Indy 500
Today, my family and I went to the Indy 500. Eli, is a race fan and has always wanted to go, but being a pastor, working on Sundays, makes it difficult. The weather was cool! The day was nice, and the race was fun. Josh even picked the winner correct and now he thinks he deserves Olive Garden for dinner. Yes, we enjoyed the race. However, the getting home was as eventful as the race itself. It took us 4 hours to travel the 15 miles home. I wish that was an exaggeration. The majority of that was stuck in the parking lot, where we barely moved for 2 1/2 hours. Did you know you can learn a great deal about humanity and faith stuck in a parking lot. It was an entertaining display of human nature.
As is always done after a major event, cars began to form lines making their way to the exit. The problem: these lines did not move. We were stuck. Patience is not a strong virtue in most of humanity. Eventually, the driver of a Chevy Equinox had enough. They veered out of line, drove across the field towards a 4-5 foot high embankment. Would they dare to drive up it? The embankment was steep. The first attempt failed as they began to spin their tires. However, they would not be deterred. The second attempt, they gunned the gas, drove on up, and then nosed their way in the barely moving traffic. They escaped, and probably got home hours before us.
Their success begin to entice others. Five minutes later, one, then two SUVs/trucks followed the same route, bypassing all those patiently waiting in line. The bigger the car, the easier the drive up. More and more were emboldened. By this time, I had gotten out of our car. Amber was driving and I was just standing beside the car enjoying the show. There were about five men sitting in the back of a pickup truck cheering each driver on. We were all surprised when a sedan declared its intent as it drove out of line towards the embankment followed by a Subaru, and another truck. I got to see this! There is no way that sedan will make it. As it inched closer, a cop finally saw or had enough. He ran down the sidewalk and yelled for them to return to the line. “If you can’t deal with the traffic, don’t come to the race”, he screamed! All the drivers stopped, turned around and drove back with the proverbial tail between their legs. This spurred the men in the back of the truck on, laughing and shouting their jokes at the retreating drivers. Just by chance, all three of these spurned cars retreated back to the line right where we were still waiting. They began in the back, way behind us, and now returned farther ahead, essentially cutting in line. That’s when the prophet arrived (at least that’s what I will call him here). He was angry and upset at the injustice. Everyone else was waiting their turn, and these impatient drivers thought they would return farther up the line? Right next to us, windows down for my family to hear, the prophet confronted these drivers. He spoke words of anger sharing the injustice, and declaring that these cars should go to the end. The Subaru’s passenger shouted back in anger, probably also feeling sheepish and guilty. His words were spoken in self-defense and indignation, “Who are you to speak to us?” These words were probably intensified by the guilt of knowing they were called out. Words were shared. Words that I would prefer our boys not to hear or say. We all have moments when we are sick of the injustice and have to speak. We all have moments when we have been called out, feel guilty, and respond defensively. However both spoke out of selfish concern. Would the prophet have cared enough to speak up if he wasn’t the one that got passed by in line? Do we only cry injustice, when the injustice happens to us? Sadly, I think that is most often when we care enough to act. We may not like the injustice done to others, but we often continue our lives as we politely tell others it is wrong. It’s often not until we have been offended that we stand up, do more, use our voice. We all live in a world that benefits some more than others. We all live in a world, where people try to get ahead at the expense of another. It’s a shame. Are we called to do more? Or do we respond primarily when it affected my child, my family, my life?
Of course, this was not the only entertainment. The cars above tried to drive up the embankment, jump the curb, and disappear into the traffic. While other drivers, maybe not so daring, just tried to drive beside the line and cut in up ahead. Here we were, on our left, that sedan from above hoping to nose its way in front of Amber back in line. While on the right was a white pickup that just drove passed it’s line trying to squirm its way in front of Amber. On both sides, they were creeping in. I am sure that they looked at Amber, a woman in a Honda Civic, and thought “easy target.” Little did they know my wife. She stayed uncomfortably close to the car in front of us. Punching the gas each moment that car moved. We were bumper to bumper. As a Christian, what do you do? Let them in line, forgiveness, grace, come on in. What about all those behind? Letting these cars in, does that encourage others? Are you contributing to the injustice of those behind who are getting bypassed? Does justice and grace sometimes feel at odds with each other. In Jesus, they are not, but we don’t always have the wisdom of Jesus. In this parking lot, in this moment, we did not discuss the finer points of theology, grace, justice, and faith. All I know is Amber was intent on not letting them in. I think the boys were proud especially when to two cars on each side gave up. Amber would not be their victim.
