The Christmas Crutch
The Christmas Crutch
There’s a Christmas opera that has been shown on TV for years. It’s called Amahl and the Night Visitors. Perhaps you’ve seen it, albeit it might have been forced on some of you fellows? After all, real men don’t go to operas and eat Quiche, right boys? Well hold on “Rambo!” Would it surprise you that, at 11 years old, yours truly played the part of Amahl in a local junior college’s presentation of the opera? Sure enough, I was the boy soprano who could hit the high notes, and I was asked to play the part. Now some of you are saying, “I thought he was a real man?” Oh, I was still the rough and tumble kid that grew up to be a rough and tumble athlete later. And, make no mistake in thinking that it wasn’t a challenge to make me sit still long enough to learn the lyrics, the story line and to play my part. To give you an idea how some who knew me well viewed it, my second oldest sister wanted the program to read, “Amahl is played by the Devil himself.” However, she couldn’t get away with it. Nevertheless, I played the part and did a decent job of it, to the dismay of many friends and family. I say all of that, for there is a connection that I believe will bring some encouragement and a Christmas blessing to some of you. The storyline of Amahl and the Night Visitors centers on a poor, crippled 12-year-old shepherd boy who is drawn into the story of the Magi seeking to find the Christ child. They are traveling and need a place to stay, and Amahl’s widowed mother offers her house for the men that night. When she spots the gold and other treasure they are carrying, she determines to steal it for her son. Later, in the darkness of night, while attempting her theft, she is caught. Surprisingly, the rich men forgive her and allow her to keep the goods. This generosity, in turn, softens her embittered heart, and she returns the treasure so that it can be given to Christ. In the spirit of the moment, the little crippled child, Amahl, also gives his crutch to the treasure, so it can be given to the Messiah. It was the best he had to offer and, in essence, he was saying, “I will limp to the glory of God.” Instead, God miraculously healed Amahl, and he no longer needed his crutch. Great story, but is there a deeper truth to be learned here? In this story, we see generosity, forgiveness, sacrifice and a heart-warming drama. These things are obvious. However, isn’t the willingness by Amahl to live contently with his affliction to God’s glory a major lesson to be learned? Of all the treasures that were to be brought to God’s Son, in your heart of hearts, which do you think would be most greatly treasured by Him? God seems to always delight when we surrender to His Lordship and give to Him a worship that transcends our pain, discomfort and all the various hardships we are dealing with. He delights in this kind of worship, for it is pure and is not self-seeking and it is all about Him. ‘You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart O God, you will not despise.” Psalms 51: 16-17 NIV Men, we can watch a story of a broken, crippled child and see clearly the hidden truths about what happens when we surrender to God. However, can we also connect our own “crippled and broken state” to a truth that the Spirit of God is trying to teach us about our need to surrender to His Lordship? In the story, we can see an act of pure worship by this child who is willing to accept his burden and his crippled state and worship God with it. But can we do likewise? It was many years later, as an adult, that I grasped the key point of the story, which was the surrender to God’s Lordship by Amahl. I sang the songs and played my role as an actor, like many men are doing in their life’s story right now. I didn’t understand the theology or the depth of the story, even as a player, for I kept myself detached from it. Likewise, many of us have not been willing to follow God’s Lordship when it might require pain and sacrifice on our part. But, if we can ever break through to a trust and worship of Him that will accept these pains as permitted by Him for a greater purpose, then we enter a new phase of being a Man of God who is courageous and authentic. It is well-documented that I have had a major problem with my leg for years. Many of you have been recently praying for me as I have just gone through another surgery. You know most of the facts. This was about the 10th surgery on that leg alone. Seven years ago, I had a surgery that left the leg over an inch shorter and in chronic pain. This, is turn, created problems in my hips, knees and back. However, it was not all bad. Through all this pain and weakness came something else that made great use of it, which was a sensitivity to understand other people’s pain better and to write words that would encourage them. I have come to see that, indeed, all things work for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose, even the physical pain that greeted me every day. However, it also created somewhat of a dilemma for me, as I began to realize that God just might have given me a permanent thorn in the flesh, and that, by it, I could bring Him greater glory. The dilemma existed because I prayed constantly that the pain be removed and my leg length be returned. I began to question if this was a selfish request to make? Was this the request of a man who had not yet yielded to the Lordship of Christ and was unwilling, like Amahl did, to “limp to the glory of Christ?” Oh, make no mistake in thinking otherwise. I