A few years ago, my friend, Bud, and I went out on the Potomac River south of Washington, D. C.  Our intention was to go down river a few miles to a crab house, but the wind became so strong that we could not dock safely at the crab house, so we decided to return to the marina.  The Potomac widens to about three miles in this area, so the wind has room to kick up.   Our boat is a cruiser with a flying bridge and a canvas Bimini, so there is sufficient bulk for the wind to impact the steerage of the boat.  We estimated the wind at 35 to 40 miles per hour with white caps everywhere. 

I said to Bud, a good Christian brother, that we needed to start praying because the wind would hit us broadside as soon as we started to turn into the alleyway of the marina, causing us to crash into the boats adjacent to our slip.  We started praying, “Lord Jesus, you calmed the wind and waves on the Sea of Galilee; calm these winds. (Luke8:22-25)   The wind did not abate.   I asked Bud to go down to the stern with a boat hook (pole) to try to keep us from being blown into other boats.  We both kept praying, “Jesus, calm the wind, Jesus calm the wind!”  The wind kept blowing. 

As we approached the alleyway, I told Bud, “I need to come in fast to control the boat in the wind.”  I was so focused on controlling the boat and yelling instructions at Bud, I didn’t notice what was happening.  Bud yelled back, “Bill, the wind has stopped!” I proceeded into the alleyway, pivoted the boat, and backed into the slip without any difficulty.  As soon as we tied up and secured everything, the wind resumed its fury.

There are many ways we can experience high winds in life – a spouse or child who is critically ill, the loss of a job, a life-threatening illness, a boss who cannot be satisfied, a child who struggles making friends, the backbiting of a competitive work colleague, the birth of a child with a disability, a tax deficiency notice from the IRS — the list is long and varied.  Jesus is available to calm the high winds, whatever form they take. 

Do you call on Jesus when you encounter the high winds in your life?     

God gives each of us a lease of time in this physical world with varying durations.  He entrusts us with various talents.  He puts people in our lives.  He has a job or work that is to be our contribution to furthering his creation.  He expects some fruit to come from his lease to us.  For me and many of us, any review of our lives will likely produce a mixed report with both positive and negative fruit.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus shares the Parable of the Tenants. “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and then went on a journey for a long time.” (Luke 20:9) At harvest time he sent his servants and subsequently his son to collect some of the fruit, but the tenants beat the servants and killed the son, claiming the vineyard for themselves,  

The response of the vineyard owner was harsh.  He killed the tenants and gave the vineyard to others.  The chief priests to whom Jesus was telling the parable realized that Jesus was talking about them.

Recently I was rereading “Notes from Your Family” in honor of a certain birthday from a couple of years ago.  The notes were from my wife, my children, their spouses, and their children.  In their notes, they shared various memories of when I spent time with them individually or when we did things together as a family, or extended family involving the grandchildren.  Many of the memories were when the children or grandchildren were young, playing a game, taking a hike, building something, making a trail through the woods, teaching them to fish, time on the boat, or times when we were all together at a beach house.

Some of these moments I had forgotten, but they had not.  While I may not have realized it at the time, these various times were given to me by God in my lease from him.  Some of them were bearing fruit and may have contributed in some small way to where our children and their children are today. 

Time, spouse, children, grandchildren, work, friends, ministry and faith — all are part of the lease God gives to each of us. All are precious seeds waiting to bear fruit for the Lord under our tenancy.

What kind of tenant have you been of God’s lease to you?

In my 38-year career with a large oil company I saw a number of good men who experienced success, only to see a pride build up in them that led to overreach in the exercise of their authority and subsequent downfall.  I too, struggled at times with pride in how I related to others, and in allowing my position to define who I was.

Even the disciples, James and John, sought the position of sitting at Jesus’ right and left. The others became indignant, but Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant…For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” (Mk. 10:43, 45) The reason Jesus said it was easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than a rich man into the Kingdom of God is because of the pride that often accompanies wealth and worldly success.

I have learned so much about humility from our daughter, Emily who has Down syndrome.  She does not presume any special position, only to love her family and friends and to experience our love in return. 

One of the problems with how we handle success is its definition.  The world views success in terms of position, authority, power, and wealth, while God views success in terms of whether we are fulfilling his will in our lives.  He urges us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”  If our focus is on seeking God’s will, we might be better able to handle success however it is defined and in whatever form it takes. 

