When Crickets Chirp

As a public speaker who usually gets billed as a humorist, it’s bound to happen every now and then. But I must say, that certainly doesn’t make it any easier. One of those events particularly sticks in my mind. I was animatedly delivering what I considered some of my most rip-roaring material when…it happened: nothing. A lot of nothing. Hardly a snicker. I think I may have heard crickets chirping. Kind of a slow death, speaker-wise. The Bible says that laughter is like medicine. I’m telling you, this crowd had to be the control group. Placebos for everyone!

It’s good for me to remember, though, that I can’t always tell what people are feeling on the inside. After that same event where I experienced the excessive and painful cricket-chirping, a lady came up to me with a completely lifeless face. Truly lifeless. I was hoping she wasn’t going to need CPR. Without an ounce of expression, she monotoned, “I have never laughed so hard in all my life.”

Here’s hoping we always look “alive” to the world. Know what ‘alive’ looks like? It looks like love. First John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.”

We have passed from death into life—heavy on the life! We need to pass it on. Others can’t see our redemption unless we live it out. And love it out.

It’s not a new message, but it’s one we need to hear often. We read in the same passage, “This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another,” (1 John 3:11). It’s a message clearly worth repeating: Love is vital. So, how do we know exactly what that kind of love is supposed to look like? The same chapter gives us that, too: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers…” (verse 16).

Real love sacrifices. The Jesus kind of love is a love that surrenders in humility. It’s a love that endures beyond the very worst offenses.

Here’s hoping that if I’m asked to lay aside my rights, my pride, even my very life for another, I’ll give the right response. No silence. No crickets chirping. Just love. If I’m honest, I’ll admit that there are times I’m not even willing to give up my parking spot for another. O Lord, help me to love as You do!

Showing sacrificial love is some of the best medicine for a world that doesn’t know the real joy Jesus gives. And that, my friends, is no placebo.

Rhonda Rhea is a radio personality with a recurring role on Focus on the Family’s Weekend Magazine radio program and a conference speaker for events all over the country. She is the wife of First Baptist Church of Troy, Missouri’s pastor, Richie Rhea, and mother of five, three in college and two more teens at home. She has authored several fun and fruitful books, including I’m Dreaming of Some White Chocolate and High Heels in High Places: Walking Worthy in Way Cute Shoes. Her newest release is The Purse-uit of Holiness—Learning to Imitate the Master Designer. Find out more and sign up for Rhonda’s e-newsletter at www.RhondaRhea.org.