Years ago in ancient Russian villages, at a time when many
children did not survive infancy, it was the custom to have a “mourning hut” at
the outskirts of every town. All the women who lost their young children were
sent to live in this hut for one full month of solitude and grief. At the end
of the month, the hut was set on fire – with the woman still inside. At that
point she had to decide whether to live or die. If she came out of the burning
hut, this indicated that she was prepared to live her life once again. Then,
she would rebuild the hut for the next mother in mourning.
I find the
rebuilding of the hut by the woman is the most striking point of this old
story. She was acknowledging that tragedy is a part of life we must accept and
for which we must prepare. She was saying, “Sometimes there are happy endings,
but life is not going to be filled with them.”
In our
world today, we often set ourselves up to be greatly disappointed. As a culture
we readily buy into the theory that we should and can be happy all the time.
And if life is not always wonderful then something is wrong with us. After all,
aren’t we supposed to be constantly filled with joy! No wonder depression is so
prevalent today.
Even as Christians, we expect the
path ahead to be a rosy one. But, just because you are a friend of Jesus does
not mean that you will not get your heart broken. After all, who suffered more
hardships than Jesus Himself? No, Jesus does not tell us we will be free from
life’s tragedies, but He does promise to carry us through them and to always
give us another chance.
100 years ago, the famed Polish pianist
Arthur Rubinstein was lonely, hungry and in debt, his career as a musician was
going nowhere. He felt there was nothing left for him but suicide. His problem
was finding a way. He had no gun, no poison, and the idea of jumping out of the
window was revolting because, "I might have to go on living with broken
arms and legs."
Arthur
chose to hang himself with an old belt from his robe. He went into the
bathroom, stood on a chair, and secured one end of the belt to an overhead
hook. Then he tied the other end around his neck and kicked over the chair. The
worn-out belt immediately came apart, and Rubinstein fell to the floor with a
crash.
He lay
where he had fallen for a long time, weeping. Later, he stumbled outside to the
streets of the city and felt the warm sunshine on his eyes. Suddenly, it was as
if he were reborn. Later, the legendary pianist would never forget what the
experience taught him. He said, "Love life, for better or for worse,
without conditions.”
Is there
any greater gift than the gift of having another chance at life? That was the
gift Jesus gave Lazarus. New life. He said, "I AM the resurrection and the
life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. . .
." And that is the promise he has given you today. Jesus IS the
resurrection and the life – the Ultimate Second Chance.
It does
not mean you will not have your heart broken from time to time. But it does
mean that you must make a choice, right now, today. Will you stay in your hut
and watch it burn around you? Or will you choose to live, come out of your
burning hut and help those who are coming down the same road you have traveled?
Will you take the second chance that Jesus is giving you? Remember, if you are
in Christ neither life nor death will ever defeat you, for the One who raised
Lazarus from the dead will give you new life as well.
This Week’s Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you
for the life you have given me. May I never take what you have given me for
granted. I choose to live every day fully awake and alive, acknowledging that
each moment is a gift. In good times and in bad, I know you will always be with
me, my constant friend and my loving Lord. And through all the pain and
broken hearts of life, please make me a stronger servant for you. Amen.
