Law vs. Grace … Pain vs. Healing

 

I’ll admit my mind is a jumble of thoughts as I type this. Between my Sunday morning study book by Rebecca McLaughlin (the second one of her's I’ve done), the message series at MRPC from Romans (Andy Lewis is doing an incredible job of unpacking it), and some personal challenges I’m working through, I have a lot to process. And that’s not a bad thing as it forces me to consider what is truly important and worthy of my attention.

Romans can be a confusing letter. Often, the ones attempting to lead others through it seem poorly equipped to do so. It can come off as harsh more often than not, as if Paul has a score to settle. At least that’s how I view it. So, I welcomed this series because I knew I’d get a fresh look at the letter and all it has to offer. Today was no exception as we delved into Romans 3. It built on last week, naturally, where we were told we can belong before we believe. The illustration given was that of circumcision. Apt portrayal of the idea to be sure, and it resonated (especially since it was communion Sunday).

Today’s teaching centered on verses I had memorized long ago. But the points made was that the absence of righteousness is often bound up in additional weight we willingly take on. The original Law was there to illustrate an “impossible standard” we couldn’t achieve. Instead of seeing that for what it is, we ended up piling on more rules that made things look even more difficult … or impossible. In doing so, we missed the point. The Law always points to Grace. The example used today was one of gifting you a luxury yacht. We’d have to sell it immediately to pay the taxes because we know we can’t afford it in any way (to own or operate). Yet Father God has gifted us the ultimate luxury we cannot afford through our Divine Brother. Then he goes further and pays the taxes, upkeep, and guarantees all future costs are covered. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Grace explained that way. We bring nothing, and that’s the way it needs to be.

Turning attention to the McLaughlin book (“Confronting Jesus”), the chapter today spoke to me more than usual. The author was candidly talking about a cancer scare intermingled with times Jesus performed healing and interacted with people. The focus of the chapter was that healing now isn’t promised. Pain now actually is. But we usually don’t like to hear that. In some attempt to make sense of the pain, perhaps we’ll pile on more rules and laws to explain things. But in doing so, we miss the point. This isn’t the end game … it never was. There is True Healing in the end. And there is a massive amount of Grace to get us through until we can experience that first hand.

I can tend to let my thoughts and imagination run wild if I don’t choose to focus on the right things. Grace and Healing are always the goal. Both are promised and available, but not usually on our terms. Paul knew that and, if you unpack Romans the right way, that’s what comes through. It’s worth considering in the midst of my struggle. I am accepted and belong while I grow my belief and understanding.

The Carmax God

For a great number of us, we ultimately want a relationship with God that looks more like a deal at Carmax than what, in reality, is far messier and unknown. If that doesn’t set easily with you, I’ll ask that you stick with me. If you “get where I’m going” I’ll ask the same thing … 

 I owe this post to Andy Lewis, the Senior Teaching Pastor at Mitchell Road Presbyterian Church (Greenville, SC). I “attend” there Sunday mornings as a regular practice and am blessed to sit under his teaching (as well as others who share that ministry). This came up a few weeks ago as part of his message where Abraham negotiated with God about the coming destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Most of you will be familiar with that passage, so I won’t go into the details. That story itself isn’t my point anyway, but it did get me to thinking.

There are multiple stories in our Bible where an individual interacts directly with God and intercedes (maybe even begs) for a different outcome than has been laid out. Abraham did it in this instance. Moses did it when God said he’d wipe out all the Israelites. David’s Psalms are full of this kind of dialog. Job (associated with my current Sunday morning book) went through it. Our Divine Older Brother himself searched for “a way out” at his darkest moment. None of them were ready to just sign the “Carmax deal” that offered one set of outcomes … take it or leave it … no negotiating, no questions. And no need to deal with any of that pesky “mystery” either.

That’s what struck me as Andy took us through this passage. Abraham didn’t presume God wouldn’t “change his mind” and proceeded to ask for that. He went to bat (primarily for his nephew Lot) and sought a different outcome than the deal on the table would indicate. He knew God wasn’t the “Carmax God” and acted accordingly. He was willing to embrace the mystery and mess of actually interacting with the Father. And he did it with full expectation that God would listen and may actually change.

And please don’t hear what I’m not saying … you won’t find me in the “just pray harder” camp nor will I bow to the “it’s all in God’s hands/will” crowd. Both of those are non-biblical interpretations that either put too much on us or make us more like robots. Again, look at what Jesus did in the Garden where he clearly asked for something different but accepted that ultimately God would work the best “good” out of it all. If you go back to the beginning of this blog and understand why my late brother Mike called it “the Crooked Path”, you’ll probably get my perspective a bit better.

One more thought from Andy this morning that really prompted me to write this down. The message came from 1 Peter (part of a brief series) and the point that really struck me was that Jesus already took on the full weight of Death so that we would only have to pass through the shadow of death. That just reinforced what I read in Keller’s book today. It doesn’t absolve us from engaging God, but it does give us a calm assurance that the winning is already done, even while still shrouded in mystery.

