“There's a story behind every imperfection,” he said, referring to the model train engines that had fallen off his layout table onto an unforgiving concrete floor, but miraculously, had escaped with only paint scrapes or small dents. Although the locomotives were in need of repaint and repair, he assured his fellow modelers that neither was likely. “There's a story behind every imperfection. I'll leave 'em that way.”
Which reminds me of something St Paul wrote: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. “
If anyone carried in his body spiritual scuff marks and dents, it was St Paul. “genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything (2 Cor 6:8-10).” And every one of those spiritual scuffs and dents told a story – stoned at Lystra, jailed at Philippi, hustled out of town by night at Thessalonika, the focus of a riot at Ephesus, arrested in Jerusalem, imprisoned in Rome. But even more than the actual events to which each scuff and dent pointed, each bore witness to the larger picture, the bigger story – that this former persecutor of Jesus was now his messenger servant. He carried about in his body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus would also be revealed, as God miraculously delivered him time and again. None of it came as a surprise to Paul, for God had told Annanias, “I will show him how much he has to suffer for the sake of my name.”
An old TLH hymn that didn't make the cut in either LW or LSB asks, “Must I be carried to the skies on flow'ry beds of ease while others fought to win the prize and sailed thro' bloody seas?” “Are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood? Is this vile world a friend to grace to help me on to God?” Every one of Paul's scuff mark stories involved interaction with another person or persons. These are not the marks of self-discipline, struggles against personal temptations played out in one's inner spiritual life. Two physical scars I carry on my arm tell a story, too – the story of two grade school boys who foolishly tried to make a “cool” explosion and one wasn't patient enough to wait behind the safety of the “blockhouse” for it to go off. But the scuffs and dents of Paul were different. They were the consequences of proclaiming publicly that Jesus is the Lord, a crucified Messiah and the only hope for all peoples.
The recent Miss Universe incident reminds us that there are still plenty of times and places for Christian witness in our country. There are still a multitude of injustices that call for Christian protest and action. But as long as this culture continues to make you believe that you are only one solitary voice facing innumerable odds, that you would be “fighting city hall” were you to speak out, chances are that you will remain silent, or only preach to the choir. As long as the culture hypnotizes you into believing that truth is relative, that there is no right and wrong, your life will go on with scarcely a bump. And the numbers of those speaking out as the recent Miss Universe candidate spoke will remain small. But the lack of Christ-related scuffs and scars tells a story, too.
“Sure I must fight if I would reign; increase my courage, Lord! I'll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported by Thy Word.” The resulting scars and scuffs will bear witness to God's sustaining power and grace in your life as the life of Jesus is revealed through the death of Jesus.