They find a very needy family and send them off on a couple week vacation while the team renovates (or, more usually, razes and replaces) the family's house into a new dream home. One of the show's trademarks is the 'unveiling' of the new home to the family... they actually park the show's 'tour bus' in front of the house and place the family on the opposite side, obscuring their view of their new home... then, on the count of 3, everyone screams "Move that Bus!!!"
Invariably the family is completely blown away by the new home. They are swept up in the gracious gift these strangers have provided... last week, the single mom whose family was the beneficiary of this kindness actually collapsed when the bus was moved... her knees literally buckled at the sight of her new home...
Extreme Home Makeover truly is a picture of serving 'the least of these'...
As I watched that episode the other night, I thought of a couple things:
First, how cool would it be if, at the moment we accept Christ as Lord, we could see in one glance our spiritual bankruptcy contrasted with how glorious our 'saved selves' appear! As the chorus of "Move that Bus!" echoes and our bus-ful of sins disappears behind the cross, we would see the glory of God and the power of His saving mercy.
How 'knee-bucklingly' grateful we are when we grasp the immensity of the gift.
Second, I wonder if, when we arrive in heaven, God Himself will be giddy with excitement and filled with anticipation as He prepares to show us our new digs... as we take in the incredible sights, is it too corny to imagine that we might say, "God, Move That Bus!"..... then, as we shed this earthly vessel and begin to enjoy the glory of heaven, would we ever, in a million eternities, be able to absorb all that our new home is?
What will that 'unveiling' moment be like? Will we collapse with the overwhelming sense that we have received a gift which we could not possibly deserve or afford?
Bart Millard (Mercy Me) imagined what it might be like, and shared it with the world in his powerful anthem-ballad "I Can Only Imagine":
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
When He welcomes us to eternal kinship and friendship and fellowship with Him, what will that be like? I can only imagine...
Forgive me if, somewhere in my imagination, I see a big bus and a giddy gift giver...
Blessings!
4 comments:
Surely, brother, there are more than 17. You know at least 2! I know about 10,000 more in my neighborhood! That's ok, we get the idea, and won't it be grand!
Beautiful thought Tim, I got chills reading it...
Joy / Lynn - yep, I surely do know more than 17 people who have not seen the TV show... I sometimes forget all the wonderful folks across the globe whom God has placed in my life... in addition to my new friends (your neighbors) in Volcan, you caused me to think of a few hundred in Eton Village on the shores of Efate Island... people I have not thought about in a while...and, by the way, I do highly recommend the "Extreme Makeover" show; with all the tripe which passes for 'good TV' these days, this one certainly stands out...
Dillion - thanks for the nice post... we ought to get chills when we think of heaven, right? I need more chills!
Post a Comment