Mission trips with young adults have been one of those experiences in
life that keep on giving. I
have just completed my eighth trip.
The trips have been spread over many years, first without any
stake in the game (kids of my own) and then later, with my daughter and
her two sons (my grandsons).
The nature of each trip varied, some in Appalachia, others in the
inner city such as Pittsburgh and Baltimore, and others in small towns
like Columbus Mississippi and Aiken South Carolina.
While each trip took on a personality of its own, I often find
myself reflecting back on my love for story telling.
And combine a lot of great young minds, some good work helping
others, and my love for the Bible, there is always a good story close
by.
It was in the early 90's and I was on one of my early trips to Appalachia.
Projects were simple and on this day, we had been given a project
to help a widow living in Livingston Kentucky.
The home was small, in need of much repair and we would rebuild
her porch, patch her roof and fix a bathroom.
But what she really wanted from us was to build a closet in her
bedroom. Now that may sound
like a strange request.
However, homes in Appalachia often lack even the most standard features.
Some even lacked bathrooms.
But in this case, the entire wardrobe of this lady was laid out
over a chair and on the end of her bed.
One of her requests was to take a corner of her bedroom and turn
it into a small closet.
Working with our teenagers is always a true joy.
They love the work and are sponges for learning anything.
Construction is always one of those areas that are high on the
list of desired projects. A
check with a level quickly showed me that nothing was square or true in
the home. This was
typically Appalachia construction.
Floors sloped, walls leaned and ceilings sagged.
So I reached for my trusty plumb line.
As one of our young workers held the line up on the ceiling, we
were able to mark the exact location on the floor for the corner of the
closet. And here is where
my first opportunity came to tell each of our workers about Amos.
Amos was a shepherd who tended his flock near Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
He lived about 750 years before Jesus and was a prophet sent to
tell the people of Israel that they would be judged by God. Amos knew
that he had to talk to the people of Israel in ways that they could
understand. The people of
Israel were very good workers and builders.
So Amos taught the people of Israel using a tool that all of them
could relate to, the plumb line.
So as one of our youth held that line, I told them to look carefully and see how the string was
always straight up and down.
No matter how the plumb line was held, it was always perfectly
vertical. No skill was
really needed here, just hold it, use it and you get a straight line.
Of course, from that straight line, we could build a straight wall.
Amos told the people of Israel that "The God was standing by a wall that
had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand.
And the God asked Amos, "What do you see, Amos?"
Amos replied, "a plumb line."
Then the God said, "Look, I am setting a plumb line among my
people Israel; I will spare them no longer." What did the God mean?
Well, as people, God knew that we cannot build our lives so that
we are straight and true without something to measure our life against.
Amos was telling the people of Israel that God would give them
something to measure their own lives against so that they would know how
to live correctly. God gave
them His son Jesus. You
see, Jesus is just like a plumb line.
Jesus is always perfect.
When we get to know Him so well that we can measure ourselves
against Him, we can be just like a straight wall, pleasing to God, but
if we try to lead our lives without a measurement, we often find that no
matter how hard we try by ourselves, our life ends up just like a
crooked wall.
And
as a parent and grandparent, I learned that children as well as adults
must have Amos’ plumb line to lead that very straight and true life. The
story was well received that day and for each of my mission trips after,
I have told that story about Amos and the plumb line. On what was
my
last youth mission trip, I had the honor to tell that story to my
daughter, and two grandsons.
And what a joy that was.