A friend gave me a Litany of Humility which I sometimes recite during morning prayer. 

“O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, deliver me from the desire of being esteemed, loved, extolled, honored, praised, consulted or approved.  Deliver me from the fear of being humiliated, despised, forgotten, ridiculed or wronged.  Grant me the grace to desire that others might be loved more, esteemed more, chosen, praised, preferred, and become holier than I, provided that I become as holy as I should.”

How do you deal with success and pride in your life?

Several years ago, three of my daughters and I were water skiing in Uncle Tut’s boat when the outboard motor conked out.  He tried to start it several times, he fiddled with several adjustments, but nothing seemed to work.  It was getting late in the day.  There were no other boaters in the area.  He had no VHS radio, and it was a time before cell phones.  We just sat there unable to get back to the landing.  I started to silently pray that the motor would start.  Uncle Tut kept pulling at the starter cord, but nothing happened. 

I got a sense that I needed to pray out loud so Uncle Tut and my daughters could hear me.  As Tut was giving it another yank, I shouted, “Lord Jesus, start the engine!”  Varoom, the motor started right up.  Uncle Tut, who loved to tell stories, told this story for years – how my prayer started his outboard motor when nothing else could. 

Faith is incomplete without some kind of action.  We need to act on our faith for it to have an effect.  It usually requires that we be willing to risk failure, embarrassment, or disappointment. 

Have you noticed how often Jesus says to someone, “your faith has healed [saved] you?”  We see it with the woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years. She pushed through a crowd encircling Jesus, hoping only to touch his cloak.  She said, “’If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.”  Jesus, feeling power go out of him, turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” (Matthew 9:21-22)

We see it with Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, who the crowd attempted to silence as he cried out to Jesus who was passing by. (Mark 10:46-52)    We see it in the friends of a paralytic as they went to the extraordinary efforts of taking him up on a roof and lowering him down through the tiles in the middle of a crowd to get him to Jesus. (Luke 5:18-26)

In each of these instances it was the actions that people took based on their faith that brought forth a favorable response from Jesus.   

Every day we have opportunities to act on our faith.  If we see a questionable business practice, our faith in Christ should enable us to speak up for integrity.  If someone needs to talk, our faith should be willing to listen, and if the friend is discouraged, our faith should motivate us to provide encouragement.  If we see a need for healing, our faith should be willing to offer to pray with the person.  If we need healing, our faith should be willing to ask others to pray with us.  

Are you willing to act on your faith?

“God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses.” (Acts 2:32) 

These are the words of Peter on the day of Pentecost after the disciples experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit.  Peter is trying to explain to people who had heard the disciples praising God in various tongues and languages what was happening.  The disciples had just experienced an outpouring of the Holy Spirit as Jesus had told them in Acts 1:8 “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.”

Four hundred years earlier, the prophet, Joel foretold, “I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; even upon the servants and the handmaids, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.” (Joel 3:1-2) 

Acts 1:15 indicates that there were 120 present following the ascension of Jesus.  Paul reports in 1 Corinthians 15:6 that Jesus appeared to “more than five hundred of the brothers at once.”  All of these were witnesses to Jesus and his resurrection. 

God invites all of us to meet the resurrected Jesus in a way that is unique and personal to each of us. Then like Peter and the several hundred disciples who saw Jesus after his resurrection, we are called to witness to the resurrected Jesus in our own life – that we have met him, that he lives in us and that he is real.  Many years ago, I met Jesus one October evening during a healing mass, and he took some disorder and sin from my life and offered me a new life if I would accept his healing, forgiveness and love. 

I accepted his offer.  Ever since that time, I have been trying to witness to his resurrection and presence in my life and the life of my family and others.  I don’t always do as good a job as I should, but the reality of his presence is there nevertheless.  I have spoken about him to my family, business colleagues, bosses, subordinates; to people individually, in small groups and large groups; sometimes to strangers. 

I have spoken of his love, his forgiveness, his provision, his guidance, his revelation of scripture, his presence in the sacraments and his presence in others.  The greatest challenge is being his witness not just in word, but in conduct.  That takes God’s grace, constant prayer, and awareness of his presence through the Holy Spirit.

Have you accepted the offer of the resurrected Jesus to live in you and witness to his presence?

Some people believe that faith in God should be private, not to be shared or otherwise evident in the workplace.  Others object to hearing talk about Jesus, complaining that they do not want Christians imposing their beliefs on them.  They contend that the workplace should be a religious free zone. 

