Jump Start # 1004

Philippians 4:22 “All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.”

  There were Christians among Caesar’s people. Caesar’s household included those who believed in Jesus Christ. Amazing. The course of world history might have turned if Caesar himself became a believer. The persecution of Christians, the worship of emperors, the brazen idolatry and homosexuality that defined those powerful rulers may have changed.

Imagine today, among the President’s family, Christians. Or, within Cuba’s Castro family, followers of Christ.  The journey that led Paul preaching to Caesar’s household was long, hard and full of faith. Many of us would love to sit down with our governor and share the story of Christ. Yet to travel as Paul did is a remarkable story.

Paul didn’t walk up to Rome’s palace and knock on the door one day. He did not disguise himself as a servant and obtained a job within the palace so he could secretly infiltrate and spread the word. He wasn’t a spy.  Paul’s journey to Caesar’s house began in Jerusalem. He was arrested for preaching Christ. A riot broke out. It became violent. Roman soldiers beat Paul and then imprisoned him. Paul remained in jail for two years. When they learned that he was a Roman citizen and that he appealed to Caesar, he was shipped off to Rome, literally, on a ship. It wasn’t a cruise boat, but a cargo ship. Paul wasn’t a tourist, but rather a prisoner. He was guarded. On the way there, they encountered a violent storm. The ship came apart and everyone was in the water, clinging for life. They made it to an island. Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake. Eventually, with the grace of God, they made it to Rome. Paul remained a prisoner. He was allowed to make a defense to Caesar. In the course of his imprisonment, Paul was able to teach some of Caesar’s household the gospel of Christ. Amazing lessons and story. The journey wasn’t soft and easy. It required great faith.

Some thoughts for us.

1. Often our plan A is not God’s plan A. God has other plans for us. We sometimes map out how everything is going to be and things get changed. Before the day ends, the car is in the shop, or we are at the doctor’s office, or worse, we are making an appointment to meet the funeral director. It’s not the way we planned it. We often start off young with the wonderful idea that we will meet a beautiful girl in college and we’ll get married and have a houseful of kids who will all grow to be varsity players and receive honors for amazing grades. They will meet wonderful Christians, get married and give us tons of grandkids. We’ll sit on the back porch, sipping tea and thinking life is good. That’s the plan. That’s what we aim for. Life doesn’t always turn out that way. That beautiful college girl may not want to go out with you. The kids you dream about may not know the difference between a hockey puck and a football. They may not make the team, get the grades or be the superstars we dreamed about. Worse, they may be born with a handicap. Worse, they may die young. Worse, the love of your life may die young. And there you are with crushed dreams, doubts filling your heart and questions that no one can seem to answer. We don’t sit in the captain’s chair of life. We don’t control our destiny. Job loss, health issues, relationship problems are often beyond our control. They can move us from Plan A to another plan that we have never thought of. I have preached the funeral of too many young people and looked into the tearful eyes of the parents who were looking for an answer to why? Who is going to take care of them when they are old? This is not what they planned, hoped for, or wanted. Our Plan A often is not what turns out.

2. Paul did not quit when his Plan A changed. Earlier in Acts, he wanted to preach in Asia. The Holy Spirit said NO. God had another place in mind for Paul. He didn’t know that at the time. He could have just quit. Give up is always an easy option and too many take it. Things don’t work out the way they planned, they quit. Some quit school. Some quit jobs. Some quit marriages. Some quit on life. They become sour and grumpy and complaining. They spend their life thinking what could have been. They could have made the pros but they didn’t. They could have started their own business, but they didn’t. Instead of moving on into God’s plan, they simply give up and quit. Paul didn’t.

3. Paul bloomed where he was planted. His congregation became fellow prisoners and guards. He preached where he could. In this way, somehow, word reached the household of Caesar. Paul bloomed. Have you ever noticed driving along the highway, especially in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee where the road is cut through the rock, that you will see a tree growing out of the rocks? How did it get there? Did some highway workers who were bored, plant those trees in the side of the rocks? No. The winds blew the tree seed and it landed in those rocks. There was just enough soil and sunlight for that seed to grow and become a tree. It bloomed where it was planted. There is a court house in Indiana that has become famous because there is a tree growing out of the roof. No city fathers kicked that idea around in a meeting. No one said, “Hey, I think if we plant a tree in the roof, tourists will come.” It just happened. It bloomed where it was planted. This is how Caesar’s household learned about Jesus. Paul bloomed where he was planted.

The same must be true for us. The next trip to the hospital, the next fender bender, the next office meeting with a staff of misfits, may be your best opportunity to bloom where you are planted. I’ve known nurses and doctors who became Christians because of conversations they had with a patient in the hospital. That patient bloomed where he was planted. We often look for the golden opportunities, the Plan A’s in our life. God gives us other plans and we fail to see them. Paul in prison preached. Paul in prison bloomed.

You may work with a bunch of people who are a real mess. Each day, you long to quit and find a better job, or honestly, better people to work with. Could it be, God has you there to bloom? God has you there to show what a Christian is like. You co-workers may never pick up a Bible, but they see you. Your attitude under fire. Your work ethic. Your honesty. Your kindness. Through you, God’s Plan A, you may reach others with the Gospel.

The same may be true of your family. Maybe your family has lots of issues and dysfunction and “home for the holidays” is not a pleasant thought. Tension, guilt and judging are as common as mashed potatoes and gravy. It’s easy to skip out. Cop an excuse. Run from the fire. Definitely not your Plan A type of family. Rather, could it be God has you there for a reason? Could it be that you are the one who reminds everyone to think nobly of others. You are the one who won’t gossip. You are the one who helps out. You are the one that they go to for advice. You are the one.

Bloom where you are planted. I have a sermon by that title. Preached it all over the place. One of my favorites. Recently, my son in Tennessee met someone who knew me from the past. They remembered one sermon in particular. It was preached along time ago, but they never forgot it. It happened to be, “Bloom where you are planted.”

It’s amazing the time we waste wishing we were somewhere else. Folks in one place wish they lived in another place. Folks with one job wished they had a different job. Folks in small churches wish they were in larger churches. Folks in larger churches wish they were in smaller churches. Rather, what we ought to be doing is Bloom where we are planted. Make the most of where we are. Do what you can. Don’t wait for someone else to start things. You do it. You bloom.

When this life is over, you may have been nothing more than a tree sticking out of a rocky ledge along the highway. Not the dream spot to be. Yet if you bloomed and provided shade and helped hold those rocks in by your roots, you did a great job. Think of all the things we could do with family, church and work if we just made up our minds to Bloom where we are planted.

Bloom…that’s what God wants you to do.

Roger