Psalm 51:12-17 - "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."
As Christians, most of us sooner or later become fed up with the theology, with not hearing from God, or just this machine called Christianity. Some of us, like Donald Miller, think it has become too showy...too much like someone is trying to sell us something that is incredibly broken. Others of us just slip into a a state of not caring about stuff that we know deep down we care about. My own struggle came when I was going through what some have deemed "the dark night of the soul." Have you ever been there? This was a time in my own life when God seemed so distant, so silent, that the loneliness and suffering was almost unbearable. To be honest, I hated God for so long. He had allowed things to take place that, in my opinion, made him not real. I am glad to say that I am not here any longer.
Through the work of his spirit and the the caring of friends, God granted me forgiveness in a way that I could not imagine and gave me back the joy that only he can give. I have a passion for my relationship with God and feel his presence guiding my footsteps. Because I am an analytical being, I have often wondered why God puts his children through their own personal "hells." The only answer I have come up with is that he wants to drive us to the very end of ourselves so that we realize our utter dependence on him. To be honest, he has to kill us before he came make us new. C.S. Lewis speaking from Christ's perspective puts it this way "Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthy life , whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it costs me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect - until my father can say without reservation that he is well pleased with you, as he said he is well pleased with me. This I can do and will do. But I will not do anything less." (Mere Christianity)
True worship and devotion to God is allowing him to do his work that is so painful in our lives, and then, just when we think he can't prune anything else out of our lives, praising and trusting him as we give the last little piece of our identity over to him. Usually, well...at least in my case this took a brokenness in my life from sin and from my life falling a part, but praise God that he carried me through this. He has given me so much freedom and so much responsibility, and has granted me such mercy.
I would love to tell you that this process was over. I would love to tell you that I am in heaven and God no longer is at war with me over my soul, but this is not the case. One of the starkest realizations that I have had is that the process of God breaking me and rethrowing me back onto his potter's wheel will never be over until I meet him face to face...and you know what? That is okay. My soul is ready, my heart is willing, though I need God's grace because my flesh is weak. This is a never ending process, restoration of joy and brokenness. Love and sacrifice. Dying to find true life. May we never forget to praise God for his love and sovereign will as he guides us through this journey called life.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Hot Coals and Chapped Lips in America
"'Woe to me! I cried. "I am ruined. For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." - Isaiah 6:5
This text was penned by Isaiah in a great time of political upheaval. It strikes me that in a time of uncertainty, God granted to Isaiah this vision which speaks volumes to us today. After staring into the face of the Almighty, Isaiah became all to aware of the darkness in his life and the darkness of the people with whom he dwelled. As I look around the current situations in America, whether it be the great financial crisis, the dissolution of the nuclear family, or the jockeying of politicians in Washington, I am forced to confront the fact that we are a people of unclean lips. I...am a person of unclean lips. Knowing this to be inherently wrong, like Isaiah sometimes the overwhelming sinfulness of this world can be quite exasperating. What should we do? How do we change? In Isaiah's own story a Seraph touches a hot coal to his mouth and says "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and you sin atoned for." This little hot lump of coal seared the sin out of Isaiah's life. The lump of coal that seared the sin out of our lives was also straight from the altar, and his name was Jesus. If we are redeemed, then what we must do is like Isaiah. We must proclaim that we are ready to go and say what needs to be said, even when it is unpopular. Our message though it can be expressed in a few simple terms is the most revolutionary political platform to have ever been conceived. Love, forgiveness, justice, patience, dying to self, doing to the least of these, Christ are all aspects that make up the gospel. This is what our people need to hear, even if it offends them. I am no longer willing to tolerate simply blaming government for all of our problems. Our problems have come from the fact that all of us, from the crack house to the Senate House, to the House of Representatives, to the White House, and to my house are all unclean. We need to touch the coal of God's Word to our mouths again and speak truth to God's people again, but it takes more than speaking. We must carry the fire from the altar into every place where people dwell. Yes, this means we may have to deal with the poor, the discarded, the people in society that politicans talk so much about and yet so often rarely ever meet, but that is our mission. God never said to Isaiah, ohhh this will be so easy and you will always hang around with people just like you. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Christ went so far as to say that first we must die, then we must serve those least in the eyes of the people with the most. Maybe if we are doing what we are supposed to be doing, some of the desperation and utter dependence on God that those without will rub off on us. Maybe we can get a little desperate. Maybe, with God's help, we can turn a generation of spoiled and comfortable Christians with unclean lips into a people whose hearts burn with a zeal to become the people of God that He wants us to be. However, the long and the short of it is this: it all begins with YOU!!! What are you going to do or say today for your God? Are you willing to take the coal of the gospel to those around you? Are you willing to put your life on the altar?
This text was penned by Isaiah in a great time of political upheaval. It strikes me that in a time of uncertainty, God granted to Isaiah this vision which speaks volumes to us today. After staring into the face of the Almighty, Isaiah became all to aware of the darkness in his life and the darkness of the people with whom he dwelled. As I look around the current situations in America, whether it be the great financial crisis, the dissolution of the nuclear family, or the jockeying of politicians in Washington, I am forced to confront the fact that we are a people of unclean lips. I...am a person of unclean lips. Knowing this to be inherently wrong, like Isaiah sometimes the overwhelming sinfulness of this world can be quite exasperating. What should we do? How do we change? In Isaiah's own story a Seraph touches a hot coal to his mouth and says "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and you sin atoned for." This little hot lump of coal seared the sin out of Isaiah's life. The lump of coal that seared the sin out of our lives was also straight from the altar, and his name was Jesus. If we are redeemed, then what we must do is like Isaiah. We must proclaim that we are ready to go and say what needs to be said, even when it is unpopular. Our message though it can be expressed in a few simple terms is the most revolutionary political platform to have ever been conceived. Love, forgiveness, justice, patience, dying to self, doing to the least of these, Christ are all aspects that make up the gospel. This is what our people need to hear, even if it offends them. I am no longer willing to tolerate simply blaming government for all of our problems. Our problems have come from the fact that all of us, from the crack house to the Senate House, to the House of Representatives, to the White House, and to my house are all unclean. We need to touch the coal of God's Word to our mouths again and speak truth to God's people again, but it takes more than speaking. We must carry the fire from the altar into every place where people dwell. Yes, this means we may have to deal with the poor, the discarded, the people in society that politicans talk so much about and yet so often rarely ever meet, but that is our mission. God never said to Isaiah, ohhh this will be so easy and you will always hang around with people just like you. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Christ went so far as to say that first we must die, then we must serve those least in the eyes of the people with the most. Maybe if we are doing what we are supposed to be doing, some of the desperation and utter dependence on God that those without will rub off on us. Maybe we can get a little desperate. Maybe, with God's help, we can turn a generation of spoiled and comfortable Christians with unclean lips into a people whose hearts burn with a zeal to become the people of God that He wants us to be. However, the long and the short of it is this: it all begins with YOU!!! What are you going to do or say today for your God? Are you willing to take the coal of the gospel to those around you? Are you willing to put your life on the altar?
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