The other day, Amanda and I stepped out of our apartment door and into a beautiful fall Kansas City Sunday morning. We descended the stairs when I saw my car, parked on the street in its usual spot with the trunk flung wide open. "Amanda, did you get something out of the car last night?" Her answer was an expected "no" and as we got to the car, everything inside was thrown around and a complete mess. Pens and papers were everywhere, small pieces of car parts were strewn about. Somebody broke in and tried to steal my stuff. I only had one thing in my car that I actually cared about...a board game, The Settlers of Catan. Praise God, they didn't swipe it! The only other thing missing was a thank you card addressed to Brandon Roth. I had forgotten to mail this card to him, thanking him for the hand engraved baseball bat he gave us for our wedding that reads, "Kenny + Amanda." That was August 7, 2011. A little late on the thank you card. Now he'll never get it. I imagine he'll never care.
I whooped and hollered to my wife, laughing about "those suckers" who didn't get anything from me. I told them off audibly, as if they were still in earshot, and laughed that they wasted time on my car...those freakin' morons.
As the day went on, I constantly thought of these unsuccessful thieves. They didn't get what they were looking for. They live a life of thieving and robbery, which is no real life at all. They apparently might need money for bills, food, etc. Maybe they only need it for recreation-but hey, everyone needs a little rec time! What would I have done if I would have walked out and caught them? Chased them. Cussed at them. Challenged them to a fight that I know I wouldn't win. Been pissed off.
As I thought of these guys (why do I automatically think these robbers were guys? I'm such a sexist), I realized just how attached I am to a world that promises joy, fulfillment, happiness, love, and satisfaction, yet rarely delivers. What would I have lost had I lost anything? A car (if they were REAL thieves), a wallet, some cash, an ipod, a picture of Amanda. It's all just stuff. But my immediate attitude was an attitude of hatred toward them and joy that they didn't "get the best of me." That sucks.
I began to think of how different it would have been if, when they broke into my car, they found a note that said,
"Hey fellas, please don't steal from me. If you need anything though, here's my number: 816-721-1715. Or better yet, I'm in apartment #4104. Come on up!"
I try to imagine how Jesus would have responded to these guys. To a tax collector, he invites himself over for dinner. To a prostitute, he looks her in the eye. To Judas, a backstabbing, lying, thieving sun of a gun, he invests years of his own life, pouring into him.
I'm challenged to love people more so than my crappy stuff. Stuff is stuff. But unfortunately, stuff more often than not wins out in the possession of my heart than actual souls. It's never more important than positively affecting a persons life. But how many times have I missed an opportunity to positively effect someone through love because they betrayed me, pissed me off, beat me in basketball, stood me up, annoyed the crap out of me, cut me off in traffic, took too long in the DMV line, didn't live how I thought they should live, made stupid decisions and mistakes. I am worse than the thief because I know what I ought to do, yet its still so hard to actually do it.
Priority wise, I want people (even the most annoying pieces of crap) to get hand written notes from me where they totally feel unexpected love. "It's just stuff y'all. Don't steal it from me. Instead, come on in, we'll chat, have some dinner, and if you make a good impression, I may end up giving it to you anyway."
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