was limping, and I was in great pain. But would I rejoice and thank God for it? Would I be willing be content with it? Would I be willing to lay my crutch down before the Christ child and say to Him, “If Your glory is at stake, my King, do not take the pain from me?” I was being challenged greatly last year with this proposition, and many did not understand my acquiescence. I’m sure that I disturbed them when they heard me pray, “I will no longer ask You to heal me Lord. I will instead accept Your grace for whatever I face.” Now, understand that I believe that God still heals people. But, it was no longer a question of healing me that I was facing. It was the question: “Will you trust ME even with your pain? Will you seek My glory with it rather than asking that it be removed?” Like Amahl, I finally decided to lay my crutch before my King and no longer persist in asking His intervention. As a result, I experienced a breakthrough in my surrender to His Lordship, and a joy followed my decision that I cannot explain. Now, just because I stopped asking God to intervene, others did not. They were faithful to lift me up and ask for God’s intervention. These friends were more than concerned about my physical well-being. They were also involved with all aspects of my life, as they interceded in prayer and showed me their loving concern. They were also involved as if it were a fight to grow in their own faith, for they truly wanted to see God’s magnificent glory unfold. It has been a beautiful thing to watch their faith grow and also see a love for another person and his needs that transcended having their own needs met. This, in itself, has been one of the greatest gifts I have ever received, as I was figuratively lowered by my friends through the roof before Jesus, as was done in Luke 5:19. The faith and prayers of these godly men carried me to God’s throne and placed me at His feet and this is what happened: Last week I had a surgery that was originally a plan to simply replace an unstable rod that was in my leg. The surgery would take only about 2 hours. Instead, it took almost 5 hours, as the surgeon would look deeper into the bone and open incision in the leg and find things that were terribly askew. He would find that the bone in my leg, as suspected, was indeed broken. But, he also found in removing the rod that my femur was twisted, and that the fracture and twist had caused the leg to be shortened. He also saw that my quadriceps muscle had grown into an old piece of unattached bone graft material. It was a mess. Now there was clear explanation for my pain and leg shortening that I had lived with for 7 years. Therefore, the 2 hour surgery went to 5 hours, as this young surgeon reset my leg bone to a correct position, put is a new rod, removed the old graft and packed the bone with new bone graft material. I was just coming out of surgery when I heard him give me a report and say; “It was more than we realized. But, in repairing your injury we have also gotten back over one inch in the length of your leg. I think it is very close to normal now.” I didn’t know if I was hearing things right, for I wasn’t expecting this news. I only expected a minimum surgery and minimum results. So I had to ask him again, to which he verified that I had heard correctly. He went on to say, “I believe that your leg problems are about to be over.” Men, it has been over a week now since the surgery. I have been going through the slow process of recovery, but I am well on my way. I am now standing upright on both legs. The evenness in my hips and shoulders are apparent, as the leg is now close to normal in length. Much of my pain has diminished and I am only dealing with the recovery pain from the surgery itself. The broken bone is now secure, and hopefully, the bone graft material will stimulate new growth. For the first time in a long time, the leg is in a position to heal, as it normally should. I will begin rehab shortly for complete restoration. It has been years since I have felt so encouraged that my leg could return to normalcy. I am deeply grateful that God has seen fit to bless me with a new leg, as I surrendered the old one to Him. It is my desire to serve Him with a new song in my heart and new strength in my body to help others discover what it means to live in an intimate relationship with God, and to completely surrender to His Lordship. I do feel that He required of me to give Him myChristmas Crutch to find this Lordship myself. I also believe that He has seen fit to give me back a new leg that can bring Him new glory. Needless to say, I enter this Christmas with great joy. But men, this joy was first found at the point of surrender to the Lordship of my King when I accepted the pain, the limp and the crutch as an acceptable thorn to carry. All this other joy has come later? The joy I now celebrate is because of the work of a loving King Who now finds a way to bring new glory to Himself though my healing, as the prayers and faith of my friends have been answered. You see, He gets glory in this way as well. So, why don’t you join with Amahl and me, and lay all your crutches down before the Christ child and worship Him with them, instead of asking that they be removed. Also, look for someone in great need and carry him to the feet of Jesus, as my friends did with me. Then watch what comes back to you. He is still on His throne and wants to show Himself faithful to those who truly seek His glory instead of their own need. Merry Christmas to all, and all to His glory, Rocky