God’s Will, Our Way
“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” II Timothy 1:9 KJV
There is one thing those close to me might tell you about me. It is that I have a sarcastic sense of humor. This humor is not usually mean and I can assure you that it is never my intention to hurt anyone. To back up this claim, I will tell you that if my sarcastic side does not show through it can usually be attributed to three things.
The first sign you will not see my sarcastic side is when the discussion is serious. It may be a business meeting, a personal conversation, a worship service, a presentation for a customer, or a time of sadness.
If I haven’t had a chance to get to know you yet or I’m uncomfortable with you, might be another reason for my holding back my sarcasm. A third reason would be that I am upset. Being sarcastic when you are upset usually comes out as mean. It’s hard to be funny and mad at the same time.
I usually have people smiling in my conversations. Seldom is anyone upset with my sense of humor, but it has happened before. When that happens, I usually hold back part of myself from that person and I’m a little more careful in expressing my opinions, or humor, around them.
One thing that really might surprise people about my sense of humor is that I am very bad at telling jokes. You would think funny was funny, but that is not true in my case. Although I can put a funny spin on just about anything in life, if I read or hear a joke, I have a hard time remembering all the parts of it. I work best with my own material.
The few “jokes” I do know are usually in the story form. Here is an example of one I remember (and if you have heard me tell it before, please forgive me because I don’t have many in my stash):
There once was a young man who owned a beautiful house. He spent much time taking care of his property and it showed. It was a two story house with a wrap-around porch. On spring and fall days he loved sitting on that porch.
One day he was sitting on the porch listening to his radio. The program was interrupted by a weather alert. The alert advised people in his area to evacuate because torrential downpours, which would lead to some major flooding, were on their way.
As he turned down his radio, he said a little prayer. Completing his prayer, he knew God would keep him safe. Trusting in God was all he was supposed to do, right? After all, if he did that then God would take care of him.
The heavy rains came just as the forecast called for. Soon the water rose to the level of the porch. A gentleman in a four-wheel-drive vehicle came by and hollered at him to hop in and he would take him to safety. “That’s okay, I prayed to God and I have faith he will take care of me,” the young man shouted. The driver headed off in a different direction to see if he could help someone else.
Rain just kept pouring down. The young man moved up to the second floor of his house because the water had come in and covered his kitchen cabinets downstairs. He was looking out one of the windows when a boat came by.
The man steering the boat saw the young man in the window and yelled to him that he would pull his boat closer to the house so he could hop in and be rescued. Once again the young man waved the help off. Again he said, “I have prayed to God and he will provide me with safety.” Off the boat went into the distance.
The water continued to rise all the way up to the level of the bed. Undeterred, the young man climbed on the roof. A search and rescue helicopter saw him sitting on his roof and headed in his direction. With a megaphone they yelled down to him that they would be lowering a rope to him and for him to grab it and they would pull him up into the helicopter to safety.
The young man shook his head no and waved them off. Then he folded his hands to let them know he had prayed to God and God would rescue him. Disappointed, the pilot flew off into the horizon.
A short time later the dam upstream broke and sent even more water in the young man’s direction. The rush of water knocked the young man off the roof and into the water. The young man drowned.
As the young man stood at the gates of heaven, God came up to him. Disappointed, the young man turned to God and said, “God, I don’t understand. I prayed to You to keep me safe and rescue me from the weather’s harm. What happened?”
Confused, God said, “What do you mean? I sent you a weather alert, a four-wheel-drive vehicle, a boat and a helicopter.”
Chances are, unless you are a master of really obscure history, you have never heard of Hiram Johnson before. Hiram had several opportunities to become President. Hiram missed his chances to be President because he was too busy wanting to be President.
Hiram was the 23rd Governor of California. He was a Republican. He started out as a Progressive, but later would become a Liberal Isolationist. He was born in California. His father, Grove Lawrence Johnson, was a member of the California State Legislature. Being a Republican was also a trait of his father’s.
When Theodore Roosevelt tired of the Presidency, he went off on a long vacation. His handpicked successor, William Howard Taft, coasted to an easy victory to the next Presidential election. When Teddy returned, he was not at all pleased with the job Taft was doing. TR decided he would run against Taft and get his old job back.
Taft would not back down from running for reelection. President Taft would outmaneuver Roosevelt for the Republican nomination. Teddy was not at all happy about this and he decided to become a third party candidate for the Presidency. Theodore Roosevelt would run under the Progressive Party, or Bull Moose Party as it was nicknamed. Roosevelt’s running mate was none other than Hiram Johnson.
Since both TR and Taft were Republicans, they basically split the Republican side in the general election vote. Because of that split, they would hand the election to Woodrow Wilson. Theodore Roosevelt and Hiram Johnson did finish in second place, though. Poor President Taft finished in a distant third place in the race.
Woodrow Wilson would serve two terms. As an interesting note, if TR would have won the election against Wilson and Taft, and if Roosevelt would have been elected for the two terms Wilson served, Hiram Johnson would have probably become President. Theodore Roosevelt would have died before that second term would have ended and Hiram Johnson, as his Vice President, would have become President.
