9/22/14

In 1985 Whitey Herzog was manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.  One of his players, Darrell Porter, was the team’s starting catcher and a devout Christian.  The day before an interview with Whitey in the clubhouse at Busch Stadium, Porter had struck out three times with runners on base.  The thing that infuriated Whitey was that Darrell never took his bat off his shoulder.  He watched a total of nine fastballs go by – all belt high and right down the middle – and never swung the bat.  After the game, Whitey called Darrell into his office.  “Darrell, what’s the problem?  You are killing us out there!”  To which Darrell said, “I don’t know Whitey.  I guess when the Lord wants me to hit, I’ll hit.”  To which Whitey replied, “Darrell, the Lord can’t help you if you don’t swing the bat!” 
 
Though no one will ever accuse Whitey Herzog of being a great Bible scholar… that was a pretty good piece of theology.  The Bible teaches that the Lord blesses the efforts of His people.  But, in fact, he cannot bless the inaction or inactivity of His people.  We cannot hit the ball out of the park for God’s eternal purpose if we don’t swing the bat of diligent effort.  Titus 2:14, “[Jesus] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” Our eagerness to do what is good in our community and in the world will be evident. It will show up in the unselfish giving of our time, our talents and our treasure to make disciples. It will be measurable in the extent of our involvement in the life of the church, the bride of Christ and the body of Christ. 
 
To the church in Sardis, the Risen Lord spoke these words in Revelation 3:2, “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.  Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent.”

Pray with me…Father God, we want to measure the ‘measureables’ in our life of faith.  Bring conviction to our hearts and consciences about that which we need to do as good and faithful servants for your Name and Your Kingdom.  Through Jesus we pray, amen. 

Blessings,
Pastor Ken