"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." -Matthew 5:8
"Sweeter than wine. Softer than a summer night. Everything I wanted whenever I hold you tight" -This Magic Moment, Jay and the Americans (Matthew's most recent Song of the Day)
The Fourth of July is a big day in this country. There are fireworks and barbecues and apple pies. Heck, there is even an nationally televised HOT DOG EATING CONTEST! If that doesn't qualify as a worthwhile holiday, I'm not sure what does.
But there is an even more important reason for celebration each Independence Day: it is Matthew Drumright's birthday! And this year, my good friend Matthew turned the big 3-0! And it wouldn't be right for me to mention Matt's age without reminding him that he is becoming an old, old man.
If you don't mind, I'd like to tell you a little bit about my friend Matthew.
First of all, you should that Matthew has an Olympic medal in bowling. That's right, he went to Beijing the last Olympic cycle and won a medal that's heavier than I expect a normal man's neck could sustain. But not Matthew's.
He's also the only high school defensive tackle coach in the state of Tennessee, or so he says. He started his career at Brentwood High School as a student equipment manager, and while he still holds that title (not the student part) he has been upgraded into the coaching ranks. And let me tell you, there's no one who works harder in the BHS football organization or smiles as big when the team wins. Heck, he smiles big when the team loses. He's the rare coach who understands there are things bigger than the game.
You might think that being an Olympian and football manager means he's got no artistic side. You'd be wrong. Matt is a photographer. And not just one of those "I have a cell phone and Instagram and look how cool these pics of gum on the sidewalk with a black and white filter look" photographers. No, he is a real photographer. So good in fact, that he's had a photograph displayed in the SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE!! Yeah, he's a big deal.
As if this weren't enough, he is the single greatest grocery bagger in the history of Publix Shopping Centers. How many times have you been through the line buying your groceries only to have someone waiting at the end of the line who seems to think the only thing more miserable than bagging your milk might be watching the thirteenth straight re-run of Dumb and Dumberer? But not Matt. Nope, he makes picking up your groceries more enjoyable than a day walking through the Magic Kingdom at Disneyland.
Let me tell you why these accomplishments only begin to tell the story of how incredible my friend Matthew is. Because above all of these accolades and in spite of them, he remains the most humble person I've ever known. We speak of people with a lot of superlatives ("He's the kindest person I know" or "She's got the sweetest smile"), but in Matthew's case they are true.
I've never known someone as kind or caring as Matt. There is no person he's met who could possibly have a bad thing to say about Matt, mostly because he's never said a bad word about anybody else. It's a rare person who can see the best in people, whether a lifelong friend or a brand new acquaintance. His smile and laughter light up a room and his life is a blessing to EVERY person he meets.
Matt also has trisomy 21, otherwise known as Down syndrome. It is impossible to see Matthew and that not to be the first thing you notice. But for such an obvious trait, it's about the last thing I think about when I think of Matthew after all these years. Why? Because his life is defined by all the things he is, and not what he isn't. And what he is is love and joy and peace and patience and kindness. His life is defined by boundless fruits born out of a faith so sincere and rooted that it seems almost impossible.
Matthew is so in love with Jesus that anything other than loving everyone he meets would seem out of rhythm.
Jesus spent a lot of time with people who were a little bit not quite _______ enough. His fisherman friends weren't smart enough to follow a rabbi. His leper friends weren't clean enough to live inside the city walls. His prostitute friends weren't holy enough to eat at the Pharisee's table. His tax collector friends weren't righteous enough to host him for dinner. Yet Jesus invited them all in anyways.
If you ever met Matthew, you might be inclined to overlook him. You might be inclined to think of him as just another. But there is nothing just about Matthew, because the Jesus he knows doesn't live in the world of just, he lives in the world of overflowing. And the love of Jesus overflows into every person Matthew meets.
We are all different, yet the very first chapter of the bible makes an outrageous claim. "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness," God says. I know this is true, because God has left his fingerprint on my heart through Matthew's touch. It's probably why I'm crying writing this in the middle of this coffee shop in Fort Worth.
It's rare for someone to live in such a way that God's light shines through everything he does. But that's who Matt is. It's rare for anyone to have passion bursting through his every breath, but Matthew does. It's rare for someone to impact the lives of a few, let alone an entire community, but Matthew has. It may be tempting to look at Matthew and see the "least of these." But don't let him fool you, he is the greatest of these, and for his smile I will never be able to express my love.
May we all take the gifts God has given us, and the passions and the light, and move them into the rhythm of God's story. And may we let Matthew's example guide us.
Happy birthday Old Man. You are the greatest man I know!
forever unfinished...
