In Sam’s Office
Mark Twain once remarked that there are two important days in a person’s life. The day they are born and the day they discover why they were born
Sam was leaning back into a comfortable chair in his office, unable to keep his mind on the business papers scattered on the desk. For a long time he’d been thinking about his life, about God and Jesus Christ. His life was fine. His health was good, he enjoyed his work, earned a good wage; he found pleasure in good music, literature, movies, in the company of his friends, good food and his comfortable house and good neighbors. He should have been content but there was a hunger in him as was in many others he knew. He came to sense that he was made for more than a ‘fine life’ that ends in Death. He thought it interesting that it was Mark Twain’s aphorism that made his office work more frequently more tedious than it used to be. He thought how strange life can be when a phrase could rivet his mind to thoughts of Christ. It hadn’t dawned on him yet that God was earnestly and lovingly pursuing him.
That was the afternoon when Jesus walked into his office and sat down. The man was stunned; he didn’t know how he knew but he knew who the visitor was. Jesus let him gain his composure and speak the first words.
“You’ve been on my mind a lot for quite a while now. I’ve known about you for years, of course, but more recently I’ve been doing some serious thinking.”
I know, that’s why I’m here. Serious thinking is good. But it has its limits. It can never be a substitute for doing what must be done and you know what needs to be done. So, are you coming?
He twisted in his chair, thought for a moment before asking, “Where to?”
And He said, Where to is a good question—What to works better right now.
Okay, What to?
The grandest of all adventures!
And that is?
To save a world that needs saving!
“I’m not up to a job like that,” he said.
“I know that, but I am, and I still want your help in doing it.”
There was something compelling about Him, a blend of authority and appeal. “Count me in,” Sam said.
He took his word for it, smiled and said, “Welcome. Glad you said yes.”
“I know it isn’t just you and me, but are there many of us?”
“Yes, countless. But you know you don’t all live at the same time or in the same places. Sometimes you’ll feel like you’re alone but at other times you’ll sense you’re part of a movement that can’t be numbered.”
“Will I suffer a lot?”
“You thinking you might have to reconsider your commitment?”
“No, not at all. You had me when you asked, ‘ You coming?’ I suppose I’m just counting the cost.”
“That’s a good thing,” Jesus said, “And yes. It’ll cost you in various ways and it may cost you a lot. But you need to understand; whether you sign on with Me or not, in this life you’ll suffer. It’s that kind of world. Most of what you suffer you will suffer because you’re a human in a world that has alienated itself from My Father. I don’t offer My followers exemption from loss and the anguish countless people endure in this life from their birth till their death. I came into this world and My Father didn’t exempt Me. Of course, I never wanted it or asked for it!”
“So why did you come when you knew what you were in for in such a world?”
A big sigh and, “Because I couldn’t stand to see so many of you suffering alone. Lovers don’t have a choice. You’ve seen that truth demonstrated over and over again in your life, haven’t you! “
“But you suffered so much more than anyone else could have suffered. Is that not true?” Sam asked.
“If you’re talking about physical suffering I think we need to get something clear. I never suffered to the same degree that millions suffered in the Nazi camps or the Gulag or any other such hell-hole. I never made that claim nor did any one of My special witness that I sent out to proclaim and teach my Father’s purpose revealed in Me. But my suffering didn’t begin in that Passion Week or the hours leading to the cross and the hours I hung there. I suffered in ways others couldn’t suffer. My prolonged anguish was heartache and finally heartbreak because of what I saw and heard and knew what was coming. It never was about the quantity of physical pain. My agony could only be matched by My Father. No one ever loved anyone more than He did. With His Spirit as my companion and sustainer I entered into a lover’s pain to a degree that no others could. So, did I suffer more than anyone else? Yes, but not physically. That should never be the stress. The hurt my Father and the Spirit and I felt began a long time before I came from God to embody and make His loving purpose known—a purpose that defies all you can imagine.”
This piece is part of a little book I working with. I purpose to develop it, God enabling me.