As we were standing around “debriefing” one evening this week I was struck that we may be in a situation analogous to the “Man on the Bridge” story from Pastor Kerra’s sermon on February 15. We are clearly in a situation where may accept someone else’s burden and be trapped in a long term dependency where we can’t extricate ourselves. (Okay, so maybe I’m a little slow on the uptake but I wasn’t even in church that week so cut me some slack.)
The analogy isn’t perfect but I’ve never met a metaphor that I can’t extend and stretch to the breaking point. Rather than accepting a burden unbidden from a stranger, we are seeking people already dangling from the bridge who we want to help. As in the parable, some want us untie their ropes from the bridge and accept their burden with no expectation of helping themselves back up.
Some are simply out bungee jumping and don’t need any help, thank you very much. (One of my favorite sayings during this trip has been “When your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”)
Finally there are those who are truly in peril, are seeking assistance and are certainly willing to help themselves back up if we can help them (if you want to keep extending the metaphor, sometimes we need to convince them that they are in peril).
The trick is to discern which is which because it certainly isn’t always obvious. That’s where God’s grace and the ability to wisely use our God-given gifts comes in I guess.
Peace to All,
Dave
No comments:
Post a Comment