Airplane Pilot

Only thing is, I frequently crash my aircraft. And I would worry that my boss would get angry with me if I kept doing that in real life. I don’t like it when people get cross with me 😀.

But one solution would be to equip my aircraft with ejector seats and parachutes – or maybe let the Copilot fly the plane. Well, maybe I should just fly on my computer. I’d imagine that most airlines discriminate against dopey people when it comes to employing pilots 😀.

So, coming back to the real world, I suppose it would be practical to learn skills that would be useful around the house, such as plumbing. When I first got married, I took a slight interest in Do It Yourself (DIY) skills, but I never really progressed much. Not a lot went wrong, so I never really built up much experience. In my parents’ generation, everyone seemed to be skilled at DIY.

For hobbies, I’d like to be much more skilled at playing the guitar and piano. I’ve messed around with these for most of my life, but I’d like to be much better. I hardly go a day without playing music.

I sometimes use my mediocre music skills as an illustration of discipleship in the Christian life. Sometimes when people commit their life to Christ, they might expect to become perfect immediately. Or they might expect to grow in holiness so much that when they die, they’re pretty much near 100%. Some even think that you continue in purgatory after you die so that you eventually eradicate all sin and earn a place in heaven.

I would respond to all this in two ways. Firstly, we don’t get to heaven by our own merits. Salvation is a gift. Secondly, we express our thanks to God by learning from him and growing in grace. But do we really progress all that much? Maybe the crucial thing is that we engage with God on a daily basis. If someone thinks that they’re almost perfect, surely they’re deluding themselves.

We get to heaven by repenting and relying on Jesus, our Saviour. I think of the story of the penitent thief on the cross. He was obviously repentant, and he trusted in Jesus. And Jesus assured him that he would be with him in paradise on that very day.

Luke 23:39-43
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

But let’s suppose that the Roman soldiers had taken the thief down from the cross immediately after he trusted in Jesus and set him free. He clearly wouldn’t be in paradise with Jesus that day. But would he end up in paradise/heaven when he died later in life? Well, if his repentance and faith were genuine, yes.

John 5:24
 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”

John 10:27-29
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

I would expect to see a change in the life of the penitent thief. He wouldn’t continue in his life of crime, but he’d hardly be perfect. But the key thing is that he would continually engage with God. It’s a little bit like me and my music. I’d like to be able to play the guitar like Eric Clapton and play the keyboards like Dave Greenfield. I’m never going to get there in this life, but music is a key part of my life, it’s a passion. And I see a Christian as someone who trusts in Christ and engages with Christ, not a person who is close to perfection, though we should aspire to be holy.

Matt 11:28-29
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

So, you cannot and don’t need to pay for your salvation. If I adopted a child, I would like them to be grateful, and I would want them to behave well, but I wouldn’t want them to live with the fear of being sent back to the orphanage if i wasn’t fully satisfied that they had repaid me.And when God adopts us, we can be sure that we are his children and that he loves us more than we could ever love our own children.

John 1:12
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

And God does equip you with skills. In the Old Testament, mention is made of the Holy Spirit equipping people with earthly skills. For example, Bezalel in Exodus 31:3

Exodus 31:3
“And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills.”

And in the New Testament, Peter and others encourage us to use our gifts to serve others:

1 Peter 4:10
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace.”

Sometimes people see gifts in magical or miraculous terms. Miracles do occur in the Bible, but even in the Bible, these are rare. But all of us should be grateful to God for whatever gifts and skills we have. And at times, we might even feel that God is working in us in a special way. Most of us who’ve given sermons at one time or another sense that sometimes you almost feel as if you’ve gone way beyond your normal abilities. You can’t be 100% sure that it’s the Holy Spirit. Maybe something in your brain or body has “pulled out all the stops”. But that should never stop you from giving God the credit. I frequently mention U2’s song Magnificent in this blog. U2 don’t often sing explicit Christian songs, but in some cases, like this one, it feels like lead singer, Bono, is addressing God and giving thanks to God for his gifts. In an interview with Gay Byrne some years ago, he was asked if he believed in the physical resurrection of Jesus. Unlike so many others, he said a very definite “yes”. He said he had no problem with miracles, and that he even regarded the success of U2 as a miracle. And when Abba sing, “Thank you for the music” – who are they thanking? I don’t know what religion Abba are, but even if I were an atheist, I think that I would want to thank whoever or whatever gave us music.

And I've often wondered, how did it all start?
Who found out that nothing can capture a heart
Like a melody can?
Well, whoever it was, I'm a fan