Match Cross

 

This is a knick-knack, or maybe it is a what-knot. I'm not really sure. It is a visual curiosity or a conversation piece. A memory or a lesson.

It has adorned my study desks or book shelves in various churches where I have served over the past 30 or 40 years.

It was given to me by a member of my family and I recall that it came into their possession from a prison inmate. Something made with idle time. A craft of penance  or devotion perhaps.

It is the figure of a Cross, made of burnt matches.

It always makes me think of a very funny prison joke that I have told over the years that I think is hilarious but no one ever seems to laugh at.

A minister was visiting a federal prison, chatting with the inmates, being friendly, and sharing his time and company. In his rounds he saw a singular prisoner with a worn garment in his lap, attending to it earnestly in repair with a needle and thread.

As the minister passed by he asked casually, "Sowing?"

To which the inmate glibly replied, "No, reaping."

Now, don't you think that is the funniest dry-humor joke you have ever heard? Ha!

My match cross makes me think, and it speaks many different kinds of lessons to me.

It is a simple and yet striking creation. The artistic work did not require genius, but it has a flare to it (if you will pardon the pun).

Over a hundred wooden matches were measured, cut to size, the head of the match was fired and extinguished to create the basic materials of construction. All of the cut and burned matches were glued meticulously and carefully to a Styrofoam base.

The Match Cross always starts its conversation with me by asking (non verbally), "Are you going to burn our for Jesus?"

It's like an inventory or check-up question. It needs to be asked every once in a while. It is never an irrelevant question.

I hear someone saying (in my mind), in response to the silent question: "Well, I'd rather burn out than rust out!"

And my response to that is always the same: "Burn out, rust out, either way -- you're OUT."

You see, to burn out is to snuff out from exhaustion, turn to ash from the fires of enthusiasm and/or passion. To become an incendiary offering for the cause of Christ and the Gospel. To work so hard and so long with such dedication that when all is said and done (and a LOT is said and done), there is nothing left but cold charcoal, not even a glowing, smoking ember.

To rust out is to sit still. Do nothing. Sit out. Surrender. Quit. Oxidizing instead of energizing.

Maybe burning out is more respectable than rusting out from inactivity or laziness or neglect, but you're still OUT.

I hope that my life and ministry will always be characterized by fire and energy. Enthusiasm and zeal.

Passion. Heart. Fervor.

But I don't want to wind up as a desktop monument to expiration.

I don't want to be a Match Cross.

A testament to Christ . . . but all of my fire gone.

Not a spark left.

Struck out. Burnt out. Worn out. Done. OUT.

I DO want to fight a good fight and FINISH my course, but I don't want to run out of flame or fuel on this side of forever.

Jesus said, "Come to Me . . . all of you who are laboring and are heavily burdened with your work. I will give you rest. Come work for Me, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Working for me -- is easy." Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus meant, if you are working for Him, serving Him, dedicating your life to Him and His cause and purposes, and you are getting tired, worn out, and burnt out, you're doing it wrong.

Serving God is easy. Living for Jesus is easy. Being the Christian that I was saved to be is easy. If it is not, I'm doing it wrong.

I don't know if this message resonates with you, but it is one that I need often. I'm still learning to lean on Him. To trust in Him and His power and resource. Learning to draw from His strength. From Him. Learning what it means to be able to work and serve and do, in a constant state of rest. His rest.

I'm not a Match Cross.