Adapted from Pastor Peter Geyer.
This week I’d like to share an inspiring story from true life.
After serving as a missionary in Africa for many years, Henry C. Morrison (1857-1942) became very sick and needed to return to America. He happened to travel on the same ship that President Theodore Roosevelt was on, who was returning from a hunting expedition in Africa where he had shot quite a number of wild pigs.
There were thousands of people on the dock there in New York to greet the president as he arrived home. As he made his way down the gangplank of the ship a band started to play, and people cheered and waved banners to welcome their beloved president. He was centre stage, and no one noticed this poor emaciated missionary Henry as he came behind. The president was met by thousands,but not one person was there to meet Henry.
Being only human, Henry had some ill feelings in his heart. He thought to himself, “I’ve been in Africa all these years serving the Lord in harsh conditions. Now, I’m in bad health myself. I come home and this is what I see! It just doesn’t seem fair. Everyone is here to welcome the President home, but no one is there to welcome me home!”
Just then a still small voice came to him and said, “But Henry, you’re not home yet.”
End of story but doesn’t that make a powerful point!
Doesn’t God reward and bless Christians with a comfortable life?
We’re all a bit hypocritical in that most of us want to think that we can serve the Lord and enjoy the creature comforts of life in this world as well. We can be tempted to think that the rich blessings we enjoy are because God is pleased with us and is rewarding us with a comfortable lifestyle.
Jesus is our example of truly serving God. When people wished to follow Jesus and be his disciple, he warned them:
Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has no place to lay his head.
Matthew 8: 20
The cost of following Jesus
In other words, if you’re serious about following Jesus throughout this life and then on into eternal life, then there’s a cost:
Anyone who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Matthew 10:37
If you want to be perfect, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven.
Matthew 19:21
How seriously do we treat these words of Jesus? Most of us will dismiss them as some unobtainable ideal or an example of something to aim for, or an analogy of the priority of faith. Do any of us take those words seriously!
Luke also stresses the words of Jesus in regard to being a disciple. He says that a man planning on building a tower, first of all needs to consider his assets and if he can get a loan so that he will be able to finish the building project and not be left a laughingstock:
Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?
For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, “This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.”
Luke 14:28-30
Again, Jesus spoke of a king going to war against another king and seeing if his army can defeat the other. If he figures it might not be possible, then he’d better look at some terms for peace.
Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.
In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
Luke 14: 31-33
Counting the cost of being a Christian is a very important exercise. Many people have begun with Jesus but were not able to finish.
It it worth following Jesus?
The attractions of the world and the struggles of the world have seen many people make a shipwreck of their faith. It leaves us all thinking are we the real deal? Can we finish what God has begun in us?
Don’t look at the world and the opulence of the wealthy celebrities.
Jesus said:
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
Matthew 19:24
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21
Don’t lose heart because of some hardships or inconveniences you may face for being a Christian. Know that the best is yet to come, and the best is “what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived”, because the splendour of it all defies human description!
What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived – the things God has prepared for those who love him.
1 Corinthians 2:9
We can draw inspiration from Henry Morrison who was told not to lose heart because he was not yet home. Also drawn inspiration from the cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 11 where we read:
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:13-16
The best is yet to come!
The apostle Paul encourages us,
I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day— and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
2 Timothy 4:7-8
Never forget – “You’re not home yet”!
Used with permission.
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