Presumptuous planning

In my Introduction to Preaching class at Bethel Seminary, each student had to present a 20-minute sermon on a passage from the book of James.  My passage was James 4:13-17.  Here is a paragraph in my message in which I set up the first century presumptuous planners in a 21st century context:

James is eavesdropping on the boardroom discussion of these Fortune 500 CEOs as they are planning their next big expansion project: “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Notice all the proactive verbs here: go, spend, do business, make money.  These are people who know what they want, and they have figured out how to get there.  We want these go-getters managing our investment portfolios! In today’s world we would call them successful, assertive, forward looking self-starters, maybe even visionaries. Isn’t this what every parent wants for his children’s future?

Valuable dents

Some may think that the shiny Lightning McQueen is the hero of the Cars movies. But in my book, the rusty tow-truck Mater, with his unassuming backwoods drawl, is the real star.

In Cars 2, someone tells Mater that he should get all of his ugly dents fixed.  “You can’t touch my dents,” says Mater. “I got every one of them dents with my best buddy Lightning McQueen.”  McQueen, however, doesn't always treat Mater with the same respect.

As I reflected on Mater's valuable dents, my thoughts went to another improbable hero who chose to leave his dents as a reminder of some important relationships.  Accused of crimes he never committed, this man voluntarily suffered the ultimate consequences of his friends' wrongdoing.  Later, the scars of that difficult journey would serve as a transformational signpost for all to see.  His friends would say, "By his dents we have been healed."