As I was wondering what to share with you on this first Tuesday of the new year, my thoughts went to a story, a true story, but one that comes out of the pages of antiquity; a time when kings ruled and the Babylonian empire was dwindling and the Persians were rising. This story revolves around one man who had close proximity to the king. He was trusted by the king and had the unique task of tasting all the food and drink that was offered to the king. In those days, that was a very noble position because it involved trust.
One day, this particular person who was not a native Persian, got news from his home country that his people were living with a sense of complacency. They had been through difficult times, had been taken into captivity; they had come back and rebuilt some of the city. But he heard that the walls of the city were still not built. When he heard that, he was saddened.
For you and me today, walls around the city really don't mean anything. This past week my son is visiting from his college and we have been watching movies that I can watch with him – movies that have a little more fighting and stuff that I can't really watch with my wife and daughters. We picked up a movie called 'The Gladiator' with Russell Crowe. If you have watched that film, you will know the importance of walls around a city and how important it was to be able to breach a wall to gain ascendancy over a city, and how they fought to keep that wall intact. In watching that movie it brought home to me why this person was so upset that the walls of his city were not up. He was filled with a deep sense of 'pathos' – sadness. This whole thing captured his imagination. It stirred his soul; it broke his heart really, to realize that his countrymen could live in this kind of situation – a city with broken walls.
Having heard that, he resolved to do something about it. As I reflected on that, I thought that every time something momentous happens in our lives, for e.g., when our imagination is captured, when our souls are stirred, when there's a passion that comes into our lives – these are moments that we need to grab a hold of. These are divine moments where God is saying, "Here is something I want you to get involved in because in the midst of complacency, you have passion. I have ignited a spark within you.
I think this is what happened with this man and he approached the king and asked for leave of absence. He said that he would like to go home and talk to his people. He explained to the king why he was doing this and how long it would take. He was granted leave. He travelled to his home country and on reaching there, first walked around doing his due diligence. He saw what construction had to happen, what would be required and then he met with the people. He said "Hey guys, let's do something about this." He appealed to their pride and said "We've got to put up the walls. What will people think of us?"
Even as he used this motivational tactic, I thought to myself how interesting it was that a motivation that was intrinsic has a better chance of working than an extrinsic one, like a reward or a punishment. Instilling pride is internal and has a better chance of going the long haul. That's what he did.
Then he got them motivated, and of course there would be people who would stand in the way of something like that. So he handled the opposition. Then he got together a team of people. It's interesting as you read about the different people that he got, they were not used to building walls. They were craftsmen, jewelers and all kinds of people, but not too many masons. And I thought to myself, when you get a good team together, the key is always commitment to a cause. Initially we look for people who are best suited for that particular job. We look at people who have the skill. Yet, commitment wins over skill anytime. That is so true in our spheres of work too. We have people who are brilliant at doing something, but if they lack commitment, it's of no use. Commitment wins every time and it's true even in this story. He was able to mobilize his people and they were able to rebuild that wall in 52 days.
I was stirred as I thought about that story again. The New Year is a good place to think about something like that. You and I live and work in environments where we come across groups of people who are complacent about things. It could be in our workplace, in our family circles, in our communities or in our friend circles, where there is a settling that has happened, where we accept the status quo; have just run out of gas. Maybe we're just tired, fatigued, and been working too hard, at a dead-end. Maybe there's no vision. Nobody has stood up and said, "Let's rise above this."
The New Year is a great opportunity for some of us to seize the day and say, "I have a passion that is stirring within me. I've walked the last couple of months with this burning within me and I look around and I see things that ought not to be, that can change. Yet I have not done anything about it. But I know that there is a passion within me. I know that my heart has been stirred. I know that my imagination has been captured."
Maybe this New Year is a good time for you to kick in and say "I'm going to do something about it." Maybe you've got to address the complacency that has settled in with folks around you. Maybe you need to walk in there and give fresh vision, appeal to their pride, motivate people saying, "Let's get up and do something. Let's not accept the situation. We can bring change." Get together a team of committed people. Don't look for the talented or the skilled. If you get them, that's great, but look for commitment, look for passion. Look for people who are with you and are able to see what you are seeing. Then go for broke because maybe that's the way that God wants you to start the New Year with something that he has birthed in your heart. Something where He has said, "I'm going to raise you up to break the status quo. I want you to bring change into this particular situation."
Clark Kerr is reported to have said, "The status quo is the only solution that cannot be vetoed." This means that the 'status quo' cannot simply be decided against. Action must be taken if it is to change.
So maybe this morning, you know there's something that's burning deep within you, a desire to do something. Maybe last year you kept it down. Maybe this year it is time to do something about it. Maybe this time you're going to say "I'm going to seize the day. I'm not going to let this time go. I'm going to stoke the fires of this passion that is within me. I'm going to work against complacency and get this dream or vision fulfilled."
Let me just be what we need, my friends, as we kick off the new year, to look beyond complacency, to look beyond the status quo, to look beyond the things which have existed because we have not done anything about it. But not today; not this year! I'm going to make a change. There's a passion in my heart that I'm going to stoke and I'm going to see fulfilled.
I pray that that is something that will stir you, that dreams will get fulfilled this year because you're willing to take a step; you're willing to act.
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