Several
weeks back I ran into an old acquaintance that used to work on my motorcycle. Like so many people these days he works
multiple jobs. But to my dismay, he no
longer works on motorcycles.
As
we caught up, I told him that my bike hadn’t been cranked in almost three
years. He gave me a look that made me
feel like I had let him down. But, he
gave me a few technical tips to get it started.
I questioned whether it would be that easy and he responded enthusiastically,
“Man, you have to have faith.”
Now,
I know it takes more than faith to get an 36 year-old scooter cranked after it
has set up for several years. But, I
also knew that there are a multitude of folks who have successfully dealt with
the same issue. Ed made it sound so easy
that even someone with minimal mechanical talent (like me) could get it
running. His faith was definitely stronger than mine.
So
I broke down last week and dropped a hundred bucks for a battery (whatever happened
to the $39 ones?). I pulled the
sparkplugs and cleaned them before taking the cover off the carburetor. I run an S&S
Super E which many, including myself, consider to be one of the best
motorcycle carbs. It is simple (in
carburetor terms) and requires little maintenance. I hit it with a shot of starting spray and it
fired right up, only to die quickly.
Pretty simple diagnosis – no fuel to the carburetor.
To be on
the safe side, I watched a YouTube video on how to drop the float bowl (four
screws) to make sure no springs or pins would fly out. It came off pretty easily and I cleaned it thoroughly
with a can of carburetor spray. It went
back in place without a hitch. Since the
gas was old, I drained the tanks and added new gas.
To
my surprise, the engine fired up the first time I hit the starter button. I rode
it out the drive and it actually ran well.
The only issue was very poor braking.
I suppose that is another repair for another day.
The
term faith is one we throw around with a variety of usages, sometimes rather loosely. Faith is a strong word with even stronger implications. When Ed told me, “You have to have faith” he
charged me with a powerful challenge. In
the Bible, the writer of Hebrews defined faith as, “…the assurance of things
hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews
1). That chapter goes on to describe
a number of saints who exhibited great faith. But, while they exhibited faith, it wasn’t always easy or perfect.
In
the secular world, we have the same struggles.
It is difficult to have "the assurance of things hoped for and the
conviction of things" not seen with our boss.
Is she really looking out for my best interests? And what about politicians? Can we place our faith in them?
Faith
is foundational for Christians. If we
hold to the truth that God is sovereign, we have to accept, by faith, that
those in positions of authority are there by God’s will (Romans
13:1, Ephesians
6:5, Colossians
3:22). Faith helps us counter the anxieties of daily life (Matthew
6:25-34).
It
is easier to have faith when we hear of instances where the "things hoped for" actually took place. Ed told me what to
do to get my motorcycle running, a video showed me how to do the repair,
and I took actions steps to make it happen.
Now the scooter thumps like an old Harley should. Faith revealed…
 |
| 1977 Harley Davidson FLH |
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