Saturday night we went to a Rodeo that is held every Saturday in Waynesville. The kids were invited to a birthday party there and the parents were invited to buy a ticket and stay for the rodeo. It was really fun.
The main event of the night was bull riding. I immediately thought of Living Hope Member, Michael Lofton, who use to be a professional bull rider. As I watched these huge animals toss strong, grown men around like rag dolls, I grew all the more in my respect and admiration for men like Michael who cast caution to the wind and climb on a raging bull. Of course, I have to laugh to hear Michael's wife, Linda, talk about her husband's past career choice. She always says, "Can you believe people to do that? You have to be a few cards short of a full deck to ride a bull." I hear what she is saying...it is crazy...but it is always enthralling.
The rodeo barn was packed. It was standing room only. There were less than 100 bull riders but there were about 500 spectators. All of us watching, loved seeing someone else take the risk. We flinched when they were tossed off a bull. Some even screamed as the clown jumped over the railing to escape the horns of the bull. We all cheered when one of the cowboys rode the bull for 8 seconds. But at the end of the night, my experience was at best vicarious. The majority of us sat and watched while only a few experienced the ride of a lifetime.
May be it is because this year I will be, God willing, completing my last year of the 30's, but more and more I grow discontent with being a spectator, especially when it comes to following Christ. May be it is because this June I begin my 14th year of ministry at Living Hope that I have a growing sense of urgency to call the spectators in our church family to either get on the bull or get out of the way. I do so not because I am angry, but because more and more I realize how short this time is that God gives us here and now to live for him.
God sent his Son not only to die, but to show us how to live. Jesus was a "bull rider." He confronted hypocrisy head on. He told hell to shut up and get out of people's lives. He told sickness to stand aside for health. He told storms to be still. He told hunger to be filled. He told the rejected to come home. He lived all the way to the cross. And perhaps it was because knew he was going to die on the cross that he lived more alive than we do. Don;t we try to convince ourselves we've got plenty more time? Don't we by and large live in denial of our own mortality? Is that what robs us of urgency to live?
Jesus was no nice, timid, spectator. He was the crazy one on the bull. His disciples saw him live and they asked him, "Lord, how do we pray like you?" He answered, "Our Father, (Spiritual bull riders know that God is up close and personal--he is more like a daddy than a tyrant--and so they have courage to take risks for God that others don't) who art in heaven (he is as close as a daddy, but he is different from even the best dad we can imagine--he is god not man. Spiritual bull riders find their courage in one that is greater than themselves), hallowed be they name (Spiritual bull riders don't need the attention, but they are willing to do anything short of sin to get the attention back on God where it belongs), they kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven (Spiritual bull riders ride in reckless abandonment because they are convinced how whether or not they ride is directly tied to how much God is able to answer Jesus prayer to make his kingdom show up here and now), give us this daily bread (when you know your most basic needs are in God's hands and not in your control, you are more likely to climb on the bull) forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us (spiritual bull riders are no better than any one else they just understand grace and forgiveness in a real and personal way that moves them to action) lead us not into temptation (spiritual bull riders know that if they are not following God away from temptation then they will lead themselves straight to it) but deliver us from evil (spiritual bull riders know that the only chance they have in life and death is not in their power to hold on, but God's loving power to hold on to them).
Living Hope Church, I praise God that you are church of crazy, bull riders! Never settle for being spectators; it may be safer and require less energy, but is also the opposite of what it means to be alive in Christ. Keep being determined to follow God's adventure into new territory because that is what makes these 8 seconds we've been given count for eternity!
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