Having a "come-apart"

"They came to Jerusalem, and He went into the temple complex and began to throw out those buying and selling in the temple. He overturned the money changers ' tables and the chairs of those selling doves, and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple complex. Then He began to teach them: "Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations ? But you have made it a den of thieves !" Then the chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to destroy Him. For they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished by His teaching."
Mark 11:15-18

Even last Sunday I heard Pastor Bob mention the phrase “having a come-apart” during a very interesting and thought-provoking sermon. It must be an bama-thang cause I hear it all the time now. It seems that everyone's either on the verge of, or has just finished up having a come-apart around here. Makes me a little nervous. You just never know when or what will cause someone to begin having a come-apart so I try to always be on the lookout for any tell-tale signs. For a bunch of people planted in the mid-section of a laid back south (as most northerners look at us) there sure seems to be a lot of high-strung, ready to have a come-apart folks down here.

John was a 5'2” tall, pot-bellied, quickly balding, German immigrant dude I worked with for about five years way back when. He and his wife Mimi somehow found their way to America during the mass exodus of pre-war Nazi Germany. Somehow they landed in the foothills of east Tennessee which put them dead-square in the center of the path I was traveling. John was one of those high-strung fellers that was always, (and I can't emphasize “always” enough here) on the verge of having a come-apart. Two to three days a week he worked himself into a raging come-apart then pack up the tools he used to repair medical equipment and head toward the front door of our company. Almost every time someone would catch him just before he drove out of the parking lot and they would talk him into coming back to work. I say almost everytime because there were a couple of times where someone would have to go to his home and talk him into coming back to work the next day. Crazy as it sounds - it's the truth. After awhile it became a lot more humorous than serious and everyone would enjoy talking about the latest version of how John quit his job.

John-John (as I called him) chain-smoked cigarettes and cussed like a drunken sailor with every breath. A distinguishing lisp and his thick German accent made him such a “character” when he was in the midst of a full-blown come-apart. Spit would be flying out of his mouth as much as the profuse string of cuss words he would use to let everyone know what he was thinking. It was a sight to see and hear! Some of the guys we worked with enjoyed it so much that they would try and goad John into having a come-apart just so they could get a good laugh going. I hated that they did this, cause I knew, or rather suspected just how close John was to having a physical breakdown because of his inability to handle stress. Sure enough, one day the EMTs carried him out of the office on a stretcher due to a mild stroke which occurred when his soaring blood pressure pushed his body past its limit during one of his classic come-aparts. After that our co-workers quit trying to provoke him, for then they finally understood just how potentially dangerous their sickening actions had been.

I still remember going to pick up Mimi to take her to the hospital when John had his stroke as if it happened just yesterday. She was so sick with concern for her hubby, yet she wasn't one bit surprised at what had happened. She told me that she had been telling him for years that his body was going to have a come-apart if he didn't quit smoking and letting himself get so worked up over every little thing. Her concerns were confirmed – it did happen. Fortunately John was able to share a few more precious years with his wonderful wife after his first of several strokes as he did try to cut down on the smokes, cussin' and the frequency of his come-aparts, but there's only so much a man can do on his own I guess.

As I read the above scripture it reminded me that according to Mark all of this occurred immediately after a hungry Jesus had cursed a fig tree which he saw from a distance when it contained no fruit, yet was simply full of leaves. One might mistakenly get a mental picture of Jesus “having a come-apart” that morning, but most of know that everything He did - he did it for a purpose and with a lesson in mind for his listeners and viewers.

All of His so-called come-aparts were for a reason - He had little free-time left on earth, so He had to take advantage of every opportunity afforded him in order to get the message across that the ways of old were no longer acceptable. A new order was being put in place and it held no regard for the self-centered religious piety of the sacred temple, or even a fruitless creation which was designed to bear fruit. All would be cursed, overturned and stripped away if their focus wasn't placed on God and his message of salvation. Jesus wasn't having a come-apart as much as He was conducting a come to Jesus meeting with anyone or anything He came into contact with that still didn't seem to get it!

John never found the peace he truly needed in his life. He was never able to stop having the come-aparts he was so well known for. John, as far as I know never found salvation before he died, and the thought of that makes me sad even some twenty-five years after his death. You see, I knew that John wasn't a bad person, he was simply a lost person. I knew him as a good friend, a good husband to Mimi, and a lover of two pug-nosed dogs. Most people only knew him for his come-aparts, or his astonishing ability to repair even the most complex medical devices, yet I knew him for the love he had in his heart. You may know someone just like John in your life today. If so, I encourage you to try and share the message of the Good News with them - God's message of hope and mercy and grace, but most of all true peace which so many of the John - John's of today are so desperately seeking for their lives.

The part of the country I live in today sure seems to have a lot of folks ready to have a come-apart and I think today is the first day I recognized this might be the reason God sent me here. Not because I'm above having a come-apart over senseless stuff, (just ask Dale or rather on second thought please don't it would be too embarrassing) but because I know where my peace comes from before and after my come-aparts. It comes from the Spirit of the same feller that on a bright and beautiful morning some two thousand years ago cursed a fig tree and cleared a temple that was over ran with thieves and merchants and He did it within the fullness of His authority.

In the book of James he tells us that if we claim to belong to Christ yet don't control what comes from the tips of our tongues then we're simply fooling ourselves, and our claims to belong to His kingdom are meaningless. I'll be honest here, I have a lot of room for improvement in this area, but I need to be sharing His message of hope all the while I grow and improve. I can't wait until I'm completly "fixed" before I start telling others of His amazing works and neither can you.

True peace comes from rising above the acceptable practices of our day and/or stop giving the appearance of being fruitful, and become fruitful. For so many of us all we do is simply move from one come-apart to the next when we need to start living a life that exemplifies our faith in Christ where we don''t have a meltdown everytime we face minor trials and tribulations. James goes on to tell us that though the tongue is small it can become an enormous danger to us, for it can become like a blazing flame of destruction - especially in the midst of an uncontrollable come-apart . Then he goes on to give us the answer as to how to rise above our come-aparts and how we can begin to grow and mature.

“So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. So get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll ever make it on your feet."

A tried and true method to putting an end to the come-aparts which I desperately wish I had shared with my old friend John-John before it was too late..... doug