The Ancient Event that Changed Everything

Ancient Horses’ Rear Ends

Our railroad rails are set 4’ 8.5” aparty.

That’s an odd distance. Do you know why?

The same ppl who designed our rails were the ones who designed the rails in Great Britain.

Works there it will work there.

Why are their rails 4’ 8.5” apart?

B/C, that’s how wide the wheels are on their carriages and wagons.

So, why were their wagon wheels set that far apart?

B/C that’s the distance between the ruts in their road and if these wheels didn’t sit squarely down in these ruts they would break apart.

Where did the ruts come from? Who built these roads that were so rutted?

Ancient Rome. The Romans are known for, among other things, their military organization and infrastructure, including roads that spanned Europe, thru G.B.

The roads were built for their military to travel and defend their territory throughout Europe.

So, where did the ruts come from? They came from the wheels on their chariots that transported their soldiers across Europe.

So, the American railroad system is designed w/ rails 4’ 8.5” apart based on the original specifications of ancient Roman war chariots.

Bureaucracies live forever.

So, the next time you have to deal w/ a ridiculous design spec and you wonder what horse’s rear end came up w/ this; remember this.

Do you know why the chariot wheels were set at 4’ 8.5” apart?

B/C that’s the width of 2 horses’ rear ends that pulled the chariots across Europe on those roads.

And addendum to this story.

Engineers wanted the solid rocket boosters that were attached to the side of the space shuttle rocket t/b wider than then ended up.

The reason they could not be as wide as the engineers wanted is b/c they were transported from their manufacturer to Cape Canaveral via a railroad.

And, there were tunnels the train would have to go thru that were build to accommodate trains w/ wheels 4’ 8.5” apart.

So the next time you get stuck behind a train in Flagstaff, or have to drive across the RR tracks by Rte. 66 and it’s so rough it rattles the fillings in your teeth and your car is never the same, remember that it is b/c of 2 ancient horses’ rear ends that it happens.

How many of our problems can be traced to ancient horses’ rear ends? Think Washington DC.

Who saw this coming? Who knew the size of c.1 horses would dictate the size of c.21 trains?

It’s true. This is an example of an ancient event, ancient decisions that changed the course of history. It changed everything about rail travel.

What other ancient event can you think of that changed the course of history?

A Venture Capitalist’s Manger Moment.

I’m reminded of a story I have shared before, but it applies here.

Some years ago Sara and I were visiting her family in Tucson and her dad took me to a meeting of an association he had been apart of for years.

A group of men get together for dinner and a speaker. And, the speaker is to talk about how their job, their career works.

Some interesting or fascinating story.

The night he took me, a venture capitalist was speaking.

Venture capital is for ppl who invent something, or start a bsns and need a large amount of cash, capital, for their dream to become a reality.

Venture capitalists loan money, invest in ppl and ideas they like hoping if, when, it hits big they make lots of money.

The entrepreneur gets his dream bsns. And the venture capitalist gets rich.

A large percentage of businesses like this fail and lose lots of money, but that’s the risk.

So, this guy was the venture capitalist who invested in the company that developed the technology that became the first Kindle, or e-reader.

And, you now know, that Kindles, Nooks from B&N, iPads and tablets that have the app, changed the course of history and the way we read books and study.

I have not bought a old-fashioned book in years. Whether a book for pleasure reading or a commentary to study for preaching.

I study on my computer, all my commentaries are electronically uploaded, so when my sermon is done I download it from the cloud onto my iPad and here we are.

Changed everything. No longer do high school students or college students have to lug around 150-lb. book bags and back packs. Everything is loaded on their e-reader and their backs are forever grateful.

Anyway, this venture capitalist was telling his story about the time he held the prototype in his hand and it dawned on him what this meant.

The paper-white background w/ black letters.

And, he said this. “That was my ‘manger-moment.’”

I have no idea what this guy’s faith situation is or his religious background. But, what he understood was he was looking the first, the only, the one of a kind, that was about to change the course of history.

His manger-moment.

I had my manger moment as a 17-year old kid in Dallas TX at a youth conference.

