Title: Mending Fences

Date: 2009-06-21

Reference: Romans 12:9-13, 17-21

"Knowing the law is sometimes easier than following the law. We have the guidelines to guide us in our journey on the right path: The Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus are but two of the many guides we can follow. Sometimes though, we choose to look in other places.

Do you have a junk drawer at home? Most of us would have to admit we do, as well as admit that most of the stuff in there we really can live without. Sometimes when we choose to look in other places we form a spiritual lacking junk drawer. Pride, arrogance, anger, hate and self centeredness attempt to fill the drawer to the point of overflowing.

There is an old American folk tale that speaks to this: Old Joe lived in the countryside all by himself. His best friend was also his closest neighbor. It seemed that they did everything together. They even grew old together. Their wives had passed on and their children were living on their own. All they had were their farms-and each other.

For the first time in their long friendship they had a serious disagreement. They argued over a stray calf that neither one of them really needed. The calf was fond of the neighbor’s land and claimed it as his own. Old Joe said, “No, no; that calf has the same markings as one of my cows, and I say it belongs to me!”

They were both stubborn men, and neither one would give in. Rather than hit each other, they just quit talking. They stomped off to their respective doors and slammed them shut. Weeks passed without a word between them. Old Joe started to feel poorly.

One Saturday morning, Old Joe heard a knock at his door. He wasn’t expecting anyone and was surprised to see a young man at the door. He introduced himself as a traveling carpenter. He had a wooden toolbox at his feet, and there was kindness in his eyes. “I’m looking for work” he explained. “I’m good with my hands, and if you have a project or two I’d like to try to help you out. Old Joe said, “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do have a job for you. See that house over yonder? That’s my neighbor’s house. You see that creek running along the property line? That creek wasn’t there last week. He put it there to spite me. He hitched a plow to his tractor and dug that creek bed from the upper pond to the property line. Then he flooded it. Now we have this creek to separate us. I’m so darn mad at him. I’ve got lumber in my barn-boards, posts and everything you need to build me a fence. Build me a fence-a tall fence-along that creek. Then I won’t have to see his place no more! That’ll fix him! The carpenter smiled and said, I’ll do a good job for you, Joe.

What happened to old Joe and his neighbor? The rest of the story goes like this:

The old man had to go into town for supplies, so he hitched up his wagon and left for the day. The young carpenter carried the lumber from the barn to the creek side. He started to work. He worked hard and he worked fast. He measured, sawed and nailed those boards into place all day long without stopping for lunch. With the setting of the sun, he started to put his tools away. He finished his project. Old Joe pulled up his wagon filled with supplies. When he saw what the carpenter had built, he couldn’t speak. It wasn’t the tall fence he thought he wanted. It wasn’t a fence at all. Instead, he stared in awe at a beautiful new footbridge. It had handrails and all. It reached from one side of the creek to the other.

Just then, Old Joe looked up to see another sight which brought tears to his eyes. Old Joe’s neighbor crossed the bridge. He stuck out his hand and said, “I’m right sorry about our misunderstanding, Joe. The calf is yours. I just want to be good friends.”

“You keep the calf,” said Old Joe. “I just want us to be friends, too. The bridge was this young man’s idea. And I’m glad he did it.”

The carpenter hoisted his tool box onto his shoulder and started to leave. “Wait!!! said Joe. “You’re a good man. My neighbor and I want to keep you busy for weeks.” The carpenter smiled and said, “I’d like to stay, but I have many more bridges to build.”

If matters were left up to old Joe and his neighbor, their spiritual lacking junk drawer would have flowed to the point of overflowing. It took a young man with kindness in his eyes to bring them back to the friendship that sustained them for so many years. That young man’s example of doing what is right in the eyes of everyone began a process of reconciliation and restoration of their lives. He lived his faith as he lived his life. Can we be expected to do any less? A friend who works with the Kairos ministry reminded the men he spoke to that they may be the only Bible someone will read. Another reminder to live our faith as we live our life.

Our God is a God of forgiveness. It wasn’t a fence but a bridge with hand rails for support and a walkway to keep the men from falling in that allowed them to extend their hands and seek reconciliation. Reconciliation is never easy, but it is freeing. God’s grace supports us and guides us through the process.

Ours is a God of love that calls us to love. One of Pastor Rick’s sermons this year reminded us that God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called. Remember Moses? His lists of “not me because I can’t . . . “eventually dissolved and he served with Aaron to help him. Isaiah responded to the call of “Who will go for us?” with “Here I am, send me!” Mary, although troubled and scared, responded with “I am the handmaiden of the Lord.” Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors and on more than one occasion had to remind the rulers who he came to heal, restore and save. He called fishermen to drop their nets and follow. They did. He called a despised tax collector named Matthew to follow him. Matthew did. Who are we being called to lead? To minister to? To serve? He called a carpenter to build bridges.

The story reminds us that our God is a God of second chances. Rev. Billy Graham’s family invited people via their website to express birthday greetings and share testimonies about how Rev. Graham’s ministry changed their lives. Thousands of people shared how they recommitted their lives to Christ at a Billy Graham Crusade. A second chance is no small thing. We have come to both a beginning and an ending point. If our junk drawer is spiritually lacking, we can begin to empty it, realizing it will not happen overnight. We are called not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good. A child wrote the closing prayer I will give which reminds us of this:

“Dear Lord Jesus, when someone hurts me, help me to talk to them. Help me to try to fix things up and not hurt them back. Help me to love the people I don’t like. And God, take care of us when we won’t listen. Amen.”"