By Chris WittsFriday 16 Aug 2024Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
When it comes to writing classic stories, the name Ernest Hemingway will probably come up. Have you heard his name? One of the most influential writers in the 20th century, Hemingway used his experience as a newspaper reporter during the Civil War in Spain as the background for his most ambitious novel, ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ in 1940.
The most outstanding is the short novel ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, the story of the old fisherman’s journey. The long and lonely struggle with a fish and the sea. Ernest Hemingway died in 1961. He was nominated four times for the Nobel Prize, which he won in 1954. I’m grateful today to the Australian journalist Dean Simpson for the story of what happened one day back in the 1920’s.
Baby shoes for sale, never worn
Ernest Hemingway was just resting in a hotel lobby and among his colleagues. He made a bet. He said, I can write a tearjerker in six words. They thought this was astounding. How could he do that? So the bet was on. They accepted his challenge and watched as he scrawled six words on the back of a nearby napkin. And these were the words: “for sale baby shoes, never worn.”
His friends knew they’d lost and silently handed over $10 which was a lot of money. Then the short and powerful words are there for us to think about. Maybe there was a miscarriage or a sudden infant death or a little child who was abandoned. The words, for sale, baby shoes never worn. Sometimes we hear so many words that we miss the point. As a minister in Salvation Army churches over my working years, I was aware of the need to be simple in what I said in my sermons and not to go on too long. Why spend 30 minutes when you can say it clearly and precisely in 10 minutes?
For free, eternal life – contact Jesus
But the idea of six words is quite a challenge. Can you sum up your life in six words? It’s not an easy task, but my friend Dean Simpson looked to the Bible for the greatest message we can hear, and Dean came up with these six words: for free, eternal life – Contact Jesus – thanks Dean for summarizing the Bible’s main theme in six easy to remember words: for free, eternal life – contact Jesus. What do Australians really think about Jesus? It’s quite a fascinating study. People like Dr Ruth Powell from the National Church Life Survey spend considerable time in school researching this topic. Ruth has found out that more than half of Australians believe in God or a higher power. One in five don’t know, a quarter say they don’t believe, and more than half about 56% of Australians say they are familiar with the Christian faith. 44% have limited, little or no familiarity with the Christian faith. Half of all Australians understand Jesus to be a real person who actually lived – 2 in 10 say he was just a fictional character. So was Jesus, human or divine? Well, the survey goes on: 2 in 10, accept that Jesus was divine. Some believe he was a normal human being or a prophet. More than a quarter don’t know. And 44% of Australians believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead in some way. And 3 in 10 do not believe in the resurrection, and more than a quarter do not know what they believe – that’s from the National Church Life Survey Research of 2021. So it’s obvious there’s a big knowledge gap about Jesus, especially among young Australians. Many are intrigued about Jesus of Nazareth.
Some believe he was an historical figure who lived on Earth 2000 years ago, and the vast majority of ancient historians reckon that Jesus was an historical figure, even though only 49% of Australians reckon Jesus was a real person. How unfortunate there is this growing scepticism in Australia towards Christianity. Nevertheless, we celebrate the birthday of Jesus every year. So I wonder today if you remember these six words in a short sentence: for free eternal life – contact. Jesus.
Let’s Pray
Thank you, Lord, that Jesus is real. We believe that Jesus came, was born, lived and died on the cross for our sins. Thank you, Lord, that we can easily summarise His life. The Son of God who came to bring me new life. May I have a sense of admiration and love for Jesus who is my personal Saviour. Amen.