There is something about cooking on the grill that connects to a fellow’s heart. Now I’m not saying women cannot cook on the grill, or that they may not even grill better than the average man. But, whether it’s a campfire, a charcoal grill, a gas grill, or one of those high-end solar powered, laser models with self lighting features and temperature control; there is just something about “meat over fire” that speaks to the heart of a guy. Maybe it is cooking while standing out in our backyard, amidst the flowering garden and well groomed lawn that makes us feel like we are camping or roughing it somehow. Maybe it’s in the few minutes we spend outside near the grill with our favorite beverage, sitting in the lawn chair that we break away from the rat race and we claim we are the emperor supreme of all we survey; the master and commander who determines whether that chicken breast is cooked thoroughly or not. With these extra long tongs in hand, the caveman returns. We aren’t the accountant making veggie and shrimp shish kabob, or a minister warming up hot dogs. No, at the grill we are Ogg, the mighty hunter, cooking some prime cuts of wooly mammoth. We are the provider of the real food for the family. Sure the wife is making the potatoes and salad and vegetables and drink. And she was the one who bought the meat at the store….which was handed to us in a hermetically sealed package. There is something about the grill that will not let us lose heart. Even when we get handed the tongs and the meat, and our wife says, “OK, here ya go. Now go and play, but try not to burn it this time.” The inner caveman…the inner Viking…the inner mountain man wells up and calls out in a brutish tone, “Me cook meat over fire!” It is of course always appropriate to follow this declaration with a howl at the moon. How long has it been since you’ve had a good howl?
I think the grill has the same mystical power over us as power tools. And not just power tools, it is electronics also. There is something about men that urges us to want the bigger, better, more powerful. We want the TV with a 72 inch screen, hi-def, 3-D, LCD with 500,000 kilajerks contrast, and 20,000 megamertz refreshing. And even though I don’t know what any of it means, I know I need those things. We want a reciprocating saw that will be able to cut our car in half in 3 minutes or less. Not that I will ever do that, and can’t foresee a reason to want to cut anything that quickly. But…I know I want….no…I need it! We want a computer that has the most memory and the fastest processor possible…ok, we really want what’s not even possible yet…..but put my name on the list for it! Now, my wife will tell you all this compulsion of mine is from testosterone poisoning. That being a male makes me crazy. I don’t know… maybe she’s right…I just want to know why my BBQ tongs are aluminum, and Fred’s are stainless steel?!?!
The Friday morning men’s Bible study is going through the book of Matthew. This coming Friday we will talk about Chapter 3, where we meet John the Baptist. I love Matthew’s description of John. Now here is a guy I can relate to! John is a guy I want to invite over to join me to grill and howl at the moon. John seems to be a testosterone pumped prophet of the Lord. He wanders through the wilderness, calling on people to repent. There’s no, “Come let’s play nice together.” Nope, John is out there. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” John’s wild man survivalist nature is shown in his wardrobe and diet as well. 4John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. And when the religious leaders came around, did John mellow and welcome them? Nope. He was in their face. You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Yeah, that’s telling them, John!
Now the scary part of having John over for supper would be that he would see right through me. He’d call me to repent, and remind me that my life is a mess. He’d tell me that when it comes to repenting I should be at the front of the line. He’d remind me that following Jesus isn’t about Sundays, or religious talk, or church meetings. No, following Jesus is about changing your life. Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire, to cleanse, purge, and change. I know any attempts I made to justify myself, or any claim of righteousness I might make because I was a minister would get me compared to a pile of copperheads and cottonmouths. No, John doesn’t mess around….he gets right to the point. I think I’ll try to straighten myself up a bit. See if I can’t go a bit deeper in my studies, and be a little more earnest in my prayers. If John comes over for dinner, there are just two things I want to know. How he wants his steak cooked, and whether he’ll howl at the moon with me.
Chad