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Welcome to Buoy, a Life in Deeper Water podcast. Episode 12. In 1976 I Met the 33-Year-Old Who Saved the World
(click here to listen)
Hello human.
In 1976 there were 4,154,666,827 people living in the world. Easier said, 4.1 billion people.
In 1976 here were a few of the headlines.
- Apple Computer Company is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
- The popular film “Rocky” is released in the United States.
- Jimmy Carter wins Presidential Election.
- NASA unveils the first space shuttle, the Enterprise.
- Nadia Comaneci wins 3 gold medals at the Montreal Olympics with seven perfect scores.
- The film, A Star is Born (remake of 1937 movie) with Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand is released.
Out of hundreds of global headlines, from wars to security breaches to Supreme Court decisions, these were the only ones I remember having a vague, illusive connection to. I went to A Star is Born in the theater, saw Nadia define what an Olympic “10” looked like, heard about “Rocky” but didn’t see it until much later. TV shows. Nada. I watched very little TV. I didn’t have one in my cozy little one-bedroom apartment, a stand alone on the property of someone in my church community.
And I suspect some of you have never even heard these headlines.
I was there. But not tracking any of them. It didn’t matter to me. I was apparently living under a college rock. I was 20, a dancer, an off-again-on-again writer, third year college student, wondering about a future that was still a tabula rasa because of so many competing passions and interests. What would my life be? A solid group of college friends. Double major, debater with anyone who would, a dreamer, and then some. I wasn’t really into fashion, but owned a jean jacket, flared pants, some lace up boots. Other than that, no serious fashion violations, like pantsuits, or… I better stop there. I don’t want to offend.
I Heard Jesus Knock and Opened the Door
In the middle of all this young-and-fragmented living, I met Jesus.
I had learned about him growing up, but He seemed like a guru-type hero in an ancient tale from long ago, a time, when everyone had dusty feet from walking everywhere in sandals. I had little interest in time travel back to his world. In my mind he was thirty-three. And living up in the clouds somewhere.
I grew up hearing about the man who talked to the woman at the well.
I grew up hearing about the man who gave us the Lord’s Prayer.
I grew up hearing about the man who challenged the religious leaders.
I grew up hearing about the man who raised dead people back to life.
I grew up hearing about the man who fed 5,000+ people with 2 fish and 5 loaves.
The man who knew how to make wine out of water.
The man who invited little children to come to him, who he called blessed.
The man who knocked on everyone’s door.
The man in the song that proclaims: “Jesus loves me, this I know.”
But I didn’t know Him, yet.
Jesus says in the last book of God’s Word, Revelation 3:20:
20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
So the moment I came face to face with him, in the middle of my little self-absorbed college life, my heart ventured along a path I had never travelled. From that point, I was never the same. Imagine my surprise, and more so, my wonder. The depth of His spiritual gaze on my heart, the tenor of His voice running through my thoughts—rich with assurance. Imagine the reverence His life lay over my 20-year-old soul. He brought all the loose ends together into one presence. So I rested in His presence, the soft cushions of a newly-found “life with meaning.” All through the popular “What would Jesus do?” lens of a man that walked on this earth for 30, and three years. And then ascended.
I trusted Him. I wanted to follow Him. I was crazy about Him. I still am. Jesus will come to my table, every day, to break the pane bianco with me, share my pasta, pizza, capreze salad, all-things Italian… because He has long since prepared my table of all that I love, just as He has prepared a place for me.
Celebrate the Beginning of the Only Resurrected Life
Yet, what we are celebrating is the birth of a baby boy who lived 33 years on this earth. I met him as a 33-year-old man who had saved the world. The only resurrected man, ever.
An estimated 385,000 babies are born each day. Each a miracle, a swaddled love blessing. A first look at a face that our Savior has long since seen.
Yet, no one gets saved by a baby.
But everyone gets saved by the baby we rejoice for on Christmas. We celebrate divinity’s first breath on earth. I am sure His earthly mother, Mary, waited to hear His first breath.
