Do you Believe?

As I was preparing my sermon for today, I received this e-mail that really fit the bill of what we are talking about today. I'm going to share it with you.

It's entitled, "GOD LIVES UNDER THE BED"

I envy Kevin. My brother, Kevin, thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard
him say one night.

He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped to listen, 'Are you there,
God?' he said. 'Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed...'

I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room. Kevin's unique perspectives are often a
source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor. I
realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in.

He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart
from his size (he's 6-foot-2), there are few ways in which he is an adult.

He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7-year-old, and he always will. He
will probably always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus is the one who
fills the space under our tree every Christmas and that airplanes stay up in the sky because
angels carry them.

I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his
monotonous life?

Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to walk our
cocker spaniel, return to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for dinner, and later to bed.

The only variation in the entire scheme is laundry, when he hovers excitedly over the
washing machine like a mother with her newborn child.

He does not seem dissatisfied.

He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05, eager for a day of simple work.

He wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner, and he
stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day's laundry chores.

And Saturdays - oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That's the day my Dad takes Kevin to the
airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculate loudly on the destination
of each passenger inside. 'That one's goin' to Chi-car-go! ' Kevin shouts as he claps his
hands.

His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights.

And so goes his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips.

He doesn't know what it means to be discontent.

His life is simple.

He will never know the entanglements of wealth of power, and he does not care what brand
of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. His needs have always been met, and he
never worries that one day they may not be.

His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads
the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it.

He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is
finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax.

He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure.

He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong,
you apologize instead of argue.

Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is
hurt, angry or sorry. He is always transparent, always sincere. And he trusts God.

Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child..
Kevin seems to know God - to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an
'educated' person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion.

In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity, I envy the security Kevin has
in his simple faith.

It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above
my mortal questions.

It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap. I am. My obligations, my
fear, my pride, my circumstances - they all become disabilities when I do not trust them to
God's care.

Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent his
whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and
love of God.

And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how
close God really is to our hearts, I'll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who
believed that God lived under his bed.

Kevin won't be surprised at all!


Back in the day when Jesus walked the Earth, life was simple. Imagine for a moment how
simple things were. There were no computers. No cellphones or as far as that goes, no
telephones. No televisions or radios. No cars. No electricity. No running water. No books.

How on earth could they survive without all of those things? It's hard to imagine! Do you
think that we could survive today without our cellphone? Or our computers? And all of
these lights and things that require electricity. I've heard it said over and over again that all
of these things make life so much easier. It is suppose to make our jobs easier. Ya, right!
There is nothing simple in our life today. It is so cluttered with "stuff" that we don't even
know what the word "simple" even means.

Why, even look at the worship services in our churches. They have become some
complicated. There is all of this liturgy and sometimes, we fail to look past the liturgy and
into the heart of God. Dwight L. Moody once said, "I'd rather be able to pray than to be a
great preacher; Jesus Christ never taught his disciples how to preacher, but only how to
pray." Communications with God is simple. Prayer is one of the best free gifts that we
receive. There is no cost, but a lot of rewards.

Do you believe?

In Matthew 5, Jesus had talked about the beatitudes. Then he said, "You are the salt of the
earth."

Salt gives flavor to things that have no taste. Just a dash of salt can make a recipe good or
bad. Just a dash of salt does wonders. Salt is simple. It's little white crystals sit in a container
until it is needed. It is even used to preserve our food to be eaten later. How simple can it
be.

When Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth," he was referring to His people - the
preservative that holds life together. People who hold each other up. People who help
each other in a time of need.


There was this Swiss-born psychiatrist and the author of the groundbreaking book "On
Death and Dying," Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Most of us don't like working with dying people.
It makes us uncomfortable, because we feel helpless in the face of impending death.
Even doctors and nurses feel uncomfortable around dying people. They feel as helpless
as the rest of us.

But Kubler-Ross understood that we can help those who are dying. We can help them by
our presence –– our touch –– our love. She helped to transform the way that dying people
are treated in hospitals and nursing homes.

While working in a Chicago hospital, Kubler-Ross came to know a very ordinary woman ––
a cleaning lady responsible for mopping floors and emptying wastebaskets. But
Kubler-Ross noticed something quite extraordinary about this ordinary woman. When this
woman would spend some time cleaning the room of a dying patient, the patient would
almost always become quieter, more content, more at peace.

Kubler-Ross questioned the cleaning lady to find out how she did it –– how she had such a
positive effect on dying patients. The woman explained that she had lived a hard life. She
had experienced fear. She understood grief. The worst thing that had ever happened to
her was the death of her three-year-old son. The little boy had developed pneumonia, so
she had taken him to a public health clinic. He died in her arms while she waited her turn.
The woman told Kubler-Ross:

"You see, doctor,
the dying patients are just like old acquaintances to me,
and I'm not afraid to touch them,
to talk with them,
or to offer them hope."

Kubler-Ross got that woman promoted. The hospital created a new position for her. She
was no longer a member of the custodial staff. She became "Special Counselor to the
Dying."

I tell that story as a way of saying that each of us, no matter how ordinary, we have
something special to give –– a special reason for being alive. To uncover our special gift,
we need to listen for Jesus' call. We need to hear him say, "Follow me!" Jesus MIGHT
call us to be a minister or a missionary or a physician or a teacher. But we can be sure that
he DOES call us to love our neighbor –– to help the needy –– to serve quietly in a
thousand small ways. To be the salt of the earth. All you have to do is believe. Believe in
God.

Samuel finally got the message. When the Lord spoke, he replied, "Speak, for your
servant is listening." Jesus said to Philip, "Follow me." Nathaniel declared, "You are the
Son of God." Jesus says to us, "Believe - for you are the salt of the earth."

The message is simple. Kevin lived a simple life and God was forefront in his mind.

The salt of the earth includes our friends. You see, friends are angels who lift us to our feet
when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.

God lives under the bed. God lives in our heart. Believe!

Amen.