Faking the Grain
Hebrews 11:32-34
Hebrews 11:32-34 KJV And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: [33] Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, [34] Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
I. INTRODUCTION -- FAKING THE GRAIN
Wood craftsmen and finishers of fine furniture are not nearly as common to our times as they were 100 years ago. For that matter, they are not found as much today as they were around even 25 years ago.
Some of these men were literally artists when it came to taking an old piece of furniture and restoring the elegance and the power back to it’s original state. So gifted were a lot of these workers that they would be able to work wonders out of even the simplest of furniture.
In the New England regions, there is a type of wood known as the Tulip Poplar. It is sometimes referred to as Whitewood and occasionally it will be called simply “Tulip.” This wood has a very unique capability in that it can imitate other woods that are far more valuable.
Some dealers have mistakenly identified pieces of furniture as high-dollar cherry only to find out later that a very talented finisher had properly “faked the grain” as it once was referred to.
This Whitewood grain can be taken by a master craftsman and be turned into a wood that imitates a perfect Mahogany. It can ever serve as a very highly passable Birch, Walnut, Cedar, Hazel, and even a straight-grained Maple. When the grain is “faked” a lesser wood becomes far more valuable in appearance. Because of this change, much more can be served by this particular piece of wood.
In fact, the Whitewood has come to serve as drawer facings on dressers, doors on armours, and side panels on expensive buffets. The more skilled the finisher is then the greater that the grain is “faked.”
-When I discovered this practice among makers of hand-crafted furniture artisans, I immediately thought about what happens to a man whose life comes under the hands of the Master Craftsman, Jesus Christ.
-Something far less valuable is suddenly redeemed into a highly-prized saint of God.
II. WEAKNESS THAT BECOMES STRENGTH
-There are numerous examples in the Word of God where one will find that weakness can become strength when it is placed in the hands of God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-4 KJV [1] And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. [2] For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. [3] And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. [4] And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
2 Corinthians 3:5 KJV Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 KJV [7] And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. [8] For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. [9] And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. [10] Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
-It is the paradox of Christ likeness to have our weak places become the point of incredible strength.
Another way that these skilled furniture masters work is to take some paste filler and fill in all of the pores and defects of the wood so that a smooth finish can be applied. This filler is then stained and covered over and it has caused many an expert to think that the wood was much more valuable than it was.
-I have known many, many people (just as you have) over the years whose lives were scarred by sin, filled with the defects of terrible choices and dented by the uncaring hands of the world. They have managed to find their way to an old-fashioned place of prayer and then God was able to change the situation and “fake the grain” making them into so much more than they were.
-That is the power of the Gospel.
Romans 1:16-17 KJV For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. [17] For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
III. BIBLICAL CHARACTERS THAT “FAKED THE GRAIN”
A. Jacob’s Limp
-Jacob was a man with a limp. He had a weakness but it was through him that the lineage of Jesus Christ was to appear.
-From the outset of his life, Jacob appears to have been chosen by God to fulfill a purpose. His purpose was to have a son named Joseph who would refuse to let bitterness ruin him.
-Jacob. . .
• The man who met God at Bethel.
• The man who saw the golden ladder in his dream.
• The man who saw angels ascending and descending from the throne of Heaven.
• The man who buried the idolatrous gods of his wives.
-Jacob was a man whose grain would need a reformation and a refining by a Master Craftsman.
-There were some cheap things that were hidden in Jacob’s grain and given the right conditions it would lessen the value of the man.
• He was a conniver and a cheat.
• He was a spoiled mama’s boy.
• He was dishonest with his father and his father-in-law.
• He was the man who stole the birthright.
• He looked for situations that would help him to come out on top.
• He sought out benefits by nefarious means.
-All of these things were deficiencies in the character of Jacob. His grain did not look too good with this type of exposure.
-But despite all of this. . . . God saw something in the life of Jacob that He knew that given time, energy, and effort. . . . the grain of Jacob’s soul could be changed.
-It really is not an uncommon pattern that trouble makes it way into our lives and causes some very advantageous changes. There came a time in Jacob’s life when he desperately needed God.
-He entered a midnight free-for-all and left the wrestling match with a limp and with a God. He left that night with a “faked grain.” Something that had once been so wild and un-tethered now was worth far more once the Master’s hand had touched his thigh and had wrestled with Jacob’s soul.
-Jacob would bear the limp for the rest of his life. . . but his name would be different and his blessing from God would escalate.
-The place where Jacob met God was at Peniel. It is ironic that the meaning of this name is “face of God.” Every time that we meet God face-to-face, we must come back with a limp. . . The grain has to be marked and changed by the Master.
-If God can change us, He will use us for His Kingdom.
-It is a failure on our parts to go to Peniel and return the same way that we came. There has to be a change of grain in our soul. The value of our soul depends on how much we are willing to allow God to change us.
-There will certainly be a limp. . . but with the limp comes a change in identity. . . You change a man’s identity and you will change his destiny.
