“Have you been led astray, too?” The Pharisees mocked. “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God’s curse is on them!”
We had what has become a rare treat at the Kelley family household Easter weekend. The ENTIRE family was around the dinner table at one time, sharing the meal, laughing, enjoying each other’s company. I have come to cherish these times because they are few and far between since the kids all left home. As it has a tendency to do when we all get together, the conversation eventually turned to the “remember when” game. This is always particularly amusing – and often educational – for me. Amusing because each sibling tries so hard to get one up on the others but also because, with all the hilarious stories they tell on one another, they never come close to all the memories that flood my heart – some funny and some poignant.
I don’t know what made me remember this particular story about Kyle, but it came to mind again this week as I was reading our passages for the First 15 in John. Kyle, our oldest child, is a grown man married to the beautiful, young Becca Piedra Kelley. As a young child, however, he spent all of his time either with his family, at church, or with his church family. There were certain things of the world to which he had never been exposed simply because the people in his life did not participate in them. One of these was cursing.
One day I went to pick Kyle up after school when he was in second grade. I knew as soon as he headed for the car that something was wrong. He slammed the car door shut, slouched down in the seat, and declared, “Mom, you’ve got to teach ‘em all to me!”
“Teach you all of what?” He was a straight A student! My mind searched frantically for what could possibly be giving him so much trouble.
“You’ve got to teach me all the bad words!” he sobbed.
“What are you talking about, Kyle? We don’t say bad words. You don’t need to know the bad words because you aren’t going to use them.” What in the world had happened?!
“Mom, you have to! That way I will know all the words NOT to say!” he begged with tears streaming down his face.
You see the boys at the lunch table had been using foul language while they were eating. They knew to stop when the lunch monitor walked by, but Kyle didn’t know this was one of the words mom and dad called “a bad word” so he got caught saying it loud and clear. He was right. How could he avoid doing the wrong thing if he didn’t have a clear definition of what that was? It didn’t do any good for us to set a boundary and then expect him to go out and find the coordinates on his own. Poor kid! My heart broke for him! He had tried so hard to do the right thing, and, of course, nobody believed him when he told them he didn’t know that was a bad word.
Rules are important in life. Without them we have chaos and confusion. Without them we are all searching in the dark for the “true boundary” of what is right. Praise God, however, He didn’t leave us floundering around trying to define good and evil. He gave us the Ten Commandments as our plumb line so we would know His expectations – so we could understand the true definition of sin. Without them we wouldn’t be able to find our way to the salvation He is offering us. The Pharisees took this perfect idea and added their own human twist to it and made life into a ritualistic list of do’s and don’ts that were impossible to follow. Their power-hungry quest took the attention away from God’s glory and put it all on them. Then they sat back and called people “fools” if they chose not to follow them.
Now, I don’t remember sitting down and giving Kyle a list of all the words we never wanted to hear him say. We did, however, give him guidance on how to be more discerning. We also let him know when in doubt, don’t, and come home and ask mom and dad. He wouldn’t get into trouble for doing that. Too often I think we look the Ten Commandments as God’s way of putting us into a rigid little “religious” box when, in fact, they are there to help us be more discerning and lead us into an honest relationship with God where we can openly draw on His wisdom to make wise choices. And we all have to make choices. The Pharisees and religious leaders made the choice not to follow God’s Commandments, and that choice led them away from Him. The crowd in this passage chose to follow Jesus even though it brought them ridicule, and it led them to the cross. The Pharisees accused them of being led astray. The Pharisees needed to learn the same lesson Kyle learned – being led astray is a matter of determining Who you are going to follow. I say kudos to the “fools” in this passage who chose to follow Jesus and not the Pharisees and religious leaders of the time. And I say kudos to Kyle, too, for having the courage to stand up and choose, not only as a 2nd grader, but all through his 26 years to follow the One who will not lead him astray. I love you Kyle! I am proud of the godly, young man you have become! May we all be as diligent to make that wise choice even in the face of adversity!
Lord, thank you for giving us boundaries that lead us to you. Thank you for being there to help us make wise choices because on our own we are so inadequate to meet life’s challenges. Thank you for my wonderful family and the times we share together. I praise you for your provision. I praise you for your patience. I praise you for your love. May your will ever be done in our lives.
Amen
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