The Power of God's Word

 

 

Matthew 7:6 (Good News Translation)

Do not give what is holy to dogs—they will only turn and attack you. Do not throw your pearls in front of pigs—they will only trample them underfoot

I have been attending a memoir writing workshop by Rose Monge. For this week she assigned the following prompt: “Select a tangible artifact, prized possession or object that has meaning to you. What and why is this artifact so significant? Write about it.” What follows is my response.

I had been teaching for 5 years at a Christian high school in Tanzania. The seniors, whom they called the Form IVs, finished their external exams on Thursday (November 25 1971) and were scheduled to leave for home on that day. They made a special request to stay another day, “to say goodbye!” I encouraged the principal and the faculty to deny the request. I feared they could be up to some mayhem; however, their request was granted. The other classes didn’t take their final exams until the next week, so we had regular classes Friday. I had Form I mathematics at 7:00 a.m. that day. As usual, the teacher who had the first period class each day was also expected to start off with a ten-minute devotional with the students. I locked the classroom door because I saw some Form IV students walking around outside. I started the class on time. However. the Form IVs, started banging on the windows and door and shouting and making more noise outside the classroom. They continued this raucous behavior for the entire period. It was so loud that I couldn’t lecture. When the period was over, I opened the door and started to leave the classroom. However, the 10 disgruntled seniors were not done yet. They formed a circle around the door, one of them menacingly swinging a rawhide whip. The Form I students crowded around the door behind me, so there was no retreat there, Evidently, they were expecting something to happen. The student with the whip stepped up to me and said, “I hear you have called us dogs!”

I said firmly, “I never called you dogs!” I paused, “but Jesus Christ[1]  did. ‘Do not give what is holy to dogs—they will only turn and attack you. Do not throw your pearls in front of pigs—they will only trample them underfoot’.”

“Where!” demanded the whip kid.

I opened the little Testament pictured above that I carried in my shirt pocket to Matthew 7:6 and handed it to him, “Here!”

He took this proffered Testament, read it in silence, after a moment’s hesitation closed it, handed it back to me, turned on his heels, and stalked away. His fellows followed him. Although it is well worn, I still treasure this little Todays English Version testament with a color striped cover that saved me from a beating that day.

I stepped into my office door, which was right next to the classroom. I turned to lock the door, but my hand was shaking so badly, I had a difficult time. After locking the door, I sat there for a whole class period and praised the Lord. Fortunately, I had a free period at that time, and slowly my shaking stopped.

Meanwhile the disgruntled boys went to the principal’s office. He told me about the encounter afterwards. They demanded that he come out of his office. He saw the whip which the ringleader was waving menacingly. He declined to come out. They still demanded that he come out so they could talk with him. Whether it was the aura of the principal’s office or just the fact that they figured they couldn’t swing the whip effectively in the office that caused them to finally turn around and leave the building.

They still thirsted for blood, so they went over to the vice-principal’s home and pounded on his front door. His wife came to the door, and they demanded to see him. His wife quickly assessed their menacing attitude and said, “Sorry, he’s in the shower!” and closed and locked the door. They stood around waiting for a long time, hoping for him to come out. Finally it became time to catch the bus, and they dashed off.

Thank you Lord, for using such a little thing as this Testament to quell the fury of the disgruntled youth, and saving me from a beating.

 

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[1] Matthew 7:6 GNT

Persons with Great Influence

 

[1]

 

John 3:20-21

Holman Christian Standard Bible

²⁰ For everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. ²¹ But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”

 

Christ spoke very straight to Nicodemus. He gently cut him down to size. When Nicodemus quibbled over being born again, Christ chided him for not understanding what He was saying. Now He is in effect saying, why did you come to me in the dark of night? Are you afraid that you’re doing evil by coming to me at night? Hey man! If you’re doing right then let everyone see you do it.

When the Jews wished to prosecute Christ without first giving Him a fair trial, Nicodemus brought them up short by reminding them that their own law insisted on their being fair. But Nicodemus didn’t reveal his belief in Christ in front of the critical Jews or show his true colors until Christ was hanging on the cross. When Joseph of Arimathea, another secret follower, took Christ’s body down to bury it, Nicodemus came along with 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes to embalm His body. After that he used his wealth to help the struggling new church survive during those first few years after Christ’s death.[2]

When I was falsely accused of defaming the Tanzanian flag, Thomas Lisso, a member of parliament and my former principal, “just happened to be” at each of at least four councils that considered the accusation and spoke up strongly in my defense. I was very thankful that this man, whom the church condemned for going into politics, was willing to stand up and show his true colors. He became a true force for right on a national level.[3]

Thank you, Lord, for having people of great influence ready to help Your work in times of great need.

 

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[1] https://bibleteachingnotes.blog/2018/10/19/john-3/

[2] E.G. White Acts of the Apostles p105; and Desire of Ages p. 177

[3] See my forth coming Ikizu—A Memoir

He Endured Opposition

[i]

 Hebrews 12:3

Common English Bible

³ Think about the one who endured such opposition from sinners so that you won’t be discouraged and you won’t give up.

 

It was not in my job description, which was to teach science and mathematics. Yet, the maintenance of the entire school plant, including teacher’s homes, fell on my shoulders. I was working upwards of 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Believe it or not, I thrived under the regimen. I still found some time to read and to chat with my wife. Without a vehicle of any kind, we were stuck on the mission, so this brought no variation to my activities.

One year under a new principal, however, things came to a head. He liked to micromanage everything. He would ask me to do something. I would get my workers (students) working on the project and then go and do other pressing things. On occasion he would visit the project while I was away and demand that the workers do something different. When I returned to check on progress, I would find them tearing down what they had done. Stunned, I asked why. They would look a bit confused and then tell me the principal had told them to. When I spoke to him, he would say simply, “I want it done a different way.”

When I disciplined a student in my class, he sometimes reversed the discipline but never told me. Then in front of the class, the student would inform me that the principal had told him that what he was doing was okay. This, of course, had a serious effect on the decorum of the class.

Then one of my student helpers forgot to add more oil into a diesel engine, that powered our water pump, I was in charge of. The lack of oil severely damaged the crankshaft of the engine. The cost of a replacement crankshaft cost more than half the replacement of the entire engine. I reported our problem to the principal. He showed up the next day with a mechanic he had hired from town. He introduced him to me: “Now here is a real mechanic. You go down and see how he fixes it!”

“Good!” I said, “But no real mechanic wants an amateur looking over his shoulder.” I didn’t remind him that fixing things was not part of my job description and that I was doing this merely to save the school a lot of money. The “real” mechanic put some shims in the bearings and ran the engine. It died within eight hours. Then he told the principal, “The only way to fix the engine is a new crankshaft or a new engine. The principal was careful to never mention the event to me again. We parted as friends.

I guess I was discouraged. I gave up and turned in my letter of resignation. This scared the principal. He came to me personally and begged me to stay the two more months to the end of the school term. Then a new principal would take over, and he was going to another job.

Because I was working so much, I had not kept my eyes on the One who had suffered continual opposition and died on account of it. I did not give up but stayed on for a couple more years, until my tour of duty was over. That year was merely preparation for my final year when the opposition came not from the administration but from other directions. That time I was prepared and kept my eyes on Jesus Christ and finished in triumph.

In this current age when a raging pandemic threatens to destroy our lives and an enemy threatens to destroy our democracy, Lord, we rest our future in Your capable, loving hands!

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[i] https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im201402DL-Lister1930s-2cyl.jpg