Surprises

An old friend of mine passed away this past week. He was one of the guys I grew up with from my neighborhood. There were five of us. We played together, grew up together, and grew apart from one another.

In this core group, one committed suicide several years ago. One is, at last I heard, after several trips through drug rehab, is happily married. The other guy is a sort or new-age, sports medic and hunting guide. Interesting combination, huh?

The man who passed away was a couple of years older than I , and we used to sleep out under the stars in the summer. We ran through the neighborhood, swam together and even boxed with one another. He was very fast. Then he and I moved for a while, in very different directions when I was fifteen. I came to know Jesus, and he moved heavily into drug use. He lived in as dissolute a fashion as one could probably imagine, until, in his early twenties, he met Jesus too.

His conversion was one of the earliest real surprises to me. I didn't expect him to get saved--ever. The thought had never occurred to me. It was one of those "real life" demonstrations of the heart-convicting and life-changing power of the Holy Spirit, in Christ Jesus. It isn't that I thought that I was better than him or something, but his life was so wildly different from mine that I simply wouldn't have trusted him to ever change. I'm not sure either, that I truly believed he was saved until later, when I talked with him again a couple of times.

He went on to seminary school and returned here to our home town some years later to pastor his own church. I found out that he had died the night before (about a week ago) from one of my family members. Again, the turn of events in this man's life surprised me. His passing was quiet, as he died from a rare form of cancer. I saw him few months ago and asked if he had lost weight. He had told me that, yes he had, and seemed very pleased. I told him that he looked great, and the conversation moved on to other things. It's just the way he was. He had not preached over the last two months.

Today, I was looking at the Christmas card my wife and I received yesterday from a dear friend. The card is a panoramic in silhouetted vignettes that illustrate the life of Christ, His death and resurrection, ending with His reign in heaven. That my friend now worships our God in heaven, that he is there, with our King is cause for great joy to me. This is what I celebrate this Christmas season, that because my Lord came and willingly sacrificed Himself for us, that ruined lives, people separated from God, can be restored to Him because of His immeasurable goodness, and this is what I hope for so many others.