"Christy"

Today I will have the honor of speaking to a group of people I sense are hungry for a word from God.  I will stand before them in the words of Fred Craddock "as one without much authority."  A "mantra" of mine is that I always attempt to allow the scripture to interpret me more than I interpret it.  My subject?  Nothing other than a donkey.

The animal in the passion story can teach us a lot, because she is the creature who carries Christ.  And that's what it's all about.  Carrying Christ into the world.  The donkey was a "Christ-bearer," or a Christopher (derived from the Greek Christos combined with pherein "to bear or carry").  Everyday is an opportunity to take the name Christopher (Christophera, feminine - as the Bible calls "her a 'her'") as our own.  Or "Christy" as I call her.  By doing so, we commit to bearing Christ to the world.

What does that mean to me?  Being "Christy" means: being a servant, carrying a burden, humbly serving without caring who gets the glory, following Christ's direction; being willing to go where He wants to go, not where I want to go; not getting spooked by crowds, the noise, the attention.  It means taking Christ into enemy territory, never asking Christ to "get off my back," being willing to shed the "hero" image people wanted to pin to Jesus.  It means being obedient to the will of the One who holds the reins.  As I carry Christ into the world, I am challenged to do a particular kind of work and show a distinctively Christian lifestyle.  This means letting love be genuine and holding fast to what is good.  It involves rejoicing in hope, being patient in suffering, and persevering in prayer.  To live this way means I am going to contribute to the needs of God's people, extend hospitality to strangers, and even bless those who persecute me.

I am not sure I can pull this off.  But if I can -  I have a hunch that I will discover the joy that comes from carrying Christ.  I will know the glory of hearing hosannas, the thrill of close contact with Jesus, the excitement of accepting a challenge and deep satisfaction of knowing that I am walking in the way of God.  There is no better role I could be asked to perform.

Please note that this role and journey is against the flow of the world.  Little girls don't dream of riding across summer fields on a donkey.  The Kentucky Derby doesn't blow the herald horn for a herd of dinky donkeys to race around a track.  And everyone from Shakespeare to Pinocchio knows that fools and dolts are depicted as donkeys.  Of course the donkey's other common name says it all: the donkey is just an....well, you know what that word is.  And remember - donkey's feel safest and most secure when they can clearly see where the edge is, where the danger lies.  What unnerves this donkey is knowing an edge is near, but not being able to see it and so gauge the best path to take.  This as I nimbly traipse down the canyon along the very edge of the precipice...knowing my Passenger holds the reigns.