The following words of St. Paul might offer some guidance as to how Christians should respond to hostility in the workplace.  “Love is kind, love is patient.  It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”  (1 Co. 13:4-7)

There is no law against love in the workplace.  There is no employee handbook that can object to conduct exhibiting the characteristics enumerated above.  If as Christians, we adhere to these actions, we will stand out; people will notice that we are different; they will seek our counsel and advice on both business and personal matters. 

There was a certain executive where I worked that when he learned of my affiliation with a Christian ministry, Christians in Commerce, now called WorkLight, would mock my Christianity when we were with other colleagues, but when we were alone would ask me numerous questions.  With others present he would contend that Christians in Commerce was an oxymoron, but privately, he would ask me what we did, and seek my opinion on things in the Bible he did not understand or agree with.  Whether he realized it, he was searching for God, and because of the credibility established in our relationship over many years, the Lord may have given me the opportunity to plant some seeds.

Our initial witness to Jesus Christ is usually better accomplished with conduct than words.  The conduct establishes the credibility and opens the door for the words to have more impact when the opportunity arises. The expression, “talk is cheap” applies to Christians too.  If you want the opportunity to witness to Christ with your words, witness first with your conduct.  Hostility to Christians in the workplace is often a reaction to words that come before the credibility of affirming conduct.    

What workplace can object to patience, kindness, humility, forgiveness, truth, hope, trust, perseverance – in other words, love?

“Ask something of me and I will give it to you,” (1Kings 3:5)

How would you respond if God made a similar offer to you?  

God made this very offer to Solomon who had just become Israel’s new King.  Soloman replied in complete humility, “O Lord my God, you have made your servant, king to succeed my father, David; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act. Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.  For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?” (1Kings 3: 7, 9)    

While God offered him whatever he wanted, Solomon did not choose the things people might usually think of first such as wealth and power, or good health and a long life. Rather, he acknowledged his lack of experience and need for wisdom as he began to serve as King.

When approaching God with a request, we might want to follow Solomon’s example and come humbly, acknowledging our true status and need.  Solomon characterized himself as a “mere youth.”  How appropriate when coming before God!  Jesus said unless we become as little children we will never enter the kingdom of God.

We may not always understand what to request, confusing wants and desires with real needs.  Solomon was overwhelmed with the task he was about to face as a young and new king.  That is not necessarily a bad place to be since it helped him recognize his needs in contrast to his desires.

One other thing Solomon did in his request was to leave God some room to act in what would be in his best interests. Solomon did not ask to be a successful king.  He asked for wisdom and a discerning heart.  Scripture tells us that God was pleased with Solomon’s request and gave him not only what he asked for, but also what he didn’t ask for including riches and honor. 

Centuries later we hear the echo of this same response when Jesus says we should not worry about what to eat or drink or wear, but “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33) Jesus tells us in the Lord’s Prayer to pray for God’s will to be done.  Seeking God’s will in all things may be the highest priority in our lives.  It far surpasses the world’s priorities of wealth, fame, and power. 

If God told you to ask for anything, what would it be?

“‘Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.’ Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’” (Mark 10:47, 49)

Ask someone how they are doing, and they will likely tell you how busy they are.  We seem to be always busy – demanding jobs and active families with children involved in numerous activities often result in our rushing from one place to another.  

The Gospel of Mark reports that as Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.” (Mark 10:46-52) Above the din of the crowd Jesus hears this man call out to him and stops to hear his plea.

Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Bartimaeus says, “Master, I want to see.”  Jesus says, “Go your way, your faith has saved you.”  Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (Mark 10:51-52)

Are we willing to stop what we are doing to respond to someone in need?  Sometimes I have stopped; sometimes I have passed by. 

One evening while driving to a meeting, I came upon a man who had just been hit by a pick-up truck as he was crossing the road with a grocery cart.  The man was on the street in front of the truck and the grocery cart was under the truck.  As one of the first on the scene, I immediately pulled into an adjacent parking lot and ran to him.  I knelt to see how he was.  As the sound of sirens approached, he asked me if he was going to die.  Without thinking, I said, “No, you are not going to die,” I put my hand on his shoulder and started praying with him as a crowd gathered around.  The rescue squad arrived and pushed me aside.  They put him on a board and took him to a nearby hospital.  I inquired of the hospital, but since I didn’t know his name, was never able to learn whether he lived or died.

