It's Mercy Over Blame

(Note: This is a devotional writing from the archives, first published February 23, 2011. Eventually, I hope to get all of them transferred to this blog.)

    Oh, the wonderful dichotomy of Christianity! The amazing power of paradox that opens our eyes and blinds those who say they can see. It’s crazy how two seemingly diametrically opposed ideas can prevail at the same time and both compete for the title of truth- and yet both already be Pilate’s answer. The Bible seems to be full of these. How God became a man and was fully a man, tempted in all the ways we are, yet was without sin! How was this possible? Because He was also fully God at the same time.
      The Jewish Shema tells us that there is one God. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) Yet Matthew 28:18-20 refers to God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit. There’s a Triune Godhead there. Don’t try to think on this too hard- our minds can’t take it all in. It’s kind of like thinking about it would be possible to have no sickness, death or pain or crying in Heaven and how we can just keep going on living forever and ever and ever, ad infinitum, in Heaven if we know Jesus as our Savior. It’s when I think on those kinds of thoughts too long that I fear my already strained brain might explode within my head not unlike a scene from “Scanners” (random retro reference to something I haven’t even seen- sorry, couldn’t resist.)- and at some point I have to shut down cerebral functions and switch to cereal functions (I can handle that a lot easier ;-))- and just trust that it’s all in God’s control and I like it. :-)
    There are other examples of course, but I mainly wanted to focus on one.
How does it work that God can possibly have forgiveness upon us and instead of doling out the punishment, judgment, condemnation, and pain and torture that we so much deserve – instead, He decides to shower us with blessings, blessings so rich with His grace and mercy that it totally envelopes us and when truly considered and taken in, at least to some degree that we can take it in, leaves us absolutely astounded, astonished and amazed- and silenced in front of the Holy God and His love that can only leave us speechless with wonder and praise.
     It’s really the simplest message ever but so incredibly profound in its mystery. Jesus loves me, this I know- for The Bible tells me so. God proved that- He demonstrated it for while we were yet sinners- while we were yet separated from God and while we were yet haters of God- Christ died for us. Not only did He die, but He rose again from the dead!
(Romans 5:6-8)
        How can I keep myself from singing? What more appropriate response is there other than to willingly, joyfully and rejoicingly take Jesus at His Word and confess Him as Lord, believe that God raised Him from the dead and experience His salvation? (Romans 10:9) What response should we have other than what 2 Peter 3 talks about- seek to be spotless and blameless before the Holy God- not out of a fear of not truly having His salvation and having to earn it. You don’t need to- He’s already given it to you for free! All the “good” we do is really nothing more than filthy rags in any case. (Isaiah 64:6) We can never do enough so just stop trying. And because God lovingly gave us salvation as a gift, there’s no need to pay Him back. Again- we can never do enough good things to pay Him back. We may feel like Wayne and Garth telling Alice Cooper, “We’re not worthy”- and yes, we’re not worthy at all. What is man that God should be mindful of us? After all, all we are is dust in the wind- and to dust we shall return. (Psalms 8 and others)
      And just like boys love to do, God likes to play in dirt- in Genesis 2 and John 8- and He made man and then played the first game of “Operation” and made Eve out of one of Adam’s ribs. (Although one wonders about the Adam’s apple- did that come after he got some of Eve’s apple and the veins in his neck started throbbing after got through warning Eve and all before he broke down and sinned too? Oh well- separate topic there, I guess.)
          Okay, I think the point I was trying to get to is that sometimes I feel like there gets to be an amount of bravado and bluster in the Christian church which just really has no place there whatsoever. Don’t you ever just get mad at these folks who seem like they’ve gotten it all together and they’re so on track with God? And with all the signs they claim they see and feeling the will of God for their lives or having God speak to them and all? Okay- maybe this is bad to feel like this sometimes- I don’t know. But I know I’ve gotten kinda mad sometimes and maybe it’s just jealousy or enviousnessy (or maybe even envy) – I don’t know. I kinda wonder if maybe it’s just people are thinking that they should be hearing from God if they’re truly a Christian and so any particular choice that is made must be the leading of God or maybe it just gets interpreted that way so that it’s easier to make reassurances for themselves that they feel God’s Spirit moving in their lives.
      And one thing I’ve concluded on this is this- Martha, Martha, why are you so worried about this? Mary has found the best thing and it won’t be taken from her. God speaks to different people in different ways- perhaps that includes audibly, perhaps that includes strong impressions on the heart or a peaceful easy feeling that lets you mount up on wings like eagles. Or maybe it’s a quiet voice in your head that says you should do this thing and you wind up debating it but eventually go do it and find yourself the better for doing so. I think maybe God speaks through our decisions informed by His Word, prayer and perhaps through a word from other Christians. And maybe when we come to make those decisions that we can later look back on and realize that we would never have made unless Jesus was directing us to do so- maybe that’s where we can see God speaking to us and directing our paths.
