Consumed?

“I’ve had all I can stands...I can’t STANDS NO MORE!”  - Popeye

Bill Hybels is a prominent religious writer who wrote a book a few years ago titled Holy Discontent. In it he encourages the reader to find the work or task about which they are truly passionate, and then get to it. He used an example that hearkens anyone over 40 years old back to their childhood.

Many who are older than me grew up with “Popeye the Sailor Man”. Popeye was a usually mild mannered Navy vet who always seemed to find a way to have his heart manipulated by his gal - Olive Oyl. Now Olive is a real “looker”, but she is rather fickle in her affections and devotion. She usually ends up unwittingly connected to some brainless thug named “Brutus”, who inevitably bullies Popeye without much resistance. When things are looking dire for everyone Popeye loves, he gets to his boiling point and utters the famous phrase at the beginning of this article. When he just can’t stand the injustice of the situation any more, he whips out a can....of spinach. With a rush of superhuman strength, trumpet fanfare and much cartoon violence - Olive is rescued, Brutus is defeated and Popeye saves the day.

Dare I say or suggest that Jesus had a Popeye moment?  The story of Jesus clearing the temple in John 2 is fascinating when you consider that what He was about to accomplish on the cross was going to make temple sacrifices obsolete. Jesus could have just chalked up the money changers and selling in the temple courts as just another symptom of man’s broken attempts to appeal to the lowest common denominators of pleasing God. You know - doing the least you can for God while still “keeping the law.” Jesus could have spoken against these people, told how the building and what it represented was going to fall and go on His way.

But He didn't. He went in and physically drove the sellers out. The Bible said his actions fulfilled the scripture “Zeal for your house will consume me” (John 2:17.) It was as if Jesus thought to Himself “I’m going to the cross, I’m going to render the sacrificial system fulfilled and I have a lot of things to do and people to help along the way....but I’m just not going to stand for them desecrating my Father’s house any longer!”

What is your boiling point? What is the injustice, social wrong or problem that every time you see or hear of it you can hardly stand it? The disease, neglect or situation that ravages the poor and vulnerable. The issue that seems to scream out for help, but not many seem to be heeding its call. It doesn't have to be a problem that requires an unfathomable amount of money and thousands of miles of travel to solve. And even if it does require lots of money and effort, it still consumes you that it remains a problem.

I would humbly implore that you find that hot button issue. Immerse yourself in being part of a solution to a problem that you just can take sitting down any longer. You just might find yourself a vision and a purpose in life that helps the oppressed, soothes or heals the sick and gives your life deeper meaning. A personal sacrifice of time and passion to do great things for God’s kingdom. A living embodiment of Romans 12:1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”