He told me to tell you that
My favorite barista (youngest son Jack) fell off his motorcycle by hitting a huge pothole a couple of years ago on Interstate
35. Then about a year ago a pick up truck ran a red light and hit him on the motorcycle he bought after the first motorcycle was totaled. Three or four surgeries later, several metal plates, bolts and screws
Jack is back.
Jack was living with several roommates (think frat house) during the time of the second wreck and there is always that one guy who handles the bills, you know collecting rent, utility money, etc. Well, this guy decided to keep the cash and not pay the bills so Jackie Boy ended up homeless along with his other roomies. The perfect storm. In the hospital, homeless, jobless (his job could not keep his position open while he recovered from wreck number one) and motorcycle-less (this might have been a good thing, right?).
We went to see the barista in late January. He has his old job back (long story), he has a great apartment and just last week he bought a used Subaru (just looking for a canoe now). He is not allowed to skateboard, plus he is 27 and cannot skate forever. Or play pick up basketball because of the hardware that is keeping his hips and legs together but he moves around like a pro and most of the aches and pains have subsided—praise the Lord!
Jack is nothing like his dad (I’m an old, tired, way too cynical pastor), he’s a nice guy, he’s hard not to like and friendly - kind of a Will Rogers type person: he never met anyone he didn’t like. What I’m saying is it was hard to see the barista down, not enjoying life to its full and in some ways it didn’t seem fair (I know, I know, life isn’t fair).
I sent Jack a note after we got back home from our visit and I told him I was so glad that his story had a “happy ending.” It’s good to see him prospering after a drought, a hard season or what some would call “bad luck” (as Christians we don’t believe in “luck” - things are not random or coincidental). Who doesn’t like happy endings?
God is into happy endings. In 2nd Peter 3:9 He says, “He is patient … not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” The truth of this passage is that not everyone will experience a happy ending but only those that have a relationship with Christ.
I’ve got a friend who will ask me do you know so and so and I will say, “I know them.” But I don’t as he says, “know - know” them. We have to know - know Jesus in order to have a happy ending.
The Apostle Paul told us in 2nd Corinthians 5:8 that, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” In other words, when we pass away we can be assured of being with Jesus in Heaven (happy ending).
And finally, Jesus said (red letters) in John 3 starting at verse 16 that He came because God doesn’t want any of us to have an unhappy ending (perish—think hot place) but to live forever (eternal life) with Him. All of this hinges on the word “believe” in this passage. It means we trust in Christ for our salvation (rescue from our sins). Believe means “know - know.”
I love happy endings, so does Jesus.
He told me to tell you that.
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