Two Shirt Day

It was a two shirt day. I expected to have to change shirts. I do put a clean one on in the mornings. But I didn't expect it so soon.

Maybe I had better start at the beginning.

I took a shower in the house where we are staying here in Okinawa. Everything seemed fine. So I got dressed as usual. No problems yet. Then I started into the living room to continue my prep work for our first service here at Keystone Nazarene, the congregation with whom we have the privilege of sharing life this Summer.

And then it happened. The sweat started running. I turned on the fan and placed myself in front of it. But the sweat continued. I tried to ignore it, but to no avail. And then I made the mistake of moving.

As soon as I moved the evidence of the monsoon of sweat that was taking over the local weather system under my shirt became evident. What had been my secret was now revealed to the world, or at least to my wife and our host. The sweat had penetrated my shirt and was making its presence known to everyone who cared to look.

Sometimes in our spiritual life we try to hide the turmoil in our lives. We try to make the outside look better than our inside. We put on the happy face and pretend, at least to the outside world, that all is well. But we can't hide this turmoil from ourselves. And eventually it shows up to the outside world.

We all know people who pretend everything is OK, but are completely unaware that everyone around them knows something is wrong. They think they are hiding it, but it is plain to see.

Paul wrote that he was strongest when he was weakest (2Cor 12:10). When he was willing to live in that weakness, not trying to hide behind some fake facade, then God's power could take over, making the impossible possible.

So in defeat I went to my bedroom and put on a different shirt, one that would hide the sweat. The sweat is still there, but people can't see it. I guess I just became better at hiding my real self! Yikes! That isn't what I want. I want people to see the real me. But I hear in a voice in my head reminding me of what my loving wife might say, "Yes, but they don't want to smell the real you!"

I put on more deodorant!

Contrast in Character

Mark 14:66-72

      One of the keen skills of our military Special Forces is the ability to blend into a culture very different from our own. The master the language, the customs, the mannerisms, the dress, the eating habits of the other culture. Then they slip in and live among that population unnoticed. At the right moment they act. I admire their dedication to their task.

      We all have to learn to blend in. We go to school and try to dress like the other kids. If we don’t, we are picked on and made fun of. As adults we have usually learned the limits of acceptable behavior. We curb our desires to act too crazy for fear of rejection. About the only time blending isn’t important is in marketing. When we want to sell something, we want to stand out from the crowd, we want to be noticed.

      When I lived overseas I was often told to try to blend into the surrounding culture. We were all told to not wear American looking clothes. The American flag T-shirts were a definite no go. We had to curb our public behavior. We Americans can be loud and intrusive compared to other European cultures. We usually stick out like sore thumbs.

      I remember moving to San Antonio, TX. As an English speaker, I stuck out! I was also a non-Texan. Two strikes. And I wasn’t tan. Strike three.

      Peter, the apostle, didn’t do any better at blending in than many of us in a foreign location. He was under pressure. He was right under the nose of those who had captured his leader. Fear was rampant, probably palatable. It is late at night. He is in the courtyard of the high priest, a very powerful and probably wealthy individual. It would have been a large house with a courtyard large enough for Peter to have moved around and try to evade detection.

      This kind of wealth was very different than what Peter was used to. He was a fisherman by trade, hardly the kind of career that led to great wealth. He didn’t manage a fleet of boats. He manned his own vessel, probably a fairly small, sail and oar driven vessel. He would have caught enough to feed himself and his family with enough left over to sell to pay for the other necessities of life. No 401k padded him from retirement poverty. If he didn’t fish, he didn’t eat.

      So standing in this rather lavish house and grounds would have been difficult for him under any circumstance. But these weren’t just any circumstances. Jesus had been arrested and was being questioned only a few feet away, behind those walls. The One in whom Peter had put his earthly, and maybe spiritual hopes, was being railroaded. And there was nothing he could do about it.

      He tries to blend into the crowd, but a pesky servant keeps poking her nose into his business. He wants to blend in, but she keeps pointing the spotlight his direction.

Finger Pointing

Mark 14:18-19

      I remember when I was a kid hearing those in authority in my life tell be about the finger pointing used when I was trying to shift blame away from myself. They would say something like this.  “Remember, when you point your finger at someone else you have four fingers pointing back at yourself.” To which I would give a smart-mouthed response, which was never well received, “Only three, my thumb is pointing forward also.” And when I say it was never received well, I mean NEVER!

