State Fair Faith

Our State Fair is a Great State Fair, Don't Miss it, Don't even be late..."

Oops. For the eighteenth year in a row I'm going to miss our great state fair. I didn't intend to go this long without going, it even seems downright un-Texan to miss it so much. But you know how it goes, the kids get big enough to go on their own, we lived between three and seven hours drive from Dallas most of those eighteen years, work got in the way too... we just haven't made it.

I rather enjoyed the Fair when I went. The exhibits, the "free" stuff, the new cars, the animals, the shows, and of course, the midway. You just can't beat all that fried food and sweets. Well, wait a minute. If a restaurant charged the same amount as those booths at the fair do and it tasted like most Fair food tastes we'd either send it back or never go to that restaurant again. An expensive lesson in developing a discriminating palate no doubt.

 In my elementary school days when our school drove everybody to Dallas for the Fair, I still hadn't learned the proper techniques and timing for eating junk and riding rides. It takes a couple of years but you figure it out.  An rather inexpensive lesson in human physiology really.
I wish everyone could experience the Fair, even getting snookered by a carny trying to win at an impossible game. I think I lost fifteen bucks which was lot then. Cheap lesson , in economics, really.

I remember being really fascinated by the "shows" at the fair featuring bearded women, strong men, Bonnie and Clyde's death car, the human slinky, Siamese twins, and the world's fattest twins. Where else could fifty cents get you in to see so much refined culture? Those shows grew tiring after a few years even though the boss might change the name or paint a different poster to raise interest.  Another fairly inexpensive lesson in advertising techniques and the brokenness of humanity. Most of the sideshows were of broken people being taken advantage of by broken people to be gawked at by broken kids with now empty wallets. Great lessons at the Fair, all in one place and at a fair price.

If you think about it, God could have made a killing at the Fair with the characters from Bible. You talk about a great state fair just imagine behind those curtains is Moses parting a huge tank of water and walking himself and a few people from the audience through it. Samson could have put all the other Fair strongmen out of business. Elijah could have taken any heavy object from the crowd and thrown it in a tank of water and made it float like he did the lost ax head. Paul could let rattlesnakes and cottonmouths bite him. Daniel would be a hit with his lion taming act. If Jesus shows up, well forget about it...walking on water, healings, raising the dead. Wow, what a show!

That's where we need to be careful, we enjoy the show and forget the lesson. If you consider the length of time that the Old Testament covers, the miracles, the "shows" are spread out pretty far. Abraham lived about 2200 BC as an educated guess. Moses, some believe started writing down the things that happened about 1450 BC from the oral traditions passed on to him and the things that God revealed to him. The point is that more than likely, you personally, if you lived in those times would never see the great things God did in history. He rescued, He saved Israel. He miraculously preserved His people moving salvation history toward the day of Jesus coming. You would hear about them and a few of you could read about them. The rest of the years and for the vast majority of the generations that lived in Old and New Testament times, you lived by faith.

God still does miracles but that's not the whole show, the lesson. The greatest miracle that still remains is that God through Christ redeems sinful men and calls them to walk with Him daily in a relationship of love and service. It is often not fancy, just put your head down and take one step after the other after the other after the other...We need to be careful to not just go down the midway of life looking for the next big show  that excites us spiritually but to walk in faithful obedience with the One who helps us exhibit His Presence, His Life, His Love to all who have been broken in a sinful world.

That's a pretty Fair deal.

Cos