Radically, Comprehensively New

What does it mean to radically, comprehensively cut ties with who you used to be? 

Have you ever thought about that? A woman might marry, taking the name of her husband. Her social security card, her driver's license, everything right down to her auto club membership are altered to reflect the change of her name. But she maintains all those things she had prior to marriage --her family and friends, the clothing she wore, her job or her degree. Her identity does not change though her identification has. A person might join the military --a significant life change there. Property of the United States Government. They will undergo training that will alter the way they function, the things they know to do, even the way they care for their bodies. Nevertheless, they have not necessarily removed every trace of who they once were, nor have they completely severed all ties with their past identity. As Christians, do we know what it means to turn away utterly, unapologetically, eternally from who we used to be? 

To even begin to understand the totality of it, I have to look to a young man living with us. He came to us with a carload of possessions, the remnants of a past composed of many houses, actors, neighborhoods, methods, goals, and means. It was a hodgepodge of a life, and he was adding to it more components: a new address, new parents, a new school, a new neighborhood -- even the sounds and smells he would encounter in our home would be different from those with which he'd lived before. He was asked to sleep in a place he'd never seen much less slept, eat with people he'd never met, be a part of a family into which he'd not been born, succeed at a school the likes of which he'd never attended, obey adults who'd not even been given an opportunity to gain his trust --adults he wasn't the least bit sure were trustworthy. Eventually he'd be assigned "new parents"-- How does one even process the thought of that? --and be given an opportunity to take their name. Legally, he would be one of us. But what would his feelings tell him? He is willing to find out. Is this bravery? foolishness? or hope?

When I heard the Gospel presented in childhood, the fear of hell had me scribbling my name on the dotted line. As I got older, I struggled with doing all of those things "good Christians" do: the want to just wasn't there. At forty, I prayed Jesus would give me the willingness to love Him as I should. I didn't say Amen and immediately turn to God's Word with zeal and understanding; I'm not even sure I prayed later that day or even the next. I didn't change my weekend plans from barhopping to church attendance or my cussing to speaking in tongues. But the Holy Spirit placed that desire in me and gradually He is transforming me, radically and comprehensively cutting ties with who I used to be; gradually, the desire to love Jesus more and more is surpassing the desire to hold onto those parts of me --unhelpful or ungodly as they are --I have grown to depend on or cherish. What will happen if I defer to this person? But this is who I am! 

2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. We are made new, not just different, because of the hope we have in Jesus. We have a clean slate, an open road to all life --eternal life which is more of a quality than a quantity --presents us, endless possibilities in service to our King, and freedom beyond measure through Truth. We can pack our bags, move to a new place with new sounds and smells, walk away from everything we have known in the past, sleep with greater security on a pillow of stone than we did on the finest down, become new with the assurance that that which we leave behind will one day seem utter foolishness, drudgery, and emptiness to us. We can serve others generously and forgive immediately, do the things we would have never risked doing before. Because of the hope we have in the One who went before us --living as a man, dying unjustly at the hands of His own people, coming forth from the grave, and sitting enthroned in Heaven --we will become new. Only the hope of Jesus can incubate and bring to fruition the kind of radical, comprehensive transformation that cuts all ties with who we were in the past and develops in us a new identity for all eternity. 

Midweek: Make My Life a Prayer to You

Late last year I began posting midweek the works of other authors. Today, I'd like to share the work of a singer/ songwriter and teacher who, in his short time on earth, made quite a lasting impression. In fact, I'm pretty sure if I checked my journal from January 2023, I'd find that this song by Keith Green was how I started my year. My prayer is still the same:

Make my life a prayer to You

I wanna do what You want me to

No empty words and no white lies

No token prayers, no compromise

I wanna shine the light You gave

Through Your Son You sent to save us

From ourselves and our despair

It comforts me to know

You're really there

Well, I wanna thank Ya now

For being patient with me

Oh, it's so hard to see

When my eyes are on me

I guess I'll have to trust

And just believe what You say

Oh, You're coming again

You're coming to take me away

I wanna die and let You give

Your life to me so I might live

And share the hope Ya gave to me, the love that set me free

I wanna tell the world out there

You're not some fable or fairy tale

That I've made up inside my head

You're God, the Son, You've risen from the dead

~ Keith Green

Make My Life a Prayer to You

Photo courtesy LuAnn Martin

The Industry of Silence

Texting, or some variation thereof, has become an integral part of our lives. It's how we stay in touch. A simple reminder to buy paper towels, a quick question about tomorrow's meeting, maybe just an emoji to let someone know you're thinking of them. God has spoken to humanity for ages. Hebrews 1:1-2 tells us:

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;   

And what a message He sent! It's a message, I think, we tend to take for granted: God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son so that anyone who believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

In earliest times, God spoke directly to His people. Eventually, He called out priests, prophets, and judges through whom He revealed His character and His plan for mankind. The laws, celebrations, and symbols they stewarded established the people's knowledge of God. Then, 400 years of silence. No prophets, no new revelation.

In the passage above, Hebrews 1, the second verse tells us God's means of communication changed significantly after that time of silence. God, who had spoken before through other men, in these last days spoke through His very own Son. Jesus' birth, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension, and the very beginnings of the Church communicated a message of love so great He would give His all, and we would be invited to imitate Him in that. This was the culmination and continuation of God's plan of forgiveness and restoration of relationship. It, too, is the assurance that there is great gain even in suffering --one of the paradoxes of the Christian life.

Another paradox is the industry of silence. I keep a small card nestled in my Bible, right between the Tanakh and the New Testament. It reminds me of those years of silence. Though God was not speaking during those four hundred years, He had not forgotten or forsaken His people. He was working, establishing all of world history and preparing hearts to make ready for the Light of the world to be born. Those who loved Him, who remained faithful, who trusted that though He was silent He was not idle, did not hear His voice either. They had no assurance God was still working or was still present except the faith He had given them. The measure of faith, we are told in Paul's letter to the Romans, each of us is given.

So, what is my measure of faith? Are some given less than others? When God gives, He gives liberally --love so great He would give His all, remember? I don't believe there's any shortage of faith imparted by God; what we choose to do with that faith is, I believe, an entirely different story. I want to leave you with the questions the Holy Spirit put on my heart as I read Hebrews this morning. I pray you will consider them, make any appropriate changes, and seek to meet any challenges.

What am I doing to grow my faith, to keep the fire stoked? Am I praying and listening? Am I reading Scripture and actively involved with others who read Scripture? Am I part of regular worship --in community and by myself? Am I always looking to take my relationship with my Lord to the next level? Am I willing to surrender to the hard things, things that will require me to trust Him completely for outcomes? Can I say with complete assurance, God is working for my good WHETHER I SEE HIM, HEAR HIM, FEEL HIM, OR NOT?