• Abram changed to Abraham.
• Sarai changed to Sarah.
• Saul changed to Paul.
-All of this happened with these people met God.
Hebrews 11:34 KJV . . . out of weakness were made strong. . .
-It was Jacob’s limp that set him apart, it was when the grain got changed but he became what God wanted him to be when he let that weakness become his strength.
B. Moses’ Stutter
The hallway is silent now except for the two wheels of the mop bucket and the shuffle of the old man’s feet. Both sound tired. Both know these floors. How many nights has Hank cleaned them? Always careful to get in the corners. Always careful to set up his yellow caution sign warning of wet floors. Always laughing to himself as he does. “Be careful everyone,” he chuckles to himself, knowing that no one is near, not at three A.M.
Hank’s health isn’t what it used to be either. Gout keeps him up at night. Arthritis makes him limp. His glasses are so thick, his eyeballs look twice their size. Shoulders stoop. But he goes about his work. Slopping soapy water on the linoleum. Scrubbing the heel marks left by the well-heeled lawyers. He’ll be finished an hour before quitting time. Always finishes early. Has for twenty years. When he finishes, he will put away his mop bucket and take a seat outside the office of the senior partner and wait. Never leaves early. He could. No one would ever know. . . but he doesn’t. He broke the rules once. . . Never again.
Sometimes if the door is open, he will enter the office. Not for long. Just to look. The suite is larger than his apartment. He will run his finger over the desk. He’ll stroke the soft leather couch. He’ll stand at the window and watch the gray sky turn into gold. And he’ll remember. He once had an office. Back when Hank was Henry. Back when the custodian was an executive. Long ago. . . . before the night shift. . . . before the mop bucket. . . before the maintenance uniform. . . . before the scandal.
Hank doesn’t think about it much anymore, no reason to. Got in trouble, got fired, and got out. That’s it. Not many people know about it, better that way. It’s his secret. . . Hank’s story, by the way, is true. I’ve changed a detail or two and put him in a different century. But the story is factual.
It was a mistake, in Hank’s case, but it was one he could never forget. A grave mistake. Hank killed someone. He came upon a thug beating up an innocent man and Hank lost control. He killed the mugger. When word got out, Hank got out. He would rather hide than go to jail. So he ran. The executive became a fugitive. It’s a true story and generally a common one, although the details are not as extreme as Hank’s. He was trained in the finest institutions of the world, yet working the night shift in a minimum wage job so he wouldn’t have to see the day.
But all of that changed the day when he heard the voice from the mop bucket. At first he thought the voice was a joke. Some of the fellows on the third floor play these kinds of tricks. “Henry, Henry,” the voice called. Hank turned. No one called him Henry any more. “Henry, Henry.” He turned toward the pail. It was glowing. Bright red. Hot red. He could feel the heat ten feet away. He stepped closer and looked in. The water wasn’t boiling. “This is strange,” Hank mumbled to himself as he took another step to get a closer look. But he voice stopped him.
“Don’t come any closer. Take off your shoes. You are on holy tile.” Suddenly Hank knew who was speaking. “God?”
I’m not making this up. I know that you think I am. Sounds crazy. Almost irreverent. God speaking from a hot mop bucket to a janitor named Hank? Would it be more believable if I said that God was speaking from a burning bush to a shepherd named Moses? (Adapted from Max Lucado, When God Whispers Your Name)
-It is hard to believe and to even consider finding God’s greatest men of the Bible in our everyday life. But when you boil it all down, Moses had it all. The best education, the best palace, and the best chariot before his mistake.
-He was exiled to the desert for forty years. He saw the burning bush and heard God’s plan. It all sounded great. Just go in there and tell Pharoah to take a hike and let the people go. Let God do the work and everything would be fine.
-That was until Moses looked at the grain. He suddenly looked at himself and saw far less than what God saw. Why is that with Moses? . . . More importantly why is that way with us also? . . . God divulges just a part of His plan for our lives and we suddenly look around and begin to feel inferior to what God has called us to do.
-Moses remembered his terrible stammering speech impediment. All of this business sounds good, God. . . . But I can’t talk. . . Remember, I stutt. . . . stutt. . . . stutt. . . stutter! Whew!!! Fine. . . . fine. . . . fine. . . . Finally got that out!
Exodus 4:10 KJV And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
-If I would have asked any of you what Moses had accomplished before I said all of this, I am certain I would have gotten:
• He led the children of Israel out of Egypt.
• He received the Law on Sinai.
• He held out his rod and the Red Sea parted.
• He crushed the Golden Calf.
• He presented the plans for the Tabernacle.
-There are others that could be added. . . . But very few of us would have even mentioned that Moses had a problem with his speech.
-We forget the deficiencies of life in the great men of God. But they were flesh and blood just as we are. They had their ups and downs, they just refused to let the deficiencies rule them and weigh them down.
