Putting your foot in it… guilty.
Deliberately putting your foot in it… really guilty.
How many times has the guilty verdict been announced by me to me, often! There are some broken eggs I can talk about. In fact some are in the public domain, shared with family and friends. As I reflect on this some of these eggs are gender specific! Usually they are shared with men as observations and warnings regarding certain unhealthy situations. I have tramped over many hills and valleys and learned to be careful about giving advice.
Some of the broken eggs became part of a confessional journey that has led to healing, both for self and for others. I had to recognise that eggs are fragile and contain life. Some remain broken.
There may be less eggs getting broken – age and wisdom help but there are still lots of eggs around. I see in today’s modern society the reinforcement that the individual matters first, and as long as you don’t hurt anyone, everything, within limits, is okay.
Of course breaking eggs gives us food.
How many ways are there to cook an egg?
Jesus took on a group of men with the long term view that they would succeed him in the business of evangelism, building the church and leading the church into the future. Not an easy task considering the new developments that were coming their way. Changes to career prospects, development of new skills, and a certain amount of prospective thinking talking about advances in future theology. A lot to take on board, but given a three year window of opportunity it was within their grasp with huge potential for high levels of achievement. Could it be they were the right men for the job? There must have been sufficient evidence within the interview process (that’s if you can identify the process) to confirm their appointments.
The journey to high level achievement was tough, challenging, at times fearful, at other times miraculous; it was always an adventure. But, and it’s a big BUT, eggs had to be broken. When it was all said and done we find Jesus alone being denied his Kingdomship. He had been deserted by this same group of men. You would think that this was enough for him to walk away. He had done his best, but that is to deny the character of Jesus. He went looking for them, finding them on a boat close to the beach. He had food ready for them when they landed; they had been fishing all night.
There was no hint of condemnation at being deserted. He came to restore and re-validate the relationship with these men, confirming that the future as laid out over the years would be bound up in these, his choice of men. For us this is the lesson: ‘you cannot unbreak an egg.’ Jesus deals in brokenness, Jesus went out of his way to pursue these broken men, he didn’t do the human thing and join the blame game. No, he did the only thing he could do and loved them. You might feel that you are a ‘broken egg’, but you remain a chosen, loved man.
