A Missionary-Size-Basket

Sunday 4-12-15 (Monte Hermoso, Argentina)

Scripture reading: 1 Sam 13  1 Chron 2-3  2 Cor 11-12

S.  2 Cor 11:30-33  If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am.  God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows I tell the truth.  When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me.  But I was lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall, and that's how I got away!  NLT

O.  The Apostle Paul is boasting about his weakness.  The above situation probably occurred when Paul, then called Saul of Tarsus, had gone to Damascus with authorization papers signed by the high priests in Jerusalem to seek out and arrest any followers of Jesus.  But shortly before arriving at Damascus with his henchmen, he met Jesus… who knocked him flat and left him blind and gave him a new assignment in life.    Ananias, one of the Christians he has been sent to arrest, laid hands on him to receive his sight… and now, filled with the Holy Spirit, he rises in the synagogue to preach Jesus, the Messiah.  The word gets back to the high priest that Paul (Saul) is preaching Jesus.  And now it is Paul who has the police searching to arrest him. 

A.  I love it!  Jesus, with a heavenly laser beam, knocks Saul of Tarsus into the dirt and leaves him blind so that his henchmen have to lead him by the hand into the city.  It is a story of arrogance smashed to humble weakness in a single blow.  Now he is trying to start a new life as a Holy Spirit filled Christian.  With new eyesight and new insight he preaches boldly Jesus Christ is Lord.  But there is an order out for his arrest.  And here are the same people that he came to drag off to prison and death putting him into a “missionary-size-basket” and holding the ropes to keep him from dropping from the window in the city wall to his death on the rocks below.  Maybe they were tempted to let go.  But they gently let him down to escape arrest and most likely his death sentence. 

Weakness is… when you are hanging in the air in a basket and your fragile life is in the hands of your friends that a few weeks ago were your enemies.

P.  That’s where I am, Lord Jesus.  I am being held in the hands of my friends.  I am in a “missionary-size-basket” and they are holding the ropes.  You have heard their prayers for me.  They didn’t know that I had to drive over 65 miles without power brakes yesterday.**  But I knew I was not alone.  I had friends holding the basket… and a covey of angels to go before me.  You led me to a place to purchase the needed new suction pump and to a mechanic to install it.  In a couple of hours all was well.  How many times have my friends prayed and even sacrificed to hold the ropes for me!  You know me, Lord.  As I seek to perform Your will, I am always placing myself in some precarious situation.  But you love me anyway… and so do my rope-holder friends.  Amen.

Ralph

**Yesterday I was driving south on route 3.  I slowed from 80+ mph for a round-about and my brake pedal suddenly felt as hard as a rock and hardly slowed me at all.  I got it under control with the hand brake and coasted into a service station.  This had nothing to do with my recent new brake pads.  The power brake system had gone out and I knew that.  I called Hugo, my favorite mechanic, and he told me how to diagnose the situation to eliminate all doubt.

The local parts stores did not have the suction pump I needed, so I had to drive 65 miles to Tres Arroyos, the next town with practically no brakes.  At 55 mph I figured I could stop in about 300 yards… so I asked God’s angels to clear a 300 yard space before me and stayed at least 300 yards behind any vehicle that might stop.  I arrived safely in the city of Tres Arroyos.  God led me to the replacement part at first try and to a nice mechanic to replace it.  In two hours I was back on the highway with full braking power.  Thank you, Lord!  And thank you, my dear friends for holding the ropes!