Black Friday

So…did you? Did you do what lots of people seem to do now? Did you manage to bag a bargain on Black Friday? Did you get a great deal? I don’t know about you, but I got multiple emails every day last week reminding me Black Friday was coming. I was bombarded with reminders of the fantastic deals I could get. I was told every day how much time was left until the savings began. And then, on Friday…more emails announcing the day had arrived. Maybe you can get good deals on Black Friday. Maybe you can. Maybe you did. Apparently you have to be careful that your deal is really a deal. I was listening to one analyst talking on the radio saying that some of the deals are not as good as they are made out to be. Apparently, you can better deals at other times of the year according to this analyst. Maybe you got a deal. Maybe you didn’t. Jim Elliot knew he had a great deal. In 1956, when he was 29 years old, Jim Elliot went as a missionary to the Acua people (now called the Waondani people) in Ecuador. There had been years of planning, but Jim and a few others wanted to tell them the truth about Jesus. The Acua had killed all other foreigners who had attempted to make contact with them, but it appeared that Jim and the other missionaries were now getting a response. One morning when two Acua women appeared across the river, it seemed something was about to happen. Jim and his colleague Pete jumped into the river to meet the women, but then heard a terrifying cry behind them. They turned to see Acua warriors with their spears ready to attack them. Five missionaries died that day, killed by Acua spears. Jim Elliot had written in his diary: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” He based that on the truth of another Black Friday. We call it Good Friday, although at the time it felt black to everyone who had followed Jesus. This Black Friday wasn’t followed by emails about more deals. There was only one deal: he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Good Friday is followed instead by Easter Day and the truth of God, that his death brings us life. That’s a great deal. The best in fact. And to give your life to Jesus Christ, is to give what you cannot keep to gain what you cannot lose. The truth is you cannot keep your life. One day you will die. The offer of the cross is that you can give to God what cannot keep and gain what you cannot lose: the promise of his everlasting love and life with him now, and for eternity. Looking for good deals is one thing. But missing the greatest deal of all is another entirely. Perhaps Black Friday can remind us of the greatest deal. After Jim Elliot was killed, his wife and others went back to the Acua people, and in time many of them became followers of Christ. They proved Jim to be right: he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. And it’s still true. The deal is still on the table.