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Man-made or God-made?

This morning on the radio, the announcer was talking about the display that we see in spring, the beauty of the trees and flowers as they bloom and leaf out. He compared it to what we see at Christmas, with the lights and decorations. The Christmas displays have to be put up so, without human effort, there would be nothing to see. On the other hand, what we see in the spring is from God, and doesn’t depend on human effort. The beauty of spring far surpasses that of Christmas.

I think the same thing is true in our lives. We try to please God by our own efforts, by trying harder to not sin, by doing more spiritual things, and by teaching others to do those things. So many times the result is something far less than beautiful. Sometimes it looks like a tacky artificial tree with the most fake looking ornaments, sometimes it looks simply ugly.

By contrast, we can recognize that it is only by the grace of a merciful Father that we have anything. Because God is merciful and loving, and because Jesus has died for us on the cross, we can rest in the fact that we are loved by the Creator of all things and are heirs along with Jesus. If we fall into that endless, amazing grace and let the Holy Spirit work in us and form us into the image of Christ, the result will be something beautiful and wondrous to behold. Like spring.

There is another thing to remember when other people don’t seem to “get it” like we do. In spring, the plants don’t all come out at the same time. Sometimes even plants of the same species are on a different schedule. So it is with God’s children. We are all growing, just at different rates. Back when I was a teenager (way back in the dark ages), there was a popular saying among Christians: “Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet”. We need to remember that.

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TGIF

Why does it seem like the week after a vacation takes forever to go by? At least it ‘s finally getting warm here in the sunny South.

Here are some of the interesting things I’ve seen this week:

Molly gives us a good reminder on how to treat those with whom we disagree.

AnneDroid convicted me of a need to check for residual bitterness.

Brant Hansen has a Bucket List for Christians.

imonk asks about “A Divine Protection Racket”

John tries to be still.

A Former Leader writes about worship songs come to life.

Grace throws her hat into the political ring.

Jeff McQuilkin is In-Between.

jonathanbrink reminds us that we are first human, and then breaks our hearts.

Brother Maynard made me laugh.

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Hands

This is something I wrote a little over a year ago. I thought of starting a “Best of” series like some other bloggers have, but I realized that “best of” would be a bit if an oxymoron for what I write. And anyway, imonk doesn’t read my blog so… 🙂

Nickel Creek has a song titled “The Hand Song”. The words are challenging.

The boy only wanted to give Mother something
And all of her roses had bloomed
Looking at her as he came rushing in with them
Knowing her roses were doomed
All she could see were some thorns buried deep
And the tears that he cried as she tended his wounds

And she knew it was love
It was one she could understand
He as showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands

He still remembers that night as a child
On his mother’s knee
She held him close and she opened her Bible
And quietly started to read
And seeing a picture of Jesus he cried out
“Momma, he’s got some scars just like me.”

And he knew it was love
It was one he could understand
He was showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands

Now the boy’s grown and moved out on his own
When Uncle Sam comes along
A foreign affair, but our young men were there
And luck had his number drawn
It wasn’t that long till our hero was gone
He gave to a friend what he learned at the cross

But they knew it was love
It was one they could understand
He was showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands

How willing are we to do whatever it takes to show our love? We who have learned at the cross – do we give to others what we have learned?

Are we even willing to get our hands dirty, let alone hurt them to show the same love that Jesus showed us on the cross?

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Tax Rebate

If you’re wondering what to do with your share of the “economic stimulus package”, check this out.

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Rare Post

I normally don’t get too involved in political stuff, but I saw this and thought it was pretty significant, given the state of the primaries at this point. Look for the April 1 post titled “Hitchens v Hillary”.

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Lesson in Grace

It is so true that, when we least expect it, God brings things our way to teach us. Last Friday, I had a run-in with a boy in my class. He is a Christian and is not afraid to let everyone know it. He can also be a behavior problem at times. His attitude toward school and authority is not what you would call good, and occasionally we will clash.

He came into class griping about something, and was some what disrespectful to the teacher I work with. After listening for a bit, I had had enough. I said, “If you’re going to act the way you do, and have that kind of attitude, just stop calling yourself a Christian.”