When Teddy Roosevelt died, it left a huge vacuum in the Republican Party. After two terms, the nation was really tiring of Woodrow Wilson and almost everyone was sure that whichever Republican was picked for the nomination, that person would become the next President. This made for a very competitive election cycle on the Republican side.
One of the most interesting parts of the New Testament is Jesus’ parables. The website Jesus Christ our Savior defines a parable as:
“A parable is a story about a familiar subject to teach an important moral lesson. The root meaning of the word parable means a placing side by side for the sake of comparison.”
One of the most fascinating parts of those parables, to me, is how you can always find new insights with each reading of them. Strangely, as the definition states, they are not about a real person. Rather, they are stories to help you gain a deeper perspective on “how things work.”
Of Jesus’ parables, there are 33 that are the most notable. These parables are in the Books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Of those 33, eighteen are in only one of those Gospels. Ten are only in Luke, seven are only in Matthew, and one is only in Mark.
The parable I want to talk about is one of the ten that is only in Luke. Jesus seems to be in the middle of a conversation with some Pharisees. Like most of those encounters, the Pharisees seem to be looking more at Jesus’ words than what Jesus is actually saying.
In our story, Jesus seems to use several parables to say, “You know, it’s kind of like this….” Then in rapid succession he fires off several parables. Oddly, most seem to deal with money. Their direction doesn’t seem to be aimed at tithing, but more on the importance of money in your life.
When the Republican Convention rolled around there was no clear cut winner. There were basically three strong candidates who garnered the most votes: Leonard Wood, Frank Orren Lowden, and Hiram Johnson. There were also several other minor characters who had a few votes, too. The locked convention would go ten ballots before they would choose their candidate.
This was an age in our history when a couple of things contributed to locked conventions. This election would fit right into that cycle. First, it was an age when there were many “favorite sons” who became Presidential candidates. Basically, many states put forth their own candidate, or “favorite son,” not necessarily in the hopes he would become President, but when the convention rolled around their state could gain something by sharing their votes with a candidate to push that candidate over the top.
Second, this was the age of the party bosses and they carried a lot of weight. If a candidate wanted one of these deals to happen, it would have to go through the party bosses. Of course, the party bosses wanted a little control to go along with their support. So you ended up with a lot of wheeling and dealing in order to get the nomination.
General Leonard Wood came into the convention with the most delegates, 287. Wood was a famous general in the Spanish-American War. One of the things history most remembers about him was he was in charge of the Rough Riders. The Rough Riders were the famous unit that charged Kettle Hill and San Juan Heights in Cuba during that war. You may remember that Teddy Roosevelt was part of that unit.
Frank Orren Lowden carried the second most delegates into the convention, 211. Lowden was the 25th Governor of Illinois. He gained a very strong reputation for his reorganization skills with the state government there. His handling of the Chicago race riots also caused many people view him positively. Although his campaign was embarrassed by reports of profligate spending, he seemed to be able to overcome it and was considered a very strong choice.
The third candidate was Hiram Johnson and he had 133 delegates which he brought to the convention. Johnson was very upset that Teddy Roosevelt’s family supported Wood over him. Even though Teddy was no longer around, the Roosevelt family’s support carried a lot of weight. Hiram would have to either negotiate a super deal or he would be the odd man out.
Opposing party bosses were really torn between Wood and Lowden. A new idea, and a new candidate, Philander C. Knox, emerged as a comprise candidate between the bosses. The bosses floated the idea and sweetened it by offering Johnson the Vice President spot for his support and his delegates. Johnson wanted no parts of this. He did not want to be Vice President, he wanted to be President.
Philander C. Knox was lawyer, bank director, and politician. He served in William McKinley’s cabinet as Attorney General. President Taft would pick him to be his Secretary of State. Knox had earned the nickname “Sleepy Phil.” No one is sure if that nickname was because he was known to doze off during board meetings or if it was because he was cross-eyed. Hiram Johnson was a good friend of his.
Oddly enough, had Hiram Johnson accepted the Vice President spot he probably would have become President. It was almost a certainty that the Republicans would win the Presidency. Knox would have died a few months after the swearing in and Johnson would have become President, if that happened.
Since the Knox plan didn’t work, the bosses had to devise another plan. This plan involved an Ohio Senator who had gathered a few delegates himself coming into the convention. This candidate had gained a little steam on each rollcall for votes as the ballots seemed to go on and on. Once again, the bosses turned to Johnson for his support and his delegates. Johnson was again offered the Vice Presidency. Still determined that he only wanted to be President, Johnson declined once again.
Before our parable takes place, in Luke, Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep. Then Jesus tells the parable of the lost coin. The prodigal son’s taking his father’s inheritance and running off to have a good time in the next parable. After that there is the story of the shrewd manager which often still baffles some today.
It is in the next of Jesus’ parables, in Luke, that caught my attention. It is about a very successful businessman. With successful businessman like him, he could afford almost anything. If he wants to throw a big party, well then, it’s going to be the best party ever.
