Happy Easter everyone!!
Christ is risen, and today we remind ourselves of that reality that we should be living everyday :)
Along the same note, here is a story that my Dad wrote for his AWANA kids for western night this past week!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOSPEL OF GRACE
I told
you pardners about Lonesome Dove and the Lakotas and the Governor. But there is
more to the story - much more! You see, It was the Governor who organized the
territory when there was nothing out there but dust storms. He created
irrigation ditches and made the desert bloom and settled folk in the new land.
There were trees and flowers and crops. It was all so wonderful, He called it
"Colorful", but over time it came to be called
"Calla-rada." But He didn't mind. He just wanted to walk the streets,
visit with the territory folk, and enjoy all that they were doing. And He did.
Oh… He also gave the territory ordinances to govern itself by. They were to
make the land fruitful and multiply its population. They could enjoy themselves
and play about any card game they wanted. Except one - Poker. He told them
straight up, "You can play any card game you want but not poker, for on
the day you play it, you shall surely lose."
All
went well, but wouldn't you know, the Governor's own first lieutenant got
jealous of what the Governor had done. He was pretty sure that he could do just
as well if not better. It was inevitable, but when the showdown came, the
lieutenant was no match for the Governor and he was thrown out of the territory
and all the way across the Mississippi.
Now the Lieutenant stopped being jealous and wanted revenge. If he could not
beat the Governor, then he would wreck everything He made.
Well,
one day in the town of Love-land,
a stranger came to town, or so it seemed because you couldn't see him - just
his shadow. So they called him Shadow
Man. He mosied on over to the
sas’parilla emporium and game room, walked in, sat down at the card table and
took out a deck of cards and dealt a hand of... Poker! He called out, "Who
said you can't win at this game? There's always a winner to every hand. Try
it." And who should sit down across from him but Adam, the town's number
one citizen. He held a full house but Shadow Man had five aces. It was then he
realized he had been cheated and what was worse, he had bet the deed for the
whole county. Now it belonged to Shadow
Man. All of a sudden things
started going haywire. First the telegraph line to the Governor was cut. Then
the sun parched all the crops. Then the Indians took back all their beads and
moccasins. And then the Governor shows up. He asks the crowd, "Who played
poker?" Everyone points to Adam. The Governor says, "You lost more
than you think, son. All this was yours and you gave it away. But I will get it
back for you. Just you wait. I'm going to take care of it all now." And he
left… and they waited.
Everyone
once and a while a Pony Express rider would show up with a letter from the
Governor. Sometimes he gave them instructions to follow. Sometimes he warned
them about danger. Sometimes the cavalry would come charging to the rescue when
it looked like outlaws were going to take over the town. They kept waiting for
the promise. Some thought it would be a tall masked stranger wearing a white
hat and riding a silver horse who could ride like lightning. Others thought
someone would be appointed sheriff who could throw the Shadow Man out of the
territory. But they hoped it would happen soon because all of Shadow Man’s
mayors robbed the people and imprisoned them. People were getting sick with no
cure, broken-hearted because they no better than prisoners, blinded from the
glaring sun, and growing hopeless for lack of any good news. They hoped the one
who wore a White Hat would come soon.
And
then one day something did happen.
One of
the miners from up in the hills came to town by the name of Jesse Josephson. He
wore a white hat and went about telling people that the day of the Governor had
arrived. He didn't wear a badge or carry a gun or own a horse, but wherever he
went, people were being healed, getting out of jail, getting their sight back,
and hearing the news about the Governor. He even told Shadow Man's
henchmen to get out of town or else - and they did.
But
not everyone liked this newcomer. They would say, “Who ever heard of any
law-abiding citizen from a mining camp? Certainly White Hat would not come from
there!” So, the townfolk were of two minds about what to think of this new
stranger and were just like a herd of hungry longhorns bellowing for their
feed.
