Morning Devotional
June 17, 2005
"The Dear John Letter" (Part 1)  
    by Don Emmitte

Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8 NLT).

 

Did you hear about the Marine deployed to Afghanistan? He received a "Dear John" letter from his girlfriend back home. She informed him that she had been unfaithful, didn't love him anymore, and wanted him to send back the picture of herself she had given him before he left. The marine went around to his buddies and asked for their unwanted photographs of women. He got 25 pictures and sent them to his former girlfriend with this note: "I'm so sorry, I can't remember which one you are. Please take the one that belongs to you and send the rest back."

 

Have you ever been laughing at a truly funny story, and that one is, and have reality slap you in the face? Have you ever found your laughter stilled when you recognized the pathos behind the humor? This story did that for me. A young man who had been deeply wounded by someone he trusted was trying to get back and to hide his wounds. I think I am more of a loner than most people would suspect. I've often thought that I could have been a Trappist monk if they would let me bring my wife. All of us are somewhat like that. That tendency often is no more than a diversion to keep us from pain. If we just don't let anybody close, they can't reject us and we can't get hurt. One of the most profound things we can know about Jesus is His refusal to be a loner. He is God and one of the attributes of God is His self-sufficiency. The Westminster Confession of Faith says that, "God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made...." That, of course, is true but there is so much more.

 

Jesus chose not to be a loner. Not only that. He chose the pain that is the inevitable implication of being in a relationship with people. If you are going to be committed to people, you must know that it is a commitment to pain, chaos, misunderstanding, anger, betrayal and pathos. Some of the most moving passages of the Gospels are those where Jesus expresses His hurt and loneliness. For instance, do you remember when Jesus started teaching some of the deeper truths of who He was? Almost everybody was pleased when the blind threw away their white canes. People liked the sound of beggars' cups hitting the side of the road. It was fun to see cripples planting their crutches in the sand and doing a jig. Everybody likes a magician. But when the "magician" starts talking about things like losing one's life, taking up a cross and dying to self, the crowd has a tendency to quietly dissipate. John 6: 66-67 says, "After this many of his disciples turned away and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, 'Do you want to go away as well?'" Jesus was feeling the pain of rejection and loneliness.

 

I can identify with the Marine that night when he was by himself with no one but Jesus to see. I can identify with the tears that come from being human, insecure, and hurt. I can see him in my mind's eye, in his sleeping bag, trying to stifle the sobs so his buddies wouldn't hear. I've experienced the broken heart, the wrenching emptiness and the horror of rejection. I suspect you've been there too. Maybe you're there right now. Perhaps someone you loved deeply has rejected you. Could be that you know what it's like to feel a friend's knife in your back. Maybe it was your husband or wife who walked away. Could be your teenager said that he hated you. Could be that your Christian brothers and sisters failed to look at your heart and didn't understand that you were doing the best you could. Perhaps you couldn't please your parents no matter how hard you tried. Jesus knows that pain too. And, he can help. Turn to him now.