Podcast of "Buddy System" (MP3)
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
Psalm 48
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.
The last time I was in this chancel, at this pulpit, I told you all how good it was to be back again. Well, again, it’s good to be back again. This time we covered a little over 2,200 miles in six days, traveling 600 on the final day of the trip. It was hot, it was humid, it was long; but it could have been so much worse.
We were cutoff only once by a vacation home on wheels. I couldn’t count the number of speed checks we went through especially in Ohio. There were dozens of wrecks none of which involved us. Marie needed to get off the road about 20 miles north of Nashville and there we found out about a very bad accident that had closed the highway. Only because we pulled over did we take an alternate route and pay just $3.05 per gallon for gasoline. So yes, we were trapped in one interstate delay that took us 90 minutes to move 10 miles, but only one. I even hit a fresh semi-truck tire that didn’t destroy the undercarriage of the Xterra. All in all, we were blessed, it could have been much worse.
I mention this because worse almost happened last night in Longview. Somebody decided to pass between us and another vehicle when we were not a car length apart. So there I am; slamming on the breaks, weaving quickly into the left turn lane, and tossing Marie from side to side. We were safe, but it made me think about our trip again. It made me think about high school when I took driver’s education.
We were taught that when we drove, we should work toward one goal, drive so no one else has to adjust to my driving. Make it so no one has to swerve or slam on the breaks or make WARP speed because of my driving. This is the opposite of aggressive driving, driving like you are the only one on the road. Aggressive drivers drive like everybody better adjust. I was taught was to drive so nobody has to adjust.
I love the concept of defensive driving. My driving teacher taught us to drive like everyone else on the road is an idiot. Drive like nobody’s going to signal and if they do it’s because the signal has been on since the car left the factory. Drive like the person behind you doing 90 is going to cross four lanes of traffic to take the exit—barely making it. Drive like you’re on defense because you don’t know who’s drunk or stoned or on other drugs or smoking incense purchased from a convenience store. You know, the kind you find right next to the pipe cleaners.
What’s good about driving defensively is that you can’t overestimate the skill of the people on the road with you. You just can’t, so drive like everyone else is an idiot. The problem with this though is that you drive like you’re all alone in this world, you’re the only person in a world of zombies behind the wheel of a car. Living like we’re all alone is no way to live.
Don’t get me wrong, defensive driving is smart, but acting like everybody’s an idiot is an awful way to live.
I have heard people say that all they need in this world is “Me and Jesus.” That’s it, nothing else. Friends, we need to remember this, if we say we need only “Me and Jesus,” if we say that we don’t need anybody else in this world. If we say we are better off without other people then we do not know God’s truth.
Two weeks ago I began at the very beginning, Genesis 1. Today, I want to share something from the next chapter:
Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man. ”[1]
In Genesis it was clear to the Lord God that it is not good for us to be alone. When it becomes even more clear that beasts wild and domestic are not enough, the Lord God creates a suitable helper.
From the beginning, the Lord God understood that people were better when they lived in community than when living alone. The Lord God knows that the old “Me and Jesus” is not enough, we all need a suitable helper. We all need someone at our side. The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”[2] A suitable helper is vital to make our lives complete.
Jesus knew how important a companion was. When Jesus sent out the twelve, he did not send them out on their own; he sent them out in pairs. He sent them out two by two. He sent them out and gave them authority over evil spirits. They took nothing but their staffs, sandals, and the clothes on their backs. No extra tunic, no extra bread, nor extra cash. They were traveling light; all they had was their clothes and the Christ’s authority.
They went out with his authority, and frankly it seems pretty logical to think we need nothing more than that. What do we need beside the authority of Christ? The answer to that question is we need a companion. The Lord God found that we humans needed companions since the first human was created. Jesus knew this lesson so well he sent the twelve out in pairs. He sent them out as comrades. He sent them out as suitable helpers.
The Claddagh ring is a traditional piece of Irish jewelry that originated in a small fishing village of the same name. The ring’s design is a band with two hands holding a heart on which a crown sets. The hands, heart, and crown stand for friendship, love, and loyalty. There is a method to wearing a Claddagh ring. When the ring is worn on the right hand with the point of the heart toward the fingertips, the wearer is single and may be looking for love. When the ring is worn on the right hand with the point of the heart toward the wrist, the wearer is in a relationship, or their heart has been captured.
In 1996, sixteen years ago, Marie came to Missouri to meet my family over Independence Day weekend. That weekend, in my own words, to make a longer story shorter, she told me she wanted to be more than friends. Then she showed me her Claddagh ring.
She explained its significance and the significance of how it was warn. She was wearing it with the point of the heart point toward her fingertips. She was hoping I would turn it around. I would love to tell you that I turned the ring without hesitation, but well, I was still in the “being alone” stage of life. Another way to say it is that I was stubborn and stupid. My parents would have said it that way.
A couple of days later I came to my senses. With her permission, I turned her ring over. We were engaged to be engaged. On the last day of November that year I proposed. We wed a year after I turned her Claddagh on July 5, 1997.
This week, Marie and I celebrated our fifteenth wedding anniversary. God knows we are better in pairs. So while I cannot speak for anyone else; when I compare the first thirty-four years of my life verses the last sixteen, these are the best years hands down. Thanks be to God.
Right now, I would love to tell you all what it takes to have a wonderful marriage. I would love to tell you what it takes to find and keep and be a suitable helper. I have some ideas on the matter too. Most of them are overly specific to my marriage and personal experience.
What I do know from Genesis and Mark is that God creates the pairs. The Lord God created the man and the woman. Jesus sent the twelve out in pairs. When we let God be in charge, as God is always in charge, pairs are created are blessed.
Maybe, maybe, that has something to do with why Jesus could not perform miracles in his hometown. Mr. Al[3] tells a story of a man who greets people when they come to town. The moral of this story is that we tend to find the kind of people we expect to find.
Jesus returned to his hometown after performing great acts of power and authority. When he got there he was unable to do any miracles except for a few healings. When Jesus returned to town, the people got what they expected… the son of Mary not the Son of Man. They only saw the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon. They saw the brother of sisters. They did not see the Messiah and they took offense with him. They did not receive the Messiah, instead they got exactly what they expected. When they didn’t let God be in charge, they got what they expected.
This goes to show that in our own ways we can limit God. When we expect God will do nothing that is all we can see. But next Jesus sends out his disciples with authority sending them out in pairs.
Today we welcome our youth back from Camp Gilmont
There was always someone making sure I was safe and I was making sure he was safe. The pool had lifeguards, but our buddy was our first line of defense. The life guard is in charge and your buddy is keeping an eye on you.
In this life, God is in charge, and God has created buddies, helpers, companions to help keep an eye on us. Buddies help keep us safe and secure. Buddies keep us company and lift us up. We serve God alongside our buddies.
Robert Fulghum had this figured out. He wrote “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” Where we used to live, there was a poster in the office with highlights from the book including this quip, “When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.”[4]
We have been sent into the world. That’s actually what the word “apostle” means, ones who are sent. We are sent with our Lord as shepherd and God. We are sent with authority and with power to exercise that authority. Our God saves. That’s more than enough, and we are sent with even more.
We are sent with a buddy, a Godly buddy system, to join us in this life. God has given us suitable helpers to carry out the mission we have been sent to carry out. We are called to keep an eye to the Lord and an eye on our buddy. Fulghum got it right. “When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.” By God’s power and authority we can do great things this way.
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