Life has many different stages. When you are trying to start out, finding success seems like a distant venue. Some people get stuck in this type of life and many times it is not for a lack of effort on their part. One discouragement after another can wear on one’s soul and after a while some lose heart. They give up.
But others seem to rise up to the challenges that plague success. Sometimes it is luck, contacts, drive, an inheritance, or even being at the right place at the right time. Success seems to find them. What happens to too many of those is that they forget the others who have missed that success boat.
Jesus’ parable is about two people on both ends of that spectrum. One seems to have found the success to life. The other seems to be down on his luck. When their paths cross, that is when the parable gets interesting.
Luke 16:19 describes the successful man as: “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day….” Then Luke 16:20 describes the poor man as: “And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores….”
There were two very different men, in two very different stages of life. After one of the successful parties put on by the successful man, Lazarus asked for some scraps that are leftover. These scraps are probably going to be thrown away anyway. The successful man gets upset by the request and turns the beggar away.
Before we come down too hard on the successful man, let’s think about our own life. Let’s say you have a little bit of money in your wallet. You are walking down in what might not be described as the best part of town. Your sense of direction seems to be missing and you are heading deeper into that bad part of town. As the sun sets, the streets become darker.
If you see a shadow that seems to be following you, what is your first thought. Someone is going to take my wallet or even worse, harm me in some way. You are probably going to think the worst. There is no benefit of the doubt, because you have too much riding on yourself.
The successful man was no different. He was trying to show his guests a good time and this beggar comes knocking at his door. “How dare he embarrass me like that?” “If he would have gotten himself a job he wouldn’t need to come begging!” These could have been a couple of the statements he uttered.
The bosses celebrated when the Ohio Senator won the party’s nomination for President. Next they laid out their plan for the pick of Vice President. Their choice was Irvine Lenroot. Lenroot was a Senator from Wisconsin. Later in life he would become an Associate Judge on the US Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.
It was hot and the Republican delegates were getting really tired of the way this convention was turning out. They were also tired of being told by the bosses who they should pick. So, in an act of defiance, the convention delegates chose someone other than Lenroot for the Vice President spot. They turned to the Governor of Massachusetts. And the convention closed.
In the election of 1920, the Republican Senator from Ohio, Warren G. Harding, would cruise to an easy victory for the Presidency. Harding would defeat the Democratic candidate, James M. Cox, 404 electoral votes to 127. Amazingly, Harding captured 60.3% of the popular vote.
The new Vice President would be the Governor of Massachusetts, Calvin Coolidge. Sadly, before Harding’s term would end, he would die. Vice President Calvin Coolidge would become President.
Poor Hiram Johnson. If he would have accepted the bosses’ proposal to be Harding’s Vice President, he would now be President. If Johnson had accepted that role, Calvin Coolidge would have just returned to Massachusetts to live out his life. If that had happened, very few history books would have even mentioned Coolidge’s name. Because of this, Hiram Johnson, instead of Calvin Coolidge, would be known as the 29th Vice President and the 30th President of the United States.
Johnson would try one last time for the Presidency. In the next election he would try to knock off sitting President Calvin Coolidge. Coolidge, at this time, was very popular, especially for the grace in which he handled Harding’s funeral and legacy. Poor Hiram Johnson would never be President. History books would relegate him to obscure trivia questions.
As so happens, both the beggar and the successful man die. In an odd twist, the successful man goes to hell and the beggar goes to heaven. Thirst overcomes the successful man while he is in hell and he asks Abraham to let the beggar dip his finger in water and just let his tongue feel that one drop of water. Maybe that is the exact same feeling the beggar had when he just asked for the crumbs from the successful man’s party table.
Failing at that attempt, the successful man then pleas to Abraham to let the beggar go back to earth and warn his family about what a horrid place hell is. I always thought that was odd. Why didn’t he ask Abraham to go and talk to his family, or even send an angel? Abraham seems to have the same question for the man, “You didn’t listen to the beggar, why would they?”
You see, the successful man worked so hard searching for success that he missed being successful. Sure, it looked like he was doing it the right way. His heart probably convinced him that his tape measure gave the proper measurements.
Often we cry out to the Lord to show us his will. We will do anything He asks us to do, as long as it is what we want to do. As long as we are comfortable or feel qualified, we are there for you Lord. Yes, please show me your will.
When we get to the gates of heaven to meet God, and we demand to know why He didn’t give us a sign for the direction He wanted us to go, we may be surprised by His answer. “I sent you a warning. I sent you a four wheel drive vehicle. I sent you a boat. I sent you a helicopter. I asked you to be Vice President. My poor, sore scared hands ask you for just crumbs to eat. What do you mean I didn’t send you a sign?” might be His reply.
Prayer: Dear Mighty Father, Please help me do a better job seeing what You want me to do with my life. Please give me the wisdom to know that direction does not always come in a bright shiny box. Please help me to stop being so busy looking for Your direction that I miss Your direction. Amen.