We finally got to the front, near the exit, and a cop was directing each different row, one car at a time. There were still random cars, cutting and moving ahead. This is when we encountered the “proclaimers” (again that is my description). It was two couples sitting in lawn chairs by their car entertaining themselves and us. They were hilarious, shouting at each cutting driver about their “sins.” “Wait your turn!” “Don’t let them go (speaking to the cop), they cut ahead.” This is when a Chevy suburban popped out of nowhere, not in any line, trying to be the next to leave. Amber noticed it first. On the back of their car, just above the bumper, was an Ichthus (the Christian fish symbol). What’s our witness? I am sure many of the other “line cutters” or “embankment drivers”, profess faith, believe in Jesus, but here it was right on their car as they cut in front of everyone else. Our “proclaimers”, they were primed, and could not let this go unnoticed. One shouted, “Bad Christian. Boo on you. Go back in line. Where’s your patience? Wait your turn.” Again, what is our witness in a world that is all over the place like ours? The cop did not seem to care as he let the driver go.
One final car, pulled up right next to us before our turn arrived, again they bypassed the line. Again, the “proclaimers” yelled and declared their “sins.” The passenger pointed at their handicap sign hanging from the rearview mirror. The “proclaimers” were undeterred. “Cutter, go back in line.” The cop walked up to the driver, a man that was at least in his 60’s. He rolled down his window, and we were close enough to hear. “My dad is in the back, and he has respiratory problems. Can we go? We need to get him out of here.” About an hour earlier, as the cars were skipping us in line, I jokingly told Amber, “Just pretend that each of these cars have an emergency. They are trying to get to the hospital, see a loved one.” This was spoken in jest as a way to give each driver an excuse. Now here, at least in this case (unless they lied, do you trust humanity?), it was real. The proclaimers were shouting, “Cutter, get back in line,” but they did not know the whole story. Sadly, our world is not easily defined in black and white, right and wrong. Sometimes it is, but sometimes, we don’t know the whole story. Some times, there are things we could not have guessed, not have imagined. It is easy to call each other out from our perspective. And if you look at social media, we seem to love to call each other out. It gives us a thrill. However, often our perspective is not God’s perspective.
God created humanity and it is good. Most people did wait their turn even as it took them, like us, four incredibly long hours to get home. Sometimes, we are called to be “prophets” but not just when we were the ones offended. Sometimes, we are called to be “proclaimers,” speakers of truth, even though we may not always know the truth ourselves which can be very dangerous. Thus, we always live in humility and love as we seek God and God’s kingdom come, even in a place like a grass parking lot outside of the Indy 500.
This was our experience getting home from the Indy 500 race. Should we go back next year?
As is always done after a major event, cars began to form lines making their way to the exit. The problem: these lines did not move. We were stuck. Patience is not a strong virtue in most of humanity. Eventually, the driver of a Chevy Equinox had enough. They veered out of line, drove across the field towards a 4-5 foot high embankment. Would they dare to drive up it? The embankment was steep. The first attempt failed as they began to spin their tires. However, they would not be deterred. The second attempt, they gunned the gas, drove on up, and then nosed their way in the barely moving traffic. They escaped, and probably got home hours before us.
Their success begin to entice others. Five minutes later, one, then two SUVs/trucks followed the same route, bypassing all those patiently waiting in line. The bigger the car, the easier the drive up. More and more were emboldened. By this time, I had gotten out of our car. Amber was driving and I was just standing beside the car enjoying the show. There were about five men sitting in the back of a pickup truck cheering each driver on. We were all surprised when a sedan declared its intent as it drove out of line towards the embankment followed by a Subaru, and another truck. I got to see this! There is no way that sedan will make it. As it inched closer, a cop finally saw or had enough. He ran down the sidewalk and yelled for them to return to the line. “If you can’t deal with the traffic, don’t come to the race”, he screamed! All the drivers stopped, turned around and drove back with the proverbial tail between their legs. This spurred the men in the back of the truck on, laughing and shouting their jokes at the retreating drivers. Just by chance, all three of these spurned cars retreated back to the line right where we were still waiting. They began in the back, way behind us, and now returned farther ahead, essentially cutting in line. That’s when the prophet arrived (at least that’s what I will call him here). He was angry and upset at the injustice. Everyone else was waiting their turn, and these impatient drivers thought they would return farther up the line? Right next to us, windows down for my family to hear, the prophet confronted these drivers. He spoke words of anger sharing the injustice, and declaring that these cars should go to the end. The Subaru’s passenger shouted back in anger, probably also feeling sheepish and guilty. His words were spoken in self-defense and indignation, “Who are you to speak to us?” These words were probably intensified by the guilt of knowing they were called out. Words were shared. Words that I would prefer our boys not to hear or say. We all have moments when we are sick of the injustice and have to speak. We all have moments when we have been called out, feel guilty, and respond defensively. However both spoke out of selfish concern. Would the prophet have cared enough to speak up if he wasn’t the one that got passed by in line? Do we only cry injustice, when the injustice happens to us? Sadly, I think that is most often when we care enough to act. We may not like the injustice done to others, but we often continue our lives as we politely tell others it is wrong. It’s often not until we have been offended that we stand up, do more, use our voice. We all live in a world that benefits some more than others. We all live in a world, where people try to get ahead at the expense of another. It’s a shame. Are we called to do more? Or do we respond primarily when it affected my child, my family, my life?
