It’s a Jeep Thing….
Chaplain Bill Wolfe
Llano County Sheriff’s Department
Hi. Welcome to the Chaplain’s Corner. Hey…want to get depressed? Didn’t think you did, so I won’t tell you that it’s less than 90 days until Christmas. :-O
♫ Christmas is coming the Captain’s getting fat…♫ uh oh…I better forget trying to make up silly verses for that song. J (Good thing our department doesn’t have a Captain.)
“You wouldn’t understand.” How many times have we made a call and heard that line, or some variation on it? Our family vet has a sticker across his windshield that says “It’s a Jeep thing…You wouldn’t understand.” (Perhaps not. There are lots of things people do that don’t make a lot of sense.)
I was reminded of that little slogan in church a few weeks ago when our Pastor used a picture of a Monster Jeep doing a rock climb as a sermon illustration. It fit the topic perfectly. The picture he used showed this “monster” Jeep nearly at the top of a steep hill climb composed of huge boulders with several other vehicles still way down below in a meadow with the other drivers standing and watching.
As I sat listening to the message and looking at the picture, I got a whole different meaning from the illustration. Multiple messages from the same text so to speak. J I could see this scene as a picture of our lives. No matter how lovely things look, we will invariably encounter a mountainous climb that would be nearly impossible for us to climb hand and foot. We need a power beyond that which we possess in and of ourselves to get us up that hill. In addition to the power, we need something to carry us up and the skill to navigate up that hill. Buckle in and let’s see if we can follow that Jeep, keeping in mind that any illustration may not fit 100%.
First off, let me call your attention to the vehicles still down below. I don’t know what make and model they were. It doesn’t really matter, but they reminded me that not all “vehicles” are the same. Positive thinking, philosophy, meditation, money… they won’t get us up that “hill” any more than this ole Crown Vic will climb rocks.
I don’t have any idea of how many horsepower the engine in that Jeep produces, but it’s more than sufficient to make the trip. The power needed to get up that hill is symbolic of God’s power. Whatever the challenge before us, His power is more than sufficient.
It takes special tires and suspension to handle this kind of terrain. That reminded me that the Holy Spirit gives us “traction” and keeps us moving regardless of the bumps and crevices we encounter.
The skill required to navigate the vehicle up that rocky incline is more than any I possess. I could try for a lifetime and still not make it up. That’s when I thought of Jesus being the skilled driver.
So we have a “trinity”: The power is there; the “tires and suspension” are there; the skilled Driver is there. Now all we need is the “Jeep” – the vehicle that will actually carry us up the “hill.” The “Jeep” is our faith, our relationship with God. I guess the whole picture is what we’d call Christianity. As a Christian, I climb in the passenger’s seat, buckle up and hang on for the ride as Jesus drives up the proverbial hill. And thinking about it quickly again, I guess you could almost say that prayer is the “gas.” It certainly is the conversation I have with Him as we climb.
I may not understand the “Jeep thing” in the sense of understanding why grown people would spend good money to build – or buy – rock-crawling Jeeps, but then I was a dirt biker growing up. I could say that “It’s a God thing…you wouldn’t understand,” but God does want us to understand His plan.
Give it some thought and I’ll catch you again next time.
Until then: Blessings to you and yours (and watch for falling rocks).
Chaplain Bill
chappy@chaplainscorner.org
