Nothing In Common

Every few months, kind of out of the blue, I’ll get a call from Red. We’ll spend an hour on the phone taking about life’s challenges and what God is doing in our lives. Red lives in Florida now and is going through some struggles with cancer, employment, and issues within his relationships.  I try to be an encouragement to him and he often asks me to pray with him over the phone. I never feel like I have enough to give to him in those phone conversations but he always thanks me for my time and friendship. He tells me he loves me and I can tell, from the rumble in his voice, tears are flowing. He’s a guy who encourages me immensely as well. He gives me hope that God is at work and that ministry is worth the effort. He reminds me that broken people can heal through the power of God in their lives.  I always hang up the phone in tears, grateful that Red has a place in my life.

Honestly, before we met, I wouldn’t have picked Red for a friend nor do I think he would have picked me.  We’re nothing alike. He’s short. I’m tall.  He has a long red pony tail and I’m bald as a cue ball. He’s a tattooed, motorcycle nut who drives a semi-truck for a living. I’m a pastor who sits in coffee shops and meetings all day and watches way too much baseball.  He grew up in a rough, abusive home and I was a pastor’s kid.  Red’s had experiences in life that make me blush when I hear his stories.  We have nothing in common… except one thing.  We both have lives radically shaped by God’s love.  We both have been transformed by the Good News of Jesus.

Red was introduced to me by a friend and fellow ABC attender, Dave.  Dave was Red’s boss at a local trucking company.  Dave had been praying for Red since he began working at Dave’s company; and when Red was in a serious motorcycle accident, he asked Dave for spiritual help.  Through loving conversations and invitations to hear about Jesus at church, Red realized his need to receive Jesus’ forgiveness available to him because of Jesus’ death.  He gave his life to Christ. I intersected with Red when he asked to be baptized.  From the moment we met, Red and I hit it off.  It was strange.  We were nothing alike but deeply connected because of the work God was doing in our lives. I love talking with Red. I love seeing him and getting his long, awkward guy-hugs. It’s a special friendship that only God could have crafted. 

I’ve come to realize that God uses fairly ordinary people in some unexpected relationships to do amazing things.  Red’s and my relationship reminds me somewhat of Peter and Cornelius. Like us, these two guys had nothing in common and didn’t even belong in the same room. Peter was a former Jewish fisherman turned preacher with a tannery side business. Cornelius was a Roman army officer from an Italian regiment.  Peter grew up learning that he was never to associate or befriend a non-Jew (Gentile).  Cornelius was taught that anyone less than Roman or Greek were scum that needed to be controlled and subdued.  Cornelius was a man of importance and financial means and Peter was a guy who gave up everything for the Jesus movement. If these two would have passed each other on a street in Jerusalem, they would probably not have even made eye contact.  But through visions and angels, God puts these two together. This was such a radical friendship in that day that Peter faced an ethical dilemma. 

You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean. Acts 10.28

So what’s God up to with this unusual relationship?  Why put these two in the same room to discuss the work of God on the planet?  Answer: He’s opening the door for the Good News of Jesus to go to the utter ends of the earth to people of all nations. Something needed to break. Cultural and religious barriers needed to broken.  A retired Jewish fisherman having lunch with a Roman military enforcer would launch the next phase of God’s movement around the planet. Today when I, as a Dutch pastor in Michigan, connect meaningfully with an Irish trucker in Florida in a rich, spiritual conversation about the work of God in our lives, I can thank Peter for walking into the home of Cornelius. 

Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.” Acts 10.34-35

So where does this story leave you today? Is there an unusual friendship that God has put in your path?  Embrace the movement of God in your relationships. He may be up to something bigger than you can imagine.