Unsung Heroes

Martin Luther made a sudden vow to become a monk when a lightning bolt killed his mate next to him when they were on their way home from a drinking binge. Well, so the story goes!
Think about that...without that event Luther would never have gone into a monastery and the Reformation that changed the world would never have taken place and the bible would not have been translated into German! Wow!
But we do not know anything about the friend who literally gave his life to spark off the desire in Luther, or the fear, really, to dedicate the rest of his life to God!
Sometimes a friend's death is the thing that changes someone's life!
Well, Jesus's death changed millions of lives...When you realise He died for your own sins (that you should go to hell for) you suddenly feel like dedicating your life to God as well, maybe even become a reformer, like Luther!
It is often the unsung heroes that never get a mention in history that sparked off the bravery and dedication of the known heroes. Who will remember them? Who will reward them?
Barrabas was a murderer and a thief and he got set free instead of Jesus on the day of the Passover Feast. Jesus died in his place and he was allowed to go free! Imagine his surprise when the Roman prison warden came to tell him, 'You are free to go!' When he was told an unsung hero would die in his place he must have been flabberghasted! Imagine the scene...why would a stranger die in my place? Who is this man?
I wonder if he stayed to watch the crucifixion of his substitute? I wonder if he watched them kill the person that should have been him? Or did he just vanish into the milling crowd?
Who could bear to watch the torture of someone on a cross? Who could stand the torment and the pain? Only Jesus' mother and the beloved disciple John had the guts to stay close to the cross. All the other disciples fled away - even big mouth Peter! ('If all forsake you, I never will!) Big deal! Yet Peter preached on the day of Pentecost and 3000 got saved and baptised! Peter raised Dorcas from the dead! Peter's shadow healed people in the street! Peter sat with the leaders...yet when it counted he wasn't there.
In Charles Dicken's novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Darnay and his friend exchange clothes in a prison and the one dies instead of the other with the following words on his lips as he steps to the scaffolding of the French guillotine: 'It's a far, far better way to go...' so that his friend could be united to the woman he loved. What an amazing climax to a love story!
There is no greater life than a friend giving his life for his friends!
But often that moment comes unexpectedly, unplanned, uncalculated...who is ever ready for such a sacrifice?
But those men and women who died in the great wars of the world, who gave their lives so that we could carry on with life, who died so that we could be free from world domination by insane dictators...all we have for them are some statues, a flame somewhere, 'for the unknown soldier'...
In Christianity there are scores of martyrs, unknown to us, who died so that we could have the Word of God and experience salvation through Jesus Christ. Today coptic Christians in Muslim countries are still being executed for their faith...
Communism in both Russia and China destroyed the lives of multiple thousands of believers and we have no clue who they were. But they are the unsung heroes of our faith!
I have often watched cricket when someone scores a century and I've seen how others honour him as a great batsman, but his partner at the other end who kept on encouraging him, and kept on giving him the bowling, and kept on supporting him is often the unsung hero of the game. Its great to see a teacher go up to the unsung hero and say, 'you did your job well!' to a schoolboy who did his utmost to keep the partnership going.
When will our eyes open to see all the unsung heroes around us? The mother that kept on praying for her son until he turned to Christ; the mother that worked hard to pay the school fees of her daughter; the father who accumulated wealth for his children and grandchildren to enjoy; the old lady in church who gave her car to help with the purchasing of the church property; the boy who gave up his scholarship to obey the call of God in the ministry; the missionary who sold all he possessed to support his family on the mission field...
Have a look around you and see all the unsung heroes in your life and begin to thank them in whatever way possible, for you never know when you might be called upon to become an unsung hero as well!
It's a far, far better way to go...the way of love's ultimate sacrifice. Michael Caine once starred in a War Movie entitled, 'Too Late the Hero', which is also one of my favorite movies. Caine plays the part of a soldier that just wants to survive the jungle war, but in the end he gives his life to save a friend. He played the anti-hero perfectly and eventually became the hero.