(Cowgirl's note: I was feeding these yearlings today and I thought it might fit in here well. :) )
I mean, what would you think iffen some gringo came along spouting words
like, 'I'm the corn bread that gives life - chow down on me and you'll live…
forever!' or 'Me and my paw are closer than two peas in a pod - in fact iffen
ya seen me, ya seen him.' and 'Whatever I do pleases my paw, cuz I only do what
I sees him a'doin. but y'all are doin the same things your paw does, and he's
an outlaw. Iffen you were a ranch hand for my paw, you'd do what I tell ya, but
instead, you all jist wanna string me up!' In fact, he went to far as to let it
be known that the Governor was his paw!
Well,
the mayor and his boys were getting pricked like barbed wire. They got together
a posse to git Jesse, but decided to hold off till after the annual Going Away
party. That is, until one of Jesse's boys decided to turn him in for them. So
after the Good-by meal while everyone was sleeping it off, they came and got
him and threw him into the calaboose till morning when the judge was awake. It
was a sham trial and sure enough they sentenced Jesse to die. They decided
hangin was too good for him, so they hog-tied him to a railroad tie and left
him in the sun to die. And he did, saying, “Paw forgive them. They're
just acting like a bunch of dumb lost heifers.”
But
that was not the end of my story. Not by a long shot.
Ya
see, just three days later they found his grave empty, and his gang began
telling everyone that Jesse was alive again, and this time it was for good! Ya
see, it turns out Jesse was not really a miner from the hill country after all,
he was ... the Lone Savior! And his gang who used to act like a bunch of
reformed ruffians now looked for all the world like experienced ranch hands,
like men who never backed down, like... like Jesse himself! In fact, they said
that anyone could sign on with them for the big roundup that Jesse's paw was
organizing. They told people all about the Lone Savior and said, 'Change your
ways now and ask the Governor for a pardon before it's too late, cuz the
Governor is gonna clean up this town.' Not everyone believed what they were
telling them, but those who did, who wanted to join Jesse's gang, they
deputized each and every one of them and gave them a golden badge with Jesse's
name on it as a sign of Jesse’s authority as the Governor's man.
Of
course, Shadow Man didn't like all these goings on, but what could he do? Ya
can't stop someone you can't kill. He had been disarmed. He was a'gonner, but
he still could yell and fuss and make people think he was still in charge. Why,
he even scared some of those in Jesse's new gang. So much so that they took to
wearing their badges on the inside of their vests and acting like they were
just like everybody else - only pardoned. It'll be a sad day for them when they
meet Jesse face to face and he asks them, “Why didn't you live like the deputy
that I made you to be? Didn't you believe me??”
Others
were scared, too, but instead, they figured out that iffen they just tapped on
their badge, they could actually talk back and forth with Jesse at the big
ranch house. And others found out that those badges gave them the authority to
do things they never could on their own. Just like Jesse, they were undoing all
the bad things Shadow Man had changed. And one day, they were promised, there
would be no more crying nor dying - everything would be made right - everything
would look like and be like Jesse hisself and his paw, the Governor.
Now,
you may think this is just a story about the old West, but it is still going on
today. Love-land is real. It is where the Governor has showed everyone how much
he loves what he made. And he hasn't changed one bit since the beginning. What
he loved then he loves now, but he hates wrong and will not allow it to stay.
Someday everything wrong will vamoose and everyone who doesn't want his ways
will go with it. What about those who make the Big Roundup? Well, it'll be like
one big hoe-down and a trail ride that never ends. Just the Governor and his
ranch hands. You won't want to miss it!
_____________
Well
now you know the Big Story, the best story. It is the Gospel story. This is THE
story that all the stories of all the people we told you about this year were
leading up to. You see, all the stories about grace had one thing in common -
God. It was God who was full of grace. It was God who time and again would give
His grace to anyone who would believe Him and follow Him wherever He went.
Everyone who followed God, learned that grace happened not because of who THEY
were but because of who GOD is. And JESUS is the grace of God sent for all
people in the past and in the future. That's how much grace God has. God's
grace forgives and God's heart desire is to have us all for His sons, just like
Jesus is. We get more than a pardon, we get an inheritance because we are sons.
But be
careful. Those who only want the inheritance and not the Father will get
neither one.
