Six Bushels

 

“I think it’s time,” I said.

Elaine looked at me quizzically.  “Time for what?”  She asked.

“Time to get some apples,” I replied.

Of course, we have apples in our house a lot.  Most grocery stores sell them and as long as you don’t purchase Red Delicious Apples – those masqueraders that look great but often are anything but crisp when you bite into them – you’ll probably be fine.

Typically, at the end of October or beginning of November we travel to an orchard and purchase apples by the bushel.  So it was that we made our way through the highways and byways of Nelson County to the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

I had made up my mind.  Six bushels is what we would buy.  Many for eating, but some for making apple sauce.  Four bushels of Pink Lady Apples and two bushels of Golden Delicious Apples is what we ended up taking home with us.

As we drove back, I thought about the meaning of this “pilgrimage.”  It took time and beyond that, the apples weren’t free.  I thought they were better than the ones at our local supermarket, but were they that much better that it was worth driving over an hour to get them?

Of course, humans invest their time and money in all sorts of things.  Some people spend their time getting good at playing video games, while others learn how to grow and make flower arrangements like a professional.  Most people spend a decent amount of time simply holding their nose to a grindstone for enough coins to keep their family out of the poorhouse.

Jesus talked about the things having the most value as being the “Kingdom of Heaven.”  “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45,46)

I am convinced that many of the things we invest our time, talents, and money in have little long-term value.  That doesn’t mean that it is wrong to do these things, but other things should have a higher priority for us.

The merchant in Jesus’ parable realized that all of the other things he owned were less valuable than this “pearl of great price.”  Once he discovered this, it was no pinch to sell them to gain something greater.

We would do well to consider this.  For there are things we can invest ourselves in that will hold their value even longer than six bushels of apples from the heart of Nelson County.

Adopted!

 

“Mom, I want a younger sister!”  Elise was as definite in stating her wishes as a six-year-old can be. 

“No, Elise,” Elaine said absently.  “You aren’t going to have a younger sister.”

“Well, even a brother…”  Clearly, a brother would be second best, but Elise would tolerate this for the possibility of having a younger sibling.  It is hard being the youngest in the family and with a simple decision on her parent’s part, she could immediately join the ranks of “older children.”

“Not even a brother,” Elaine said, with little thought.  This wasn’t the first time this request had been placed and each time it had been shot down as easily as a sushi order in Texas Roadhouse.

“I think we should adopt Michael or his younger sister Emma,” Elise said (names have been changed to protect the innocent). 

“But Michael and Emma have loving parents,” Elaine protested.  “They don’t need adopting.  Usually, when you adopt children, it is because they don’t have parents or the parents can’t take care of them for some reason.”

“What about Mia?”  I asked.  “Would you like to adopt her?”  I’m not sure why I asked.  Mia also has loving parents and no need of the Waldron’s home as a shelter from a life of homelessness.

“No,” Elise said flatly.  “Mia is too bossy.  She would not fit in here at all!”

So, the conversation went.  Elise was certain that there was some child that went to church with her or school with her who would benefit greatly from getting adopted into our home, while her parents were just as certain that this wasn’t going to happen.

The Bible speaks of our entrance into the family of God as an “adoption.”  “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:14,15)

This is not a situation where we were living in a well to do, middle class family when suddenly a classmate offered us the chance to be adopted by her family.  Rather, we were destitute, homeless, and without purpose when God, through His great mercy reached down and offered us a place in His family.

I suppose it would have been enough for Him to offer us a position as a servant – carrying in firewood or polishing the silver, but instead, He offered us something far better.  The Hebrew term, Abba, is a term of endearment and trust.  It speaks of relationship.

Even though we did not deserve it, our Heavenly Father made us co-heirs with Jesus.  He adopted us into the best family there is or could ever be, the family of God.

"Lo"

 

“I wonder how much I weigh?”  My daughter said.

“The scale’s right there,” I said.  “Have at it.”

Somehow, ten-year olds have less trepidation stepping on a scale than those of us who can look at a picture of brownie and somehow gain half a pound.  Something changes in the human metabolism around age 30 and things are never quite the same.

“That’s weird,” Victoria said.

“What?”  I asked.  “Are you gaining weight?”

“No,” she answered.  “At least I don’t think so.  The scale just says, ‘Lo.’”

“Sounds like our scale has gotten judgmental,” I said.  I stepped on the scale myself, just to see how it would respond to my larger size.  Once again, the fatal word showed up, ‘Lo!’

“I guess the scale thinks we are malnourished,” I said.  “Double portions of dessert tonight for supper for everyone!”

“It’s just saying that the batteries need to be changed in the scale,” Elaine put in. 

“Back in my day,” I said.  “Scales didn’t have batteries in them.  They had a dial and you stepped on them and the dial went up to whatever number your weight was.  That is, except for the scale at my mom’s office – that one had weights and you had to adjust them up or down to see how much people weighed.  We probably need a scale like that.”

"I think we can just change the batteries in the scale and it will be fine," my beautiful wife put in.

And she was right.

As I thought about our scale, I came to the conclusion that this sort of scale would be exactly what most people want.  Much like the evil queen in snow white wanted a mirror that claimed she was the "fairest of them all," we don’t really want a scale to tell us how much weigh – we want a scale that tells us that we look great.

It is exactly this sort of thing that people look for in prophets.  King Ahab went to his prophets to ask advice about whether he should go to war.  400 prophets showed up and with one voice told the king exactly what he wanted to hear.   Israel would win a decisive and brilliant victory.

King Jehosophat seems to have wondered a bit at these prophets and asked if there wasn’t another one around who was a prophet of the Lord.  “The king of Israel [King Ahab] answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” (I Kings 22:8)

The prophet, Micaiah, did contradict all four hundred of the other prophets.  He predicted Ahab’s death and Israel’s defeat – much to the scorn of the other prophets there.

Four hundred to one the yes-men outnumbered him and in the end, Ahab and Jehosophat went off to war together.  In the fierceness of the battle, an unnamed archer shot King Ahab in the joints of his armor. He propped himself in his chariot, watching his forces suffer defeat and there, in his chariot, he bled out and died.

We want prophets to show us an easier way – men and women who will tell us that the hard things of the Gospel aren’t really needed.  Jesus may have “talked” about giving up all to enter the kingdom, but He really meant that we need to pray and read our Bible and like a few things on Facebook and in return He will reward us with all the material things we could dream of.

Somehow, when I read the Gospels I find a different message.  I find a narrow road -- one that requires giving up all to enter and one that requires total surrender to follow.

We need prophets who tell the truth – people who speak truth into our lives, even when that truth hurts.  For, we need scales that tell us honestly how much we weigh, even if we would rather simply have one that simply reads, ‘Lo.’