Jonah and Imago Dei for 2020

So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” (Jonah 1:6, ESV)

Wait a minute ... a single verse from the story of Jonah is what we get for a concept as big as "Imago Dei"? Not the verses from Genesis about creation? Just this one? Has the Crooked Path traveler fallen and hit his head? Fair questions (if you are even thinking along those lines), but the parallels are direct and clear when you add the context today that prompted this particular post. Here's how we got to this point ...

My pastor is currently taking us on a tour through Jonah and we're in the first chapter of the story. I've studied the story many times and even taught on it. The context and original setting are fascinating as they highlight a Jewish literary genre known as the "listening circle" (credit to the late Dr. Jim Grier - I really wish I could find the tapes from decades ago). In that setting, the Jewish listener was expected to interact with the teller, hissing and booing at any person outside their circle and cheering the would-be hero that was Jonah their prophet. But the whole story flips almost instantly as most of us know and becomes a stark illustration of a man who knew better running from a God who has given him a direct task.

Fast forward to the boat in the severe storm and this rebuke from the captain. He shouts at Jonah to wake him up and essentially echoes God's original call to Jonah which asks, in more modern terms, "Who is your neighbor? Don't you have any concern for anyone but yourself?" And we all know Jonah's answer from the time God called all the way through his pouting and sulking above the city of Nineveh when God didn't rain down a nuclear holocaust on it.

Jonah repeatedly answers he only sees his neighbor as "his own people - the Jews" and anyone else is outside of that circle, they are "other". He's put himself in a very bad position when you think about his job as a prophet and the fact that God specifically asked him to rise above his own prejudice and definition of a neighbor. Consider Jesus' thoughts on this in the story of the Good Samaritan who most certainly was a cultural "other" in that day. How did that play out with a 1st century Jewish audience?


Oh how far we've come ... we view all this stuff we're seeing as "sad thing, but not my problem since it isn't impacting me specifically or directly". That's the Enemy slipping in to denigrate Imago Dei (click that link for a bit of an academic, but solid definition) in every single person around me. That's one of the biggest lies impacting us today. We've lost any sense of compassionate empathy for others ... and God weeps at that loss every bit as much as for those who have not come to realize their own heart bears his image.

The Crooked Path is not a solitary one by any means. It was never meant to be. God designed us for community with himself and with others. One of our intended callings is to reach across to the "others" we find so we can help them see Imago Dei in themselves and be a part in leading them to a life that is worthy of that image, one that looks like something other than death or a dead end. It's becoming an increasing challenge to me as I navigate today's life and headlines. Maybe you are seeing something similar.

Imago Dei in 2020 is still God's thumbprint on the human soul. That makes LIFE matter and should lead me to consider when any particular segment of lives is oppressed, I need to stand up and call that out. It's not applying some special treatment ... it's honoring Imago Dei in those who far too many play they Jonah card on and treat them as something less than they are.

The One Thing

"And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.' So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, 'He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.' And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, 'Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.' And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 

'For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.'" (Luke 19:5-10, ESV)

One of the best lines from the Billy Crystal movie City Slickers is where the grizzled trail boss Curly tells Crystal's character that live boils down to "one thing" and that it's up to him to find what that is for himself. It's meant to be a life lesson in the midst of a comedy and the point eventually is driven home during the movie.

When Jesus calls Zacchaeus down from the sycamore tree, he sits down with him and, in the middle of the drama around them, lays out his own simple "one thing" - to get back the family God created. That is the clear, unequivocal reason Jesus took on human form and did what he was about to do in the next couple chapters of Luke's account.

I wrote about this several years ago using three "R's" (because that's what a preacher's kid strives to do, right?). I laid out the eternal plan for a Rescue, a Redemption, and a Restoration in that post. I was reminded of it when I heard this passage in Luke and checked the notes I had taken at some point. I've referred to "two hinges" of Jesus' birth and death as vital to "setting the door" so he could ultimately kick it wide open at the resurrection. All of this is a part of the "one thing" plan - to seek out and save what God lost.

I find the marvelous simplicity of this to be overwhelming at times. While my Crooked Path may be littered with my attempts at finding my purpose, I am, led by a Father and accompanied by a Divine Brother who never waver from their goal. They sought me out so they could bring me back. I am the living example of their One Thing.

Life On The "Dash"

"How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog — it’s here a little while, then it’s gone."

(James 4:12, NLT)

I filled in the final date on that image today. We'd been waiting for "that call" since last weekend and it finally came. 92+ years seems like a long "dash" when you consider it from a mortal perspective. She lost her husband over 33 years ago. She's watched two sons die before her. There were nine of us kids in total, 19 grand kids (plus a couple that never saw life on Earth), and the fourth generation (and beyond) gets hard to count.

Yet, in the bigger perspective of things, those years are like the morning fog James described. And now Mom is experiencing eternity, drawing fresh, full breaths in an already renewed body. She left what we think of as life this morning, and is now at the beginning of LIFE!