Tying Shoelaces

One of the most frustrating things to me was tying shoelaces, three, four times a day! Until at the impressionable age of 19 I saw my uncle tie his Barker English leather round point shoes and make a double knot! That discovery saved me a lot of time and lot of wasted emotional energy - about shoelaces!
Remember the first time you tied your own shoelaces? It took all the concentration you could muster, while chewing your tongue on the side of your mouth and hoping you will not get your fingers caught in the knot.
Then it happened: your shoes were tied! And you could walk off, proudly, knowing you accomplished a seemingly impossible task, all by yourself. Only to discover, a few hours later, that you had to redo everything. The whole process had to be repeated, labouriously.
Well, a double knot is the key.
I saw how my uncle enjoyed tying his shoes properly.
'Shoes must fit tightly to keep your feet in shape. Its no use to have your foot move about in your shoes. You will develop all sorts of problems. So if you tie the laces properly it keeps your feet in the right position in the shoes and you can walk around town without having to check if your shoe laces are still tied.'
I've often thought about that...if you know what to do, it is a pleasure doing it.
And obviously vice versa: if you don't know how to do something, it is a pain!
This applies on all levels, really!
If you don't know how to bake a cake, you hate it. If you don't know how to do book keeping or administration, you hate it. The same with budgeting, with paying accounts, with making a bed, with tidying a cupboard, with stacking things in the garage, with keeping your school notes, with filing your correspondence and bank statements...the list is endless. Think about it.
The things you like doing are things you were trained to do properly - and you saw someone actually enjoy doing it.
That is how I discovered cricket: Andre le Roux taught me and showed me how to enjoy it. He always had a smile on his face when he coached me in their back yard. And even though he was much older than I, he never made me feel 'small'. He invited me to come and watch where he played for Florida Park High's 1st XI. I would pack my sandwiches and ride on my BSC three-speed bike to spend the whole day in the sun, watching them play. I drank water from a tap on the school grounds. Cold drinks were too expensive in those days!
And I saw how my mother enjoyed praying, how my father enjoyed pastoring a church, how a prophet enjoyed prophesying and how a preacher enjoyed preaching, how someone enjoyed working with a computer, how my father enjoyed driving a car, how a cook enjoyed making spaghetti and how an old black man relished making porridge!
The first one to teach me to play the piano was our gardener...I was 5 years old in Benoni, 2nd avenue, Northmead. When my parents went out in the morning he would come into the house, wash his hands and tell me to never tell my parents that he played the piano. He would jam for an hour and I would stand next to him and watch how he played, 'In the Mood' and other favourites. No wonder that when I play in other countries they say,'you play like a black man even though you are white!' The same with my Hammond Organ playing, because African Americans taught me in Miracle Valley, Arizone.
Think about the things you can't do or do not like doing: you have not been taught or trained by someone who actually enjoyed doing it. It is the art of the tutor to instill the love of the subject into the pupil.
Think of the subjects at school...which ones you liked and ones you hated...
Well, Jesus Christ, came to teach us how to love one another and He showed us how to enjoy it! For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
The thing you love is easy to do, isn't it? You feed the cat because you love the cat.You put up with things in people that you love. You care for a babay because you love the baby. If it is not your baby you won't last three days!
Something birthed in your own heart is something you will stick to and never give up, because it is part of you. If someone else tells you what to do you soon get tired of it.
Your treasure lies where your heart it.
But today's sneakers and running type shoes have no laces. They use velcro and take away the joy of tying laces! But the lesson still remains the same!
It is the little things in life that makes life worth living. The art is to find enjoyment in doing the little chores of daily living. Washing dishes, making a bed, ironing...clean the pool. You don't have to study Bhuddism before you fix your motorcycle with concentration - just learn from someone who loves what they are doing and receive impartation that will change your life.
Jesus said,'I have come to give you life and life more abundantly!' He knew how to live. Its the best to learn from someone who knows what he is doing. He later on said, 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life - no man comes to the Father, but by Me.' Either He spoke the truth or He was the greatest conman that ever lived!
My experience so far, as a believer, is that He knew exactly what He was talking about. So I became a follower of the Man from Galilee...and I'm enjoying it!
John the Baptist said of Him,'I am not worthy to tie His shoelaces...' Think about that for a while!