Better Than a Three-legged Chicken!
I saw the new movie Reagan this week, and it was inspirational and moving. I highly recommend it. It made me recall one of my favorite jokes President Reagan used to tell.
“A man was driving down a country back road to look at some property when suddenly he noticed a chicken running alongside his car. He was amazed to see the chicken keeping pace with him, as he was driving 60 mph. And suddenly the chicken spurted out ahead of him and it looked to him like the chicken had three legs. Then it turned down a side road and into a barnyard. So he followed the chicken into the barnyard and spotted a farmer and asked, “Did you see a chicken run by here?” and the farmer said, “Yes.” The driver said, “Am I crazy or did that chicken have three legs? And the farmer responded, “Yep, it’s mine. I breed three-legged chickens.” The man said, “For heaven’s sakes why?” The man said, “I like the drumstick, Ma likes the drumstick, and now Junior likes the drumstick, and we got tired of fighting for them.” And the driver said, “Well how does it taste?” The Farmer said, “I don’t know, I’ve never been able to catch one.” Listen to former President Reagan tell it himself.
Hope can feel like chasing a three-legged chicken sometimes. With everything that life throws at us, we want to stay positive and optimistic, but it can feel out of reach and become a letdown.
We are living in some very stark and challenging times: Rising crime, violence, suicide, drug addiction, fentanyl deaths, racial tensions, family divisions, wokeness, critical race theory, corporate greed, public safety, rampant homelessness, gender confusion, rampant pornography, government corruption, institutional distrust, inflation, declining mental health, rising anxiety and depression, antisemitism, social media propaganda, massive influx of illegal migrants, a very partisan presidential election process, and growing international tensions to highlight just a few. I think you get the picture. One analyst said he’s never seen our country so divided and confused about so many different things, and the only common denominator he sees is a growing sense of pessimism, skepticism, and despair.
It seems like HOPE is falling on hard times.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we need to remember that hope can be parsed in two ways. The world’s version dissatisfies, but God’s version blesses us with a hope that satisfies.
There’s the conditional and situational hope of the world that displays a cautious optimism. It wants to stay positive & believe, but circumstances make it an emotional roller coaster ride of “hope so” & “maybe." Just think of the Mariners as an example (ugh). This kind of hope is dissatisfying and depressing.
There’s the certain and sure hope that the death, burial, and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ delivers. It is called a “living hope” (1 Pet. 1:3) that is personified in our Lord and Savior. God calls this hope “an anchor of the soul…both sure and steadfast” (Heb. 6:19), and it “does not disappoint.” (Rom. 5:5). Why is this hope so certain? Because God keeps His promises. Always. Perfectly. In fact, He “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2). It is “impossible” (Heb. 6:18), so the hope of forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Christ are guaranteed!
As you face the steady stream of disappointments and despairing news that inevitably comes your way living in this fallen world, take a moment and remember “for in hope we have been saved” (Rom. 8:24), and “let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23). This is far better than a three-legged chicken since we get to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8)
Pastor Jeff
“I will build My church” (Mt 16:18). ‘I’ - it is Christ’s church. ‘will’ - it is Christ’s purpose. ‘build’ - it is Christ’s work. ‘My’ - it is Christ’s possession. ‘church’ - it is Christ’s bride. So, the next time you think it’s all up to you, remind yourself, it is Christ’s.”