Those who liked the "bike" e-mail I sent a couple months ago are gonna' love this one! A guest's bike at the cafe was taken last week by a group of kids. So, we cruised the streets of Medina in search of his stolen wheels. We couldn't find the bike. So, once again, I lent him a used bike hanging upside down from the hooks in my garage. It was a form of transportation until we found out what happened to his bike.
This past Sunday was Mollie's birthday. Mindee, Mollie, and I returned home from a relaxing evening out. Mindee pulled "black beauty" (our '96 chevy cavalier) into the driveway of our house. She pushed the button on the garage door opener. The garage door slowly squeaked open revealing the bike I lent our friend. My first thought, Tommy returned the bike. He must be finished using it. I got out of "black beauty" and walked over to the bike. A handwritten note was neatly wrapped around the frame. I pulled off the note and began to read,
"Dear Tim,
It wasn't my fault and I have a witness! Jesus, the Holy Savior, must not want me to have transportation. You have my permission to write an e-mail about this. I'm just lucky I wasn't riding it at the time!
Your brother who you must hate by now-
Tommy"
I put down the note and thought, what happened now? I meticulously examined the bike.
The front tire was flat.
You know the scene in The Money Pit with Tom Hanks where everything is going wrong? At one point, they just want to enjoy a hot bath. So, they begin pouring buckets of water into the tub when suddenly the tub falls through the floor and shatters into a billion pieces below them. Tom Hanks stands over the newly formed hole and begins laughing so hard he can hardly breathe. I nearly laughed that hard yesterday.
I don't hate Tommy. I love him. A flattened bike tire will not keep me from loving him. Nothing will keep me from loving him. The Apostle Paul reminds us, "It (love) is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs...It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres" (NIV, 1 Corinthians 13:5 & 7).
Paul's words are a common occurrence at wedding ceremonies or hung neatly in a frame at Grandma's house. But I wonder, do we really believe these words? Do we truly live these words?
Love is superlative. It surpasses and is excessive. True love fully embodies the "always" and "everythings" of life. Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus...right? Then why do we allow disappointments and harmful actions and hurtful things to separate us from each another?
We hurt Jesus all the time and He still listens to us and welcomes us home. Is your love for someone a little flat?