         And we just have to be careful to listen for The Spirit and not quench Him. And ultimately we read enough in The Bible and pray to God enough to know Him and His character better and know what He would have us do as He reveals things to us. And we shouldn’t begrudge or judge anyone on how they feel God communes with them and they commune with God (within the confines and context of Scripture of course)- if we are, maybe it’s coming out of a cry from our spiritual despondency and our need to be more built up in The Spirit and connecting with God better. Keep seeking God and you will find Him. (Jeremiah 29:11-13 and James 4:7).
        Okay- and that went a good ways off from what I was trying to say- but the point is that it really is mercy over blame when it comes down to how God judges us. When He sees the blood of Jesus that covers us, He passes over. Yes, He can come off sounding like The Punisher in The Old Testament and Mr. Rogers in The New Testament but we forget Ezekiel 18:24, Lamentations 3:22-33 and the Psalms and the book of Revelation that show that God is both in both places. (Another one of those paradoxes! Great Scott! Yeah, I know- this is heavy, Doc.) But it’s ultimately Jesus’ grace that gives us salvation through our faith in Christ! Now here comes the kicker- James says that if we’re going to say we have faith in Christ, we have to show our good works to back it up. But though the good deeds God prepared in advance for us to do help prove an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ- they never predicate it. They are a symbol in a way of what’s already happened. Good deeds are the fruit of the change in someone’s heart that Christ brings.
        And Jesus’ salvation through grace and faith frees us from God’s wrath because of Christ’s death and Resurrection. In gratitude for His amazing love and grace that is greater than all our sins- even though we keep messing up and falling back on Christ and desperately begging Him to remain Lord of our lives and ruling as Savior once more- and we work out our salvation with fear and trembling. But it’s really God working in us – so it is us, but it’s not really. It’s Christ in us and that’s what it comes down to you. Do you have Christ in you? If so, we realize that we are nothing without Him and so we don’t think highly of ourselves. Rather, we realize that we are not worthy to even unlace His Nikes and it’s Jesus who must increase and we who must decrease. As Matthew 5:3 reminds us- “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” Our intense sense of need keeps us very much dependent on God always and well aware of our spiritual poverty and spiritual richness that Jesus brings. So we should be all the more thankful and relieved and wrapped in love to fall on Jesus’ everlasting arms and His most wonderful kindness.
          A few things have hammered these points home to me recently- “The Ragamuffin Gospel” by Brennan Manning, “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan and Rich Mullins’ music. This is essentially what I shared about recently at an Upward basketball game, along with my personal testimony of putting faith in Jesus as a child and continually holding on to it and Him every day now. What a mighty God we serve! Praise God for His love!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5RWve3yD1o&feature=fvsr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNYtYRbH6aI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKFld_ZY9D0&feature=related
         I picked up a great VHS tape of one of Rich Mullins’ last ever concerts on video- it runs about 2 hours long and it’s incredible! I love it! Take a moment and look at the videos here, some of which are pulled from the video. It’s not just his songs that I love- though those are certainly incredible- but it’s the life of straining after God and seeking to please Him that I love. It’s how he was humble enough to be honest about his failings, and to admit his need for God so freely. And in such a freeing way to fling off the trappings of life and seek after God with such abandon that it’s infectious. He was a huge fan of St. Francis of Assisi and I admire both of them. Rich Mullins also had this habit of being on stage with a plain white T-shirt, jean shorts, unshaven face and barefoot. He also left a lot of his concerts while the audience was singing the Doxology, so that he slipped out of the spotlight and instead people were left focusing on worshipping God- as it should be.
         I know Rich Mullins was just a man too and certainly by no means perfect- he suffered with doubts and struggles of his own and felt free enough to share many of them on stage. And I love his efforts to reach out to Native American children and bring them music and more importantly, the love of Christ.
          I want to be an arrow pointing to Heaven like Rich did and continue to witness wherever I can.
          This gets into a bit of some personal sharing experiences here that I may just briefly mention. Suffice it to say that I did feel like God was leading me to talk with someone who I typically avoided and maybe even snubbed some on the inside though I never said anything. So I had to get down and talk with him- and when I did it turned out to be the brother of a student I had shared with before at my work. And it turned out to be a great opportunity to share the Gospel with the guy and to pray for him. It’s amazing the opportunities God brings to you when you are willing to obey Him and follow Him wherever He leads- even to the “creepy, weird dudes.” Maybe they’re not so creepy and weird. Like everyone else- they need to know the love of God. And we need to show it to them.
      Anyway- that’s all I have right now. I’ve completed some parodies lately and maybe I’ll post some soon enough. But this is pretty much what I wanted to share for right now. I’m just continuing to cling to Jesus and seek His will for my life and try to follow Him every day. And that’s all there really is to say- Jesus loves you and so do I. Keep being awesome and stay cool. And as Rich Mullins told us, be God’s. :-)