      Blame shifting really never works the way we want it to work. Even if we can convince others it wasn’t you, we still know the truth. This kind of lie works its damage on us. We pay a price for blame shifting. Kids learn to blame shift as soon as they have a sibling. If they are an only child, they are behind the power curve. By the time they get to school, everyone else will have perfected the art of blame shifting, and their rank amateur status will become obvious.

      But kids aren’t the only ones who do this. When things are going south at work, not working out, and the heat is starting to be felt, blame is a wonderful tool. Point at the economy, the changing demographics, the competition, the delays in the supply chain, the workers, and the management. The secret is to point everywhere else. Never take responsibility for your part. It can’t be you, can it? You didn’t contribute to the problem, did you?

      Marriages are a great place for the blame shifting game. When hurts happen, it is easier to point the finger, raise the voice, and point out the other’s faults. But it takes two for a marriage to fail, even if your part was very small. Blaming helps put off the pain, if only for a few moments. Anger is easy. Grief is painful.

      Jesus tells His disciples that one of them is going to betray Him. This would have been the perfect opportunity to blame shift. Peter could have spoken up as the most impulsive in the group and blamed one of the more introverted disciples. Many of them could have pointed to Peter since he made an easy target. Jesus had, after all, told Peter, “get behind me, Satan” on one occasion. Others could have been singled out for their individual times of “not getting it.” There was plenty of blame to go around.

      But amazingly, each disciple in turn points the finger at themselves. This is so unlike them. They are willing, in this moment of greatest vulnerability, to take responsibility. They can’t believe what Jesus is saying. How could any of them betray their close friend, this One who cared so much for them.

      And yet, this is exactly what Jesus says will happen. One of them. This isn’t true! It wasn’t just Judas that betrayed Jesus. He might have taken the money and arranged the physical betrayal, but all the disciples fled. All of them turned their backs to one degree or another. None stayed rock solid.

Unwitting Partner

Mark 6:21-22

      Have you ever waited for just the right moment to ask someone? I remember several of these “right moment” experiences in my life. And if you ask my wife, she will tell you that I am not very good at keeping secrets, at waiting for the right moment. I almost always tell before the event has arrived. Maybe the right moment was about asking for a promotion at work, or a pay raise, or a date invitation. Or maybe it was about asking for a favor, or confessing a mistake. Finding the right moment can be difficult.

      The king’s wife, Herodias, has held a grudge against John the Baptist ever since John called her out in public and revealed the sin of her current marriage. Some people just don’t like public humiliation! What’s up with that!

      So Herodias has plotted and schemed of getting even with John for some time. She wants him dead for what he said about her marriage. Talk about a bad sport! Wanting to kill someone for what they said seems a bit extreme, doesn’t it? Words are just words, unless they prick your conscience and bring on guilt. That seems to have been what happened. John had spoken and it hit right at the heart of Herodias’ guilt. And she had held onto the pain in hopes of revenge.

      The King is throwing a big banquet for all the important people in the kingdom. It would be equivalent to a Whitehouse Dinner. Anybody who was anybody was there. And the queen knew the king. She knew his weaknesses. She had used those weaknesses in the past to get what she wanted. Now she was going to use them against him to finally get revenge.

      And the plot involved her daughter. I guess Herod must have had a lust problem. Perhaps he liked younger women. Perhaps Herodias had been one of those young women who had caught his eye previously. And she uses this to her advantage. Talk about sexual exploitation! Her mother uses her daughter. Yikes!

      Another weakness that she knows about her husband is that he values what other people think about him. If she can get him to commit to a course of action in front of the crowd, he would feel compelled to fulfill it, or he would lose face before his guests. His reputation would be on the line.

      The last thing the king’s wife knew about her husband is that he is impulsive. In the heat of the moment he makes rash decisions. He lets his feelings get the best of him. He will commit to things and then later regret it.

      Herodias has studied her husband and now uses these traits to get what she wants. She doesn’t do it directly, that would be to straight forward. She instead uses her daughter. She can’t confront him directly, so she uses the kids.