the fool ?

We saw him at the gate and I mused, “I bet he’s an Orthodox Jew.”

His dark suit, wide brimmed hat, and full beard seemed a dead give away, but I thought, well, maybe not.

I overheard parts of his Hebrew conversation on his cell phone as he was walking down the center aisle of the airplane. Meshiach… one word I knew from the little Hebrew I had acquired.

Messiah.

My thoughts began to turn in my head, “Perhaps he’s a Messianic Christian? Maybe he’s discussing a hoped for coming Messiah?” There was no way to be certain.

He took his seat.. next to me on my left, still in the middle of his phone coversation.

I wondered if God had seated this man next to me so I could share something with him.

I turned to my wife. “Just another hour or so and we’ll be with the kids again.”

“Good. I miss them.”

“Uh… Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain… it’s looks like the bad weather in Chicago is going to keep us on the ground for a while. Control is telling us we need to wait for 45 minutes before we can leave. It may be longer.”

Ugh. Here we were, so close to home and yet we would have to wait. I grabbed the airline SkyMall magazine in front of me and started flipping through the pages of overpriced, uber high-tech gadgets honestly wondering if anyone needed a water cooling, self-circulating dog water dish. (or stairs for their dog to get up on the couch for that matter!)

My neighbor was discussing the history of the traditions of the Feast of Booths on his cell phone.

I must have gotten lost in the intricacies of the video goggles for sale (with the ability to connect to your DVD player/iPod/PSP/ETC and project an image which fools your brain into thinking you’re watching a 52” screen in front of you – you can see why I got lost) when I noticed motion out of the corner of my eye.

My neighbor was standing.
And slightly swaying and bowing with a small book in his hands.

It was then that I also noticed the tassels of his prayer shawl.

I assume he was facing Jerusalem.

It was at that moment that God reminded me of a few things:

- the man beside me was not making a show of his prayer life. Though it was obvious what he was doing, there was no hint that he was doing this to be noticed. He was simply trying to honor God through his devotion. He did not loudly pray so that all heads would turn in his direction. He did not call attention to himself in his prayer; his words were barley a whisper

- when our first and foremost devotion is to Christ, we are going to look foolish to the world, but if He is Who we believe Him to be (more so Who He claims Himself to be) who should we fear? Because He is Who He is, the Saving, Living, Redeeming God, my allegiance is to Him over any human thought of my foolishness. Indeed the Scriptures tell us that, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong…” I Cor. 1:25-27 (ESV)

I am so thankful he was there. Whether or not He knows that Jesus (Yeshua) is the promised Messiah (Meshiach), the Lord used him, nonetheless, to speak to me.