Early one Saturday morning, I opened the living room blinds. I was shocked at what I saw! Dozens of pink, plastic flamingos covered our entire front lawn. What in the world? Shortly thereafter, the phone rang. It was the youth leader from church.
“Hey! Before you call the police, I have to confess – the youth group and I decorated your yard last night, and for a donation to the youth, short-term missions trip, we’ll come get the flamingos.”
I looked out the window again. There on our driveway, the youth leader and the entire youth group mingled about. We were caught up in their enthusiasm as we chattted and laughed together. And their enthusiasm is what motivated us to contribute to their venture. “We would’ve picked up the flamingos even if you didn’t donate,” he whispered. We nodded. “We know.”
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What do you do if you see a crowd of hungry people? Feed them, right? Jesus did. Twice. One time, it was a crowd of 5,000. Another time, it was 4.000. That’s 9,000 people for both incidents. One Man, Jesus, was moved with compasion for the mulltitude, and that stirred Him to action to feed them.
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How do you respond to someone trapped by sin and in dire straits for bad choices they made? We reach out in empathy because we realize that but by the grace of God, there go I.
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“Let’s roll!” Those were the last words of Todd Beamer which he said on Flight 93 on 9/11 to try and take back the hijacked plan from Al-Qaeda terrorists. If you were on that plane and witnessed his courage, would you not have been driven to stand with Todd and face the enemy regardless if it may have meant death to do so?
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Loyal friendship prompted Jonathan to warn David whether or not King Saul planned to kill him. Jonathan devised a plan. He said to David, “I will shoot three arows by the stone where you hid yourself from my father. I will send a boy to retrieve the arrows. If I say to the boy, ‘The arrows are to the side of the stone, bring them here,’ you will know your are safe, but if I say to the boy, ‘The arrows are beyond the stone,’ then you will know to flee.” Jonathan saved his friend’s life.
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Greater than pink flamingos, shared enthusiasm, empathy, courage, or loyal friendship is a motivation that far outshines them all. That is love, grace, mercy, and compassion that only God could give! It was God’s agape love that moved Him to send His only Son, Jesus Christ, to be our substitute sin bearer. It was God’s boundless grace that prompted Him to give us kindness that we do not deserve, it was His limitless mercy that did not allow Him to give us what we do deserve, and it was His matchless compassion like that which Jesus displayed toward the hungry multitude! Jesus would die in our place – the One who had no sin took our sins upon Himself in order that we who believe would be set free from the penalty of sin. We are free to love God with all our heart, our mind, our soul and our strength and to love others as ourselves.
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That is a motivation worth knowing, wouldn’t you agree?