-Revivals are not born so much out of perfection as they are of determination. A hunger and thirst for revival is what we must be baptized with. But so many of us think that revival and harvest cannot come because of the grain of the wood. We perceive that our value is so insignificant that God cannot do much with us.
-I am not speaking of sin in our lives. . . but the belief that revivals can only come with perfection. . . . so when the urgency of revival begins to weigh in on our spirits we begin to offer a litany of excuses:
• Just like Moses, we say that we are not competent enough (Exodus 3:11; 4:1; 4:10) but it is God who will deliver the people.
• Just like Gideon, we say that we do not have the resources (Judges 6:15) but God gets a small army together, equips them with the outrageous to overcome the impossible (Midianites).
• Just like the lazy man of Proverbs (22:13) we say that there is a lion in the streets and whether there is one or not we often forget that God was able to shut the lions’ mouths for Daniel.
• Just like Jeremiah (1:6-7) we say that we are too young and don’t have the experience but God took Jeremiah’s inexperience and made a nation to exalt the tears of a prophet.
• Just like the man who hid his talent because he feared the Master (Matthew 25:24-25) we say that God does not allow room for mistakes so we are locked down with paralysis.
• Just like the men in Luke 14, we let land, cows, and wives which are the common pressures of life to hinder our involvement.
-Somewhere along the way, the grain is going to have to be faked by the Master Craftsman. Jacob’s Limp and Moses’ stutter did not stop them. . . In fact, when you read through Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, you note a very loud voice of authority and power to come from Moses.
-God is not looking for perfection as much as He is looking for availability.
The woodworker in the extreme cases will take a strongly pigmented stain and cover the wood. Besides coloring the wood, the grain now becomes obscured and hidden.
Colossians 3:2-4 KJV Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. [3] For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. [4] When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
-The affection is set. . . suddenly life is hid with Christ in God. . . When Christ appears, the grain has been faked and sinful flesh has been redeemed and will appear in glory as the Bride.
Hebrews 11:34 KJV . . . out of weakness were made strong. . .
C. Hannah’s Barren Womb
-It is a much preached-from story in the Old Testament about a woman with a devoted husband, a good place to live, a love for God and a love for the Law, but with a grain that did not look to good.
-Hannah’s poor grain was that she had no children. With Hannah, she is categorically placed outside of the parameters that held Jacob and Moses.
• Necessity sent Jacob to Peniel.
• Divine appointment met Moses at the burning bush.
• But spiritual hunger put Hannah in the place of worship.
-Desire to have a child. She was willing to give this child back to God if He would just provide. This is a powerful testimony to someone who had a bad “grain” but was willing to let it motivate her to a place of change.
-That is the great cost to revival and at the very same time, this kind of prayer is the great reward of revival also.
-How far am I willing to go to get God to “fake the grain” and turn something around in my life for the glory of God?
Hebrews 11:34 KJV . . . out of weakness were made strong. . .
D. Patterns of Weak “Grains”
-The Bible is full of examples of God in His divine power having a willingness to work with the lesser “grains” of wood and making something tremendous in their lives:
• Amos, a rough and uncultured fig farmer that God elevated to preach to Uzziah and Jeroboam.
• Paul battled with a thorn that chafed and pierced his spirit but it did not deter his power to reach his world.
• John Mark, a soft and untested young man who failed, but recovered to become an honored elder.
• David, a young man who stepped up and faced the giant challenges of life.
• Elijah, who was a depressed and downcast prophet, heard that still small voice and ushered revival into the land.
• Jonah, who ran from God, and then made the adjustments to bring revival to Nineveh.
IV. CONCLUSION -- WHEN DEATH IS NOT TRAGIC. . . BUT LIVING IS
There is a place that one may live their life to such a degree that death is not tragic. . . . John Piper tells of Ruby Eliason and Laura Edwards who were killed in a car accident in Cameroon, West Africa. Ruby was over eighty and had remained single her entire life. She poured out her life for one thing: to make Jesus Christ known among the poor and sick. Laura was a widow and she was pushing eighty. She was a medical doctor and was serving the sick in Cameroon along with Ruby. The brakes failed on their car and it shot over the edge of a cliff and both met their deaths. Tragedy? . . . . .
That depends on how you define tragedy. If you define it by the American dream, then yes! But if you say they did not waste their lives on trifles. . . . then it cannot be a tragedy.
Mark 8:35 KJV For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
In consideration of this, let me help you to understand what tragedy is: In the February 1998 edition of Reader’s Digest which told of a couple who took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast. He was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they putter around the bay in their 30 foot trawler, play softball, and collect sea shells. . . What a waste to spend the latter years of life fielding grounders and picking up seashells. (Adapted from John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life)
-Picture this. . . . On judgment day standing before the Lord and saying, “Look, Lord. See my shells.” That is tragedy! And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace the tragic dream. . . . Don’t waste your life!
-Quite looking for perfection and yield yourself to the hand of the Master that wants to fill in some places in your life.
Philip Harrelson
February 11, 2007
