He talked to Justin about the gospel, now it was Mr. Johnson’s turn. He knew the old man believed in God and read his Bible and told the truth and treated people right. But that was all he knew. Marcus didn’t know if Mr. Johnson was a Cornelius or a Christian.
So one day when they were putting up a new section of fence and the time seemed right Marcus asked him, “What do you think about Jesus?” Some people would get defensive, others would wax poetic. Mr. Johnson was straightforward. “He is a great man. A great teacher. I like what he says and I try to live a Christian life.” He said all this as he ratcheted a length of barbed wire tighter. Marcus was working a posthole digger into the ground, “So what do you think will happen when you die?” Now Mr. Johnson put down his tools and looked at Marcus. Then he took a deep breath and looked into the distance. Thousand mile stare. “I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately,” Mr. Johnson was a sincere man, “I think that when I die and go to the pearly gates I’ll say ‘I always tried to be good.’ I think that will do.”
Marcus saw the opportunity. He finished digging the posthole and looked up. “Can I tell you a story Mr. Johnson?” The old man said, “Sure, talk while you work.”
Marcus started in. “I ran cross-country for one season in high school. One season was all I could take. It was hard. We’d run four to eight miles every day after school. Every Friday there was a meet. You would run as fast as you could for three or four miles. Running through woods, open pastures, parking lots, into and out of ditches, over tree roots and rocks. It was hard but the challenge made it fun. The best part was reaching the finish line. It was a big relief. Finally I could slow down, catch my breath, and eventually just come to a stop. And rest over the weekend. Until we had to get out and run again after school on Monday in preparation for another meet the following Friday. In which I would run like crazy again and try to do better again.
Here’s the deal, in cross-country, the finish line was in a different place than the starting line, but not far away. It would have been so nice if a race official came and told me I didn’t have to run that whole course. That I could reach my goal if I just trusted him and walked a few steps over there where they had that tape across the finish line. Totally off the course. Just a direct route to the finish. I didn’t have to do all that work.
You are a working man Mr. Johnson. But you can’t work for righteousness. Faith in Jesus Christ is what makes the difference. The word of the race official is like the word of the gospel. It tells you that you don’t have to do it yourself, in fact you can’t really do it yourself anyway. Just believe in Christ and his righteousness and you will have reached the finish line. That is good news. You have to believe in Jesus and submit to his commands and accept his righteousness. That’s how you get right with God. That’s how sins are forgiven. That’s how you get to heaven.”
Marcus finished digging another posthole and he looked up. “What do you think about that, Mr. Johnson?”
Mr. Johnson ratcheted tight another length of barbed wire. “You’ve given me something to think about.”
More about Marcus Redding’s journey of faith next week.
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