Last night, God told me that I needed to apologize for my self righteous arrogance. I came in this morning and called the student aside and apologized to him. Somehow, in the middle of my apology, I got the brilliant idea that this was an opportunity to teach this young man about grace. Instead, he reached out his hand and said, “That’s okay, I know we all have problems and things God is working on us about. I know I’ve got anger issues, and I’m trying to deal with it.” Then he shook my hand and went to class. Then God reached out and lightly smacked me on the back of the head. I realized that I was the one who needed to learn the lesson about grace. In effect, what the student had said to me is, “It’s okay, we’re all broken in some way. But you’re my brother so I love you”.

That’s what God says to us. “I know you’re not perfect, and you’re going to screw up. But you’re my child and I love you”. “My grace is big enough to cover everything”.

Because God has given us the gift of his unending grace, we need to extend that same grace to those we come in contact with. Because we’re all broken and we all need grace, both from God and from each other.

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Good Weekend

This has been a very good weekend for my family and me. On Friday, we went to an interaith Stations of the Cross service. Saturday was the night for the Easter vigil at an Episcopal church our son attends. This morning found us at a sunrise service at the Associated Reformed Presbyterian church my father-in-law goes to. Later, we went to a PCA church for their Easter service. It is good to see how different traditions celebrate our Lord’s resurrection, and it gives me an appreciation of the diversity of the Body.

A common theme through all the celebrations, especially Sunday’s was that the resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything. No longer do we have to live in fear. Christ has conquered death and hell. He has given us life. We no longer have to live for self. Christ has broken the bonds of sin, the pride that says I am better than others and can earn my favor with God. We are free and able to love others as Jesus has loved us, and we now live through the endless grace of God.

Because Christ is risen, he tells us to go and tell others that the King has come. He has established and is establishing his Kingdom. It is a Kingdom built on love and sacrifice, not power and oppression, a Kingdom built on peace, not conflict.

Christ is risen! Go and tell the story.

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Waiting

“How could this happen? How could we have been so wrong?”
“We believed the kingdom was going to be restored and those pagan dogs sent back to Rome where they belong. But this ‘messiah’ turned out to be just like all the others.”
“Now here we are hiding from the priests and the Romans.”
“Why didn’t we fight back? What kind of wimps are we?”
“Fight back? Did you see how many men they had? Besides, Peter tried and he told him to put the sword away!”
“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but as soon as all this mess dies down, I’m going back up to Galilee.”
“Me too. Back to the old life. When the only thing we had to worry about was catching fish and fixing nets.”
“Yeah. It’s been an interesting three years, but I’m through with messiahs and kingdoms. Just give me my boat out on the water. As soon as I can, I’m getting out of here.”
And so, they waited.

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Good Friday

This evening, we went downtown for a Stations of the Cross service. I was privileged to help carry the cross to one of the stations. It gave me just a minuscule taste of what my Savior went through.

While we were at one of the stations, a transit bus pulled away from a stop and drowned out part of what was being said. I thought how for most people in our town, life was going on as usual tonight. I imagine that on the day that Jesus was crucified, life went on as usual for many of the people in Jerusalem. The religious leaders had a day that was out of the ordinary, as did the followers of Jesus. I would guess that most of the folks in the city went about the usual preparations for the Sabbath. The darkness and earthquake threw a bit of a scare into them, but it may have been a minor inconvenience.

How many of us are like that? Sure, we believe that Jesus died to save us, that his blood cleanses us from sin. We are thankful for that, we sing songs about how much we love him and we “Amen” sermons about the cross. But we go on and live our lives as if nothing significant happened, and life goes on as usual. What difference has the cross made? Is it really important, or is it just something that defines our religious system as different from others?

Jesus didn’t die on the cross just to buy us a ticket to heaven. His sacrifice was not so we could use the cross to prove that we are better than others. Jesus suffered and died so that we who were dead could live. He died to make us children of God. His death takes away all our sin and our guilt so we no longer have to live in fear. We are free because of the cross.

Jesus’ death also serves as the example of the way we should love others. He said that the greatest love was to lay down your life for your friends, and then he laid his life down for us. Jesus also gave a command that we love others in the same way that he loved us. He said that our love would prove to others that we belong to him.

Do we live in a manner that puts others first? Are we known for our love and sacrifice, or are we known for the things we are against? Is our life characterized by simplicity and generosity or are we wrapped up in the pursuit of the American Dream?

Has the cross made a difference in our lives? Is it continuing to make a difference?

Or is life going on as usual?