This baby was a spiritual boomerang from heaven. A heavenly crusader who would crawl, walk, run through the darkest thicket of earth’s forest, earth’s wilderness, and then walk again along many dusty roads to find his way to His eternal destiny at the Mount of Olives. And ascend into the cloud-gates of heaven.
But babies aren’t born a-talkin’. Babies are born into a world of growing. And this baby was born into a journey for all humanity. He took our path long before we put our footprint on it. No understudies, no cameos, no stand-ins when He was challenged on any given day by the prophecy of Savior of the World. Because His days were divinely numbered.
Jesus Was 33 When He Died For My Sins
I remember thinking: Don’t you just wish when you meet someone you instantly love, that this new, mind-blowing love could permeate all the living you have already done, don’t you wish that you had known that person forever? That you had watched the person grow up, come into passions, interests, and a life dedicated to something only that person can do? That somehow you have lost time together, that you need to play catch up? Walked that path with that person, yet still loving that you have been brought to this moment when your paths crossed? Finally. I thought that about Jesus.
Jesus is familiar at 33 years old—what he was doing, where he was, what he stood for, what his purpose was—but much more elusive to think about him as a baby, the baby Jesus. At least for me.
Jesus was 33 when He died for my sins. He was the Son of God. Immanuel. God with us.
Who Were You When You Met Jesus?
Who were you when you met Jesus? Where were you?
How is that different from who you are now?
Maybe, that is not the right question for you. Maybe this is your question:
Who are you without Jesus?
How is this different from how you might imagine yourself to be with Jesus?
Our identity is only ever hidden from us, and others. And sometimes the people around us seem to have more access to who we are than we each do. We have to seek knowing ourselves, and others. We have to put the time in to know someone deeply.
But Jesus doesn’t.
Jesus never met a stranger.
Of the 4.1 billion people living in the world in 1976, including me.
Jesus never met a stranger.
Of the estimated 8 billion people, living today, including me.
If our world reached a population of a centillion, Jesus would still not have ever met a stranger. How large is a centillion? It is 303 zeros, or perhaps easier to get a firm mental grasp on, 101 sets of three zeros.
Write that out. Or you will have to go to my show notes to get a visual grasp on how a centillion looks.
At Kathrynbise.com
What does One Centillion Look Like?
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
We can’t fathom a centillion of people in one place, let alone knowing each one. That’s the breadth and depth of Jesus. Beyond our grasp. He holds on to who we are so tightly.
Imagine all those people waiting in a line. Not one of them is a stranger to Jesus. He knows each one better than anyone will ever know them. Better than anyone will ever know you. Jesus brings knowing to a completed state. No soul unturned.
My Witness Began in 1976
That’s my witness resolution. 2023. It’s all about the 30-something man I met in 1976, and how he never met a stranger. I can’t wait to share what eight weeks of reading His word, thinking through, praying about, planning for, has brought me to, how the time since Episode 4 has deepened my resolve into a willful wanting to respond to His calling in my life. On a path He has so clearly defined for me.
… I am on the cusp of episode 13, next week. I can hear the drum roll in my heart. And I can hear you. I am so grateful you are here with me, human.
Bring Baby Jesus Your Spiritual Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh
For this Christmas week, for this Saturday’s eve into Sunday, come, baby Jesus.
Luke tells us about that moment in Luke 2: 6-7:
6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
I encourage you to join me in bringing Jesus your best gift. Your spiritual gold, frankincense and myrrh.
For me, it is my spiritual resolve to be a witness of His time on earth, a witness of His eternal life in heaven, and a witness of his unchallenged, unsurpassed, undeniably intimate “knowing” of every person’s heart.
His grace. My gratitude.
See ya on the Buoy.
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You can find me at kathrynbise.com and @buoykathrynb on Instagram.
Buoy is a Life in Deeper Water podcast.