The original manger moment, the event that changed the course of history, occured late at night in stable where a young family was visited by shepherds, who were visited by angels, and later Magi came to have their manger moment.

The story comes from Luke 2.

The Original Manger Moment

Luke 2:1–20 NIV

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 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. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

First, Mary and Joseph. They were looking at the one and only who was about to change everything.

No more guilt.

No more priorities for rules and the laws.

This was the beginning of the priority of a personal relationship w/ God.

Behavior matters. But based on rules that support the relationship that is now possible.

The HS lives in, resides in, those who accept this baby for all He came to be.

Once we come to faith God spends the rest of our lives molding into a resemblance to this baby.

This baby and the power that raised Him from the dead are available to us to help us make the necessary changes to navigate this life.

The problems we face, the issues we encounter, the struggles, the situations that need fixing; God uses these to mold us and change us.

The issues that are out of our control like a virus that invades our borders. And the issues that we do have some control over like how we respond to it.

Ultimately, there punctuating times in our lives when we realize how little control we have and how much help we really need.

Louis Zamperini; Life’s Problems Cannot be solved W/out Jesus Christ.

You probably know the story of Louis Zamperini. His story was told in the book, “Unbroken”. And, in 2 movies, Unbroken and then Unbroken; Path to Redemption.

He was a world-class athlete on his way to the Olympics as a runner.

But, WW2 got in the way.

He joined the Air Force as a pilot. His plane was shot down over the Pacific where he spent 47 days adrift w/out food or drinkable water.

That in and of itself a miracle. No one had ever come close to 47 days before that.

He was picked up by a Japanese ship and imprisoned in Japanese POW camp. Where for 2 years he was merciless beaten.

The Japanese took pleasure in their attempts to break this athlete and officer down.

The war ended, he was freed and went home to his wife and baby, but that’s where the real struggles began.

The nightmares from his time as a POW. He tried to ease the pain w/ alcohol. It didn’t work.

He was a mean and abusive drunk. His wife reluctantly decided to file for divorce. Her last straw was when they both woke up one night in the middle of one of his nightly nightmares and he was choking her thinking she was one of the Japanese guards.

She couldn’t stay. Her life was in danger as was their young child’s.

Before she filed, in one last attempt to save their marriage, she invited Louie to go w/ her to a tent revival of a young evangelist named Billy Graham.

As he sat there and listened to the music and Billy Graham’s sermon he became increasingly agitated and anxious.

He got up to walk out.

He was stopped in his tracks in the aisle before he got out of the tent w/ these words from Billy Graham.

“Life’s problems cannot be solved w/out Jesus Christ.”

He froze. The HS was at work. He turned around and returned to his seat and later went forward to accept Jesus as His Savior believing in everything this little Xmas baby came to be and do.

That was his manger moment.

He went home that night w/ his wife and he quit drinking cold turkey never to touch a drop ever again.

And, that night, the nightmares stopped never to return.

The story goes on that he returned to the POW camp and confronted all the guards but one and was able to forgive them b/c he had experienced the forgiveness of Jesus.

He knew by hanging on to his grudge it would have killed more than his marriage.

At his manger moment, the course of Louis Zamperini’s history changed.

This little baby did not change his circumstances that were well out of his control.

This little baby who grew up to be our Savior changed Louis Zamperini from the inside out allowing him t/b able to deal w/ his circumstances.

Life’s problems cannot be solved w/out Jesus Christ.

We can try. but they are never fixed nor resolved. They are only masked.

This is a very COVID Christmas, and whatever problems and issues you face, whether related to the virus or not, the baby in this manger can help you resolve them.

Even if it’s a problem created by 2 ancient horses’ rear ends; stand in front of this manger and realized not only did Jesus change the course of history, he will change the course of your history, lead you to fix the problems you face by changing how you see them.

Tonight we celebrate the story of an ancient event, ancient decisions that changed the course of history and empower us to face and fix life’s problems.

That might be the best gift you can give yourself and your family this Xmas.

Have your own manger-moment and let Jesus change the course of your life.