In later reflecting on the moment, I wondered whether I should have responded that he was not going to die since I did not know the nature of his injuries.  But then I came to understand that I was God’s delegate that evening, the first person on the scene to encourage and pray with him.   I had to accept Jesus’ promise that he and the Father’s presence were in me for me to say what I said.    

There is a blessing in stopping. Are we willing to listen above the din of the crowd and resist the pace of the moment to stop – and respond to the need of another on behalf of the Lord?  

“Is that your boy?” asked the salty 82-year-old owner of the marina as we backed the boat into the slip, with my son, Steve, and son-in-law, Greg handling the lines.  “Yes,” I answered, “He’s my son,” and then pointing to Greg, “and he’s my son-in-law.”

We were on a three day boat trip down the Potomac River, across the Chesapeake Bay to Tangier Island, then up the St. Mary’s River and finally back to Occoquan, south of Washington, D. C.  It was early October and God had blessed us with absolutely beautiful weather – warm sunshine days and cool nights – picturesque sunrises and artistic sunsets.  We had lunch at various crab houses along the way and anchored out each evening with one of the boys cooking dinner on the boat.  We were all easy to be with.

Tangier Island is like stepping into a time warp, discovered by Captain John Smith in 1608, a population of 569 who still speak with a trace of Elizabethan accent; all connected either directly or indirectly with the crabbing industry.  No cars, only golf carts and walking paths populated with houses and front yards filled with gravestones of preceding generations; lots of docks, marshes and crab boats. 

It may sound like a small thing, but for the owner of the marina to see enough resemblance to ask the question, “Is that your boy?” made me feel kind of proud.  Forty-three years separate my son, Stephen and me.  He was 30 and vigorous at the time.  I have white hair and am not quite so vigorous.

In today’s society, families tend to get so disbursed that we can easily lose our sense of family and identity from generation to generation.  We go our separate ways, life full of work, children, activities, and busyness; seldom doing things together, living far apart, seeing each other only on an occasional holiday.  In prior generations, like Tangier Island, families tended to live together more, or at least in closer proximity, sons worked with their fathers and were a continuation of the father in both work and life.

Tradition tells us that Jesus initially took on the work of his earthly father, Joseph, working as a carpenter before he began his public life. In his public life he took on the work of his heavenly Father, becoming his presence in human form in the family business of salvation.  “He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age, and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:51-52)

This is the natural order established by God – man, woman, family cooperating with God’s creative act to fill the earth and to work and take care of the garden of his creation, extending God’s plan and leading each generation to God, so that God may one day be “all in all.” (1Cor. 15:28) 

Let us pray that God may be as proud of us, his extension in this world, as I am of my son, Stephen, son-in-law, Greg, and all my children, their spouses and families, who are an extension of our family and heritage.

“Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these.”  (John 14:12)

These are Jesus’ words to the disciples the night before his arrest.  He goes on to say, “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” Jesus wants to act on the faith of our requests to him in order to bring glory to the Father.  Jesus wants us to have faith in him, to live by his words, and pray in his name. 

I have a friend, Sheri, who is a physical therapist in Arizona.  She had a co-worker, Ashley, who was scheduled for an MRI to check on a piece of brain tumor that could not be removed from a prior surgery.  Every time Ashley would have an MRI to check on the status of the tumor, she would get very anxious.  On this occasion it turns out that Sheri was able to see Ashley right before she left for her appointment.  Sheri sensed that the Lord wanted her to pray with Ashley that this time the MRI would show no presence of the tumor.  While Sheri had reservations about whether she should follow what she deemed a prompting of the Holy Spirit, she nevertheless placed her hand on Ashley’s forehead and prayed in the name of Jesus that the tumor would be gone. 

Sheri reports, “The next time we saw each other, I was walking down the hallway past Ashley’s office when she yelled, ‘Sheri, THE TUMOR IS GONE!’  Not a trace of it was on the MRI, even though it had been present on every MRI for several years.” 

We see in Sheri’s story someone who not only believes in Jesus, but also has the confidence in him to step out and boldly offer to pray with her friend that God would heal her and take away all trace of the remaining piece of brain tumor. 

Whether Sheri realized it or not, by her faith in praying for Shelley in the name of Jesus, she was also bringing glory to the Father.

The Gospels share many promises of Jesus like this one.  How much confidence do you have in Jesus’ promises?