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Recently I attended a fund-raising banquet for a well-known international ministry. I was thrilled to see a vision cast very clearly and a remarkable amount of money pledged. Some people (not I, I should note) were able to write some very large checks. They believed that they were investing in a ministry that would bear fruit abundant fruit for God's kingdom.
In the same way, we desire our ministries and our personal investments in them to produce a harvest for God. Of course, there is no guarantee of future ministry fruitfulness; investment suggests risk.
In the Bible, we read, “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again” (Ecc. 11:1). The origin of casting bread on the waters is obscure, but may well come from the idea of casting bread (seed) on a flooded field in anticipation that the seed would settle to the ground as the waters receded, resulting in an abundant harvest. We who do not live in an agrarian culture sometimes forget the risks of the farmer who takes his seed and throws it away in hopes of a greater return.
There is a tendency to think about this verse in terms of abundance rather than significance. I just had my 60th birthday and have been thinking about significance. I want my life to be invested in something significant that will really count for God’s kingdom. It is too easy, however, to think that significance equals numbers.
As I was leaving the fund-raising event, I greeted the new board chair. We have known each other from some distance for several years. He is an outstanding man of God and a very successful businessman. He told me that for several years a friend of his who was in my church (when I was a pastor in Washington, D.C.) had sent him electronic copies of my published sermon notes each week. (I published these notes for about seven years until I moved from pastoral ministry to the National Association of Evangelicals.)
My distant friend told me that during those years he was in a small church and that I had fed him and “sustained” him spiritually for those years when the preaching in his church was lean. Now he was taking the major leadership role this high-impact national ministry.
I was overwhelmed. I covered my face and cried. I certainly would not take credit for what God has done in and through him, but I had a significant part. And I never knew it until years later.
I felt fortunate to learn of the significant contribution I made in his life “after many days.” Often, we do not find out in our lifetimes the significant contribution we make to a person’s spiritual journey.
So often we are tempted to look at the size of our ministries (abundance) and overlook the real significance that is in that one person into whose life we made a significant contribution. That is the significance that spills over into the next world. We will get a full accounting when we step into the kingdom of heaven.
In a season when we may not always see abundance, we can still have significance. Keep casting your bread on the waters!
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Recently in Los Angeles, I was looking through the long lineup of suitcases to see if mine had arrived. Suddenly a little girl about eight years old broke from the crowd and ran up to a half-size pink paisley roller bag. Throwing her arms around it, she exclaimed, “There you are! We were so worried about you. Did you miss me?
Today I was reminded of that cute reunion when I was at yet another airport, watching the baggage carousel go round and round. All of the other passengers had come and gone with their belongings—and I was left alone to wonder why my suitcase was a no-show. Eventually, I had to mosey on over to United’s baggage office and report my Samsonite MIA. And two months ago, I left Denver and headed east; unexplainably, my bag went west. When we were finally reunited, it had more stickers on it than a hippie van: SAN, SNA, LAX, SJC, SFO. Seems it took a holiday tour along the California Coast.
If you’re a frequent flyer, sooner or later you’ll experience lost luggage. It’s definitely one of the top three aggravations travelers face.
I couldn’t help but think about how the people who come to our gospel rescue missions are like lost luggage. There they are, worn and maybe torn, sitting somewhere they never intended to be, surround by other misplaced units, waiting for someone to come and claim their worth. I’m sure today you’ve encountered “lost luggage.”
How does luggage get lost? It seems like there are three ways. First, it’s mislabeled. An inattentive attendant prints out incorrect information and sends it on the wrong route. With people, maybe it’s a parent or schoolteacher or first boss or first date who utters careless or hurtful labels—lazy, worthless, stupid, ugly, loser—in anger or disgust, and those words stick. Maybe they were more sophisticated words: underachiever, challenged, troubled. Regardless, the soul is soon aloof, alone, and headed in a direction he or she never intended to travel. Years later, the individual shows up at your door, and, without asking, is pleading to be rerouted to his or her original destination—if it’s even still possible.
Luggage also gets lost when it is misdirected. Even if it has the right label, somebody well-meaning puts it on the wrong belt, cart, or plane and it ends up in a place it was never meant to be. With people, possibly an errant minister, humanistic college professor, self-centered mate, professional counselor, or well-meaning friend advises incorrectly and sends this person created in God’s likeness toward an alternate terminus. Now he or she is looking at you and trying to ascertain the proper course, and wondering how he or she ever strayed so far.
The third reason luggage gets lost is because it’s mishandled. Even with the right label and right appointment, it could get dropped off the conveyor, kicked under the cart, cast aside, or even run over in the rush of things. It ends up delayed, damaged, and needing repair before it can move on to its destination. How many people do you encounter who have been mishandled or abused by those they’ve trusted, and now look to you for attention and restoration?
Have you ever looked at your gospel rescue mission as a baggage claim office? All around you are the “suitcases” who have been mislabeled, misdirected, and mishandled. God is the owner, and you facilitate the reunion. Praise God that we have a Savior who seeks and saves.
Luke 15 uses a sheep analogy, but be creative, think for a moment about luggage, and allow me to paraphrase: “Suppose you had was a planeload of luggage, but one suitcase got lost. Wouldn’t you go after the lost one until it was found? And once it was found, wouldn’t you put it on the next flight? And when it finally came off the plane and was delivered, you can be sure you would say, ‘Celebrate with me! We have our lost luggage!’ Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one recovered bag than over 99 already waiting in the terminal in no need of rescue.”
May God richly bless you in your luggage recovery efforts today, helping people find their way back to God through Jesus Christ. Examine carefully. Look for name tags. See if what’s inside gives any clues as to how they can be reclaimed. And always think about the great rejoicing that will happen when the reunion takes place.
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