Of course, this was not the only entertainment. The cars above tried to drive up the embankment, jump the curb, and disappear into the traffic. While other drivers, maybe not so daring, just tried to drive beside the line and cut in up ahead. Here we were, on our left, that sedan from above hoping to nose its way in front of Amber back in line. While on the right was a white pickup that just drove passed it’s line trying to squirm its way in front of Amber. On both sides, they were creeping in. I am sure that they looked at Amber, a woman in a Honda Civic, and thought “easy target.” Little did they know my wife. She stayed uncomfortably close to the car in front of us. Punching the gas each moment that car moved. We were bumper to bumper. As a Christian, what do you do? Let them in line, forgiveness, grace, come on in. What about all those behind? Letting these cars in, does that encourage others? Are you contributing to the injustice of those behind who are getting bypassed? Does justice and grace sometimes feel at odds with each other. In Jesus, they are not, but we don’t always have the wisdom of Jesus. In this parking lot, in this moment, we did not discuss the finer points of theology, grace, justice, and faith. All I know is Amber was intent on not letting them in. I think the boys were proud especially when to two cars on each side gave up. Amber would not be their victim.
We finally got to the front, near the exit, and a cop was directing each different row, one car at a time. There were still random cars, cutting and moving ahead. This is when we encountered the “proclaimers” (again that is my description). It was two couples sitting in lawn chairs by their car entertaining themselves and us. They were hilarious, shouting at each cutting driver about their “sins.” “Wait your turn!” “Don’t let them go (speaking to the cop), they cut ahead.” This is when a Chevy suburban popped out of nowhere, not in any line, trying to be the next to leave. Amber noticed it first. On the back of their car, just above the bumper, was an Ichthus (the Christian fish symbol). What’s our witness? I am sure many of the other “line cutters” or “embankment drivers”, profess faith, believe in Jesus, but here it was right on their car as they cut in front of everyone else. Our “proclaimers”, they were primed, and could not let this go unnoticed. One shouted, “Bad Christian. Boo on you. Go back in line. Where’s your patience? Wait your turn.” Again, what is our witness in a world that is all over the place like ours? The cop did not seem to care as he let the driver go.
One final car, pulled up right next to us before our turn arrived, again they bypassed the line. Again, the “proclaimers” yelled and declared their “sins.” The passenger pointed at their handicap sign hanging from the rearview mirror. The “proclaimers” were undeterred. “Cutter, go back in line.” The cop walked up to the driver, a man that was at least in his 60’s. He rolled down his window, and we were close enough to hear. “My dad is in the back, and he has respiratory problems. Can we go? We need to get him out of here.” About an hour earlier, as the cars were skipping us in line, I jokingly told Amber, “Just pretend that each of these cars have an emergency. They are trying to get to the hospital, see a loved one.” This was spoken in jest as a way to give each driver an excuse. Now here, at least in this case (unless they lied, do you trust humanity?), it was real. The proclaimers were shouting, “Cutter, get back in line,” but they did not know the whole story. Sadly, our world is not easily defined in black and white, right and wrong. Sometimes it is, but sometimes, we don’t know the whole story. Some times, there are things we could not have guessed, not have imagined. It is easy to call each other out from our perspective. And if you look at social media, we seem to love to call each other out. It gives us a thrill. However, often our perspective is not God’s perspective.
God created humanity and it is good. Most people did wait their turn even as it took them, like us, four incredibly long hours to get home. Sometimes, we are called to be “prophets” but not just when we were the ones offended. Sometimes, we are called to be “proclaimers,” speakers of truth, even though we may not always know the truth ourselves which can be very dangerous. Thus, we always live in humility and love as we seek God and God’s kingdom come, even in a place like a grass parking lot outside of the Indy 500.
This was our experience getting home from the Indy 500 race. Should we go back next year?
