placed a stake in the ground for the Lord a long time ago and there was no moving that stake. And now, she is safely home. She is where she has longed to be. She is where she wants all of us to be.

Bless her dear family. She will be missed. I remember my old grandfather once saying, when I was a kid, “I know more people in Heaven than I do on earth.” Back then, I had no idea what he was talking about. I do now. I do today.

Thank you, Lord for allowing her life to touch so many of our lives. We were the ones who benefited. As we smiled and left Mary Lou that Saturday afternoon, we told her that we loved her. Her words to us, the last words she spoke to us, was, “I love you, too.” And, on this day, I can see Mary Lou saying to Jesus, “I love you.” And, our dear Lord saying to Mary Lou, “I love you, too. I have always loved you.”

The Psalmist understood, when he penned, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.” Angels came. A soul was welcomed home. A faith kept. A journey completed.

We do not grieve what we lost, but are thankful for what we had.

Roger

Jump Start # 1420

James 4:14 “Yet you do not know what you life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

  Word came yesterday of another shocking murder in our country. This time, a young newscaster and her cameraman shot while live on location in Virginia. The killings are becoming numerous and everywhere. The very day that these two newscasters were killed, a man in a Colorado courtroom was receiving a life sentence for killing people in a movie theatre. Our times are dangerous.

There will be some who move strongly to eliminate all guns from the land. That’s not the solution. Cain killed Abel and he didn’t have a gun. Laws do not change behavior. Lawless people are not governed by laws. They are the law into themselves and will do whatever they want, legal or illegal.

It is interesting that most of the shootings are done by young men. It’s not the old men that are shooting. It’s not grandmas pointing guns, but young men. Many, as in the killings yesterday, involve angry young men. They are mad at the way they have been treated, or mistreated. They are angry at society. They have fed their anger until it reaches a boiling point and they explode.

If fingers must be pointed, it shouldn’t be at the guns, but what leads someone to want to pick up the gun and point it at someone else. What did the parents do when these people were angry kids? That’s a thought. What life lessons did the learn about not always getting your way and life is not fair? Or, were those lessons ever taught? Where was Jesus in their lives? Most likely, no where. The absence of Christ, authority, direction and discipline will allow a young person to drift on his own until, influenced by music, friends, drugs and fringe movements, they are unable to cope with life.

Will these shootings stop? Not until homes become the way God wants them to be and until Christ becomes a real part of their lives. Many have gone to church but the churches they went to didn’t know if they were a church, a club, a gym or a place to eat. God has been reshaped in so many places today that what people are given isn’t helpful, right nor practical. It’s time to see who God really is.

Our verse must be one that we take to heart. There are two central thoughts to this passage.

First, you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. We think we do. We make plans, but they can change in an instant. A sudden accident, an immediate health crisis, a crazed gunman and all of our plans are changed and come to an immediate stop. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. We put our hope and trust in the Lord. We realize that each day is a gift. It’s not guaranteed.

Second, you are just a vapor that appears for a little while. We need not put all of our eggs in tomorrow, because there may not be a tomorrow for us. We must make each day the best we can. We must be ready to leave this place. Live as if this is the only day you have. Love your family. Be a light into the world. Obey Christ. Walk by faith. Be generous. Be kind. Leave footprints for others to follow.

Two “you” expressions. You do not know…You are just a vapor. Those two statements will help us. They will shape the decisions that we make each day. They will remind us of what is really important. There is a statement from David in the O.T. when King Saul was chasing him about the country, trying to kill him. David said, “there is but a step between me and death.” That is true not just for David, but for all of us. Just a step. Not a mile. Not a huge leap. Just a step.

My heart breaks for the families of those two young people who were innocently killed while simply doing their work. I have kids about the same age. These feelings makes me want to build a strong fortress that allows us to hide deep inside. But that’s not the answer. Our early brethren walked the market streets where Roman soldiers marched, often looking for them. They continued to worship, live and grow the kingdom. So must we.

Three people in Virginia yesterday were cast into eternity. Were they ready? Did they know the Lord? On this day, that is a greater question than the why’s of their death.

Do you know my Jesus? Do you know He cares? If this day were to be your last day, are you ready?

Roger