And, yes, I firmly believe she has seen Dad for the first time in three decades. I'd say there's pretty clear indication of that type of reunion. While we may like to project what that looked like, embracing my brothers Mike and Steve in their whole state, I also wrote about that another time and don't believe she really has any thought for what she left behind. They are all just a little awed to be in the Presence together. It's what we hope for, isn't it?

I was out on errands today twice and saw two reminders of the cyclical nature of things. The first, before Mom died, was the wheat fields. They are starting to turn. They've got tracks in them from that tall, skinny-wheeled tractor. It won't be long until the combines sweep through followed by the rectangle balers.

The second was round hay bales. There's just something about them that makes me smile. And they appear almost as if by magic, marking each cutting cycle of the local hay. I even saw one crew offloading them from a trailer, but many more sit in the field where just a few days ago the hay lay cut and flattened on the ground. Such is the cycle of things where I live. I actually got to see them made in the field behind us one year - very fun to watch.

Mom left her Crooked Path life on the dash when she stamped May 16, 2020 on the right side of it. I'm sure it now seems like a fleeting memory given what she's experiencing. For my siblings, my family, and I - we continue on our own dashes. And they are Crooked, though they may look straight at first. That's how God intends life to happen. And today, he took another permanent resident to their final Home. I'm sad, but I'm okay with that. And it's giving me pause to think about life again - a fleeting life "on the dash" that is a gift given for me to use.

I love you, Mom. Glad you are finally Home.

Able and Willing

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. 

(Jude vv. 24-25, ESV)

I heard this verse a week ago as the focal text of the weekly message. As I read along, a couple of thoughts came to me and I wanted to capture them as part of a blog post.

First, the text says "able" and that's all well and good. But there is an underlying and implied "willing" that is also essential. That's why I threw together the graphic I used to introduce this post. You see, if God is only "able" but isn't "willing", that puts him in the category of a tyrant or despot ... or perhaps a puppet master. Frankly, that runs contrary to everything we've read and learned about him.

Similarly, being "willing" but not "able" puts us in the hands of a merely wishful God who really wants to do something for and with us, but he's just not up to the task. He'd do it if he could, but he's not able to.

So that wonderful, somewhat mystical combination of "able and willing" really strikes at the heart of the matter. That's the type of God I want to choose to put my trust and hope in. And make no mistake, it is still a choice.

The other word that caught my attention is "blameless". That's a very powerful word. In choosing to accept and embrace what God is able and willing to do, I am now presented, as the NLT renders it, "without a single fault". The connotation here is the same as a completely flawless diamond - no blemish intern or external, perfect in color, cut, and quality. That's the promise - the very essence - of Jesus' finished work in the New Covenant.

The Crooked Path is filled with twists and turns, trials and tribulations. But when I focus on what God is able and willing to do for me, I know the temporary challenges can be endured because there is something far better in store for me. That's the kind of hope and assurance I need during these current difficult times and every day.

Plan B?

Actually, it's a bit of an intentionally "trick" question. What prompted it is thinking about the situation we're all facing (same storm/different boats) and something I saw talking about that old topic - God's Sovereignty. So no out-of-context verse on this one today (nope, not even about "plans" from Jeremiah). Just my thoughts that I've gathered through the years.

First, let's get one thing straight. I still believe God sees and knows all. I realize some who knew me in the past (like 40+ years ago) may think I've gone off the deep end where my belief system is concerned. That's not for a big, public discussion but I'd be happy to entertain some individual chats about it (Zoom away!)

This is about what I used to hear (and subscribed to) about "perfect will vs. permissive will". Essentially, that's a Plan A with a Plan B contingency. As I now understand it, that's a fictional invention of people who try to explain away problems and challenges they just can't comprehend. But to me, that's the point - some of them are incomprehensible to begin with. And I'm fine with that.

It comes down to my belief that God is God and I'm not privy to everything he knows, does, or sees. Rather than a continuum of time, I view it as a circle with God in the center, present at every point in what we experience as "time" and cognizant of it all. From that position - and that's where he's always been - he enacts his Great Story that begins with his first gift to us of Free Will. Our choices, while they impact our lives, don't change him, his perspective, or his Great Story of Redemption. He doesn't force us, or demand from us. Instead, he's there in the midst of our choices and the resulting consequences.

I see our current situation from the same perspective. Yes, we're in the midst of a terrible battle against a disease. People are dying and more will. People will have financial and emotional challenges. Many will play the "if only we had ..." game and drive themselves to frustration. But while, in general, "hope is not a strategy" I can say with a calm assurance that Hope is still present because I base it in the one who is at the center. And he's not a weak God waiting on our choice so he can alter his plan. There is no "Plan B". In the great mystery that is God, it was always Plan A - the Great Story of Redemption.

May you find some comfort in the Hope that God's Sovereignty isn't some manipulative or weak attribute. No, it's strong, it's mysterious beyond our imagination, and it is the foundation of Hope in a difficult time I think of as the Crooked Path.