Saturday, February 21, 2015

Looking Beneath the Ordinary

February 21, 2015

I don't recall the reason I ventured out to the wilderness of Bear Lake that first time. It probably had something to do with the kids, who were in our youth group. Were it not for them, we probably never would have discovered this little bit of heaven. I'll not forget how impressed I was with this place. It was general store, restaurant, campground, antique shop, and marina, all rolled into one. I was amazed at all that was packed into this little bit of real estate. It was the Clever General Store, the dream of Art Clever. Yep, that's his name. And clever, he was, running the store and restaurant, repairing outboard motors, managing the campground. Linda and I had finally stopped by for his famous fish fry, which was as good as any I've ever had. After dinner, Art showed us around, walking the campground with us, introducing us to people, obviously taking great pleasure and pride in what he had accomplished.

After that initial visit, I came by a number of times to grab a lunch at the counter, have a cup of coffee, browse the antiques, but the real reason I came was because it was a place of peace & serenity. Art's entire family worked the place. At any given time, you could find his daughter Jessie, his wife Marlene, or son Jake behind the counter or at the grill. It takes a lot of work to make a place run seamlessly, and work, they did.

Today I officiated at Art's funeral. His brother and children spoke, telling the stories of what it was like growing up with Art; how he woke the boys up every morning playing reveille on an old bugle, how he raised cows, pigs, chickens and all sorts of vegetables on a little 1/3 acre farm. Others spoke of his years teaching earth science. More than one said he was the best teacher they every had. And always there was store, which was his dream.

Most of us miss the object lessons God places right in our hands. I suspect that growing up, Art's children didn't see it, or even Art, for that matter. But they lived out the Gospel. The Clever General Store was God's object lesson in love, a lesson they lived, probably not even realizing what God was trying to say to them and the people they served. I visited whenever I could, not because of the food, but because of the serenity. But the peace I enjoyed was bought at a price... their blood, sweat, and tears. Peace is what we enjoy because of someone else's sacrifice. The Bible tells us that we have peace with God because of what Jesus did on the cross. He sacrificed his own blood so we could enjoy peace. It was hard work for our Savior, but he did it, sacrificing himself so we could find peace.

Anyone who sacrifices him or herself, who works hard so others might benefit, is an object lesson in grace. I wonder how often we miss God's messages to us because we're so caught up in the work that we lose sight of the reason. It was an honor today to officiate at Art's funeral, and to see the inner workings of God in something most people would consider quite ordinary. A family working hard so others can find a place of rest/Jesus Christ, doing the hard work of redemption by dying on a cross so we might find peace. I am grateful tonight that God opened my eyes to see inside the order of ordinary life his message of grace and peace in Jesus Christ.

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