Midweek: What Does a Resurrection Life Look Like?

We pulled into the parking lot on a beautiful Sunday morning. Sadly, there were plenty of spaces from which to choose. Not only has the world lost interest in the things of God, but it almost seems as though folks who call themselves Christians have as well. Plenty of things to distract on a beautiful Sunday morning, apparently. (But that's for another day.) Anyway, Vulnerability was standing out front. Vulnerability is the man whose personal life is far from perfect. He has his demons, as do even those who deny it. Nevertheless, he is sticking close. When he doesn't know how to stay close to Jesus, he stays close to the church or our pastor. Vulnerability places himself at the mercy of those who know Jesus personally because he wants to know Jesus, too, and he is brutally honest about his shortcomings.

As I entered the building, Struggle with Joy was seated just inside the door. Struggle with Joy has some pretty serious health issues, but I've never seen it get the best of him. He grieves when those with whom he shares twice-weekly treatments do not survive. He cares for those who care for him and is a champion of anyone he calls "Friend". His innocence and infectious smile belie his challenges.

Courtesy greeted me with a smile and stepped to the side of the narrow hall, giving me preference. I have to admit, there have been times I've wondered why Courtesy is there. He doesn't always need; he doesn't always give. Sometimes he engages in polite conversation during our time of greeting; other times he's fast asleep. But he is indeed a part of our church family, and it is our privilege to count him as such.  

Just past Courtesy was Care and Sacrifice. What a wonderful couple they make! The one so eager and inquisitive; the other silent and selfless. They were cooking in the kitchen that morning, serving pancakes to anyone who needed to eat and sharing the Bread of Life with anyone likely to hunger again. Care left her post to retrieve a pair of socks for Self-Aware. (Self-Aware has no home. Our church is a place he can eat, wash up a bit, and share some normalcy before heading back to a difficult life.) Sacrifice continued to move slowly around the kitchen, his body sore and tired.

As I ascended the stairs to the sanctuary, Change met me excitedly. "Wasn't Friday night great? I love that I'm hanging out with my family and the leaders in the church! And those two," he said with a nod toward Care and Sacrifice, "are just great! They put so much work into everything they do." I couldn't help but notice his eyes; not red, not glassy; his speech was clear and strong. Change.

At the top of the stairs was Steadfastness. Steadfastness does whatever he can do. Church wasn't starting for another thirty minutes, but Steadfastness was in place, ready to do his assigned task. I spoke, and he replied in his easy, carefree way, never raising his eyes from all he was doing. 

This is our church. There are other members as well: Affection, Exuberance, Service, Kindness, Faith --just to name a few. And I was thinking as I entered that day, there's the reflection of Jesus in every face there. Although there is no central goal or theme except loyalty to Him, we are all at various stages of our walk and we are all used in the way our Master designs. Our message is, above all others, the Gospel. We're not the Successful Church in that everyone gathered represents all we aspire to be. We're not the Political Church, waving the American flag and expecting like-mindedness in all things governmental. We're not even the Religious Church, with piety and discipline perfectly desired and perfectly executed. We are Resurrection Life Church, a work in progress, a daily grind, and a joy to behold!  

Sure, It's a Stretch. But It's Worth It!

WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME????

Has that ever been your question? Have you ever been in a season where nothing seems to go right for days, weeks, months on end? Without chasing down too many rabbits, we've been on one of those adventures for about a year now; the fear and frustration I've experienced have caused problems in other areas. As I attempted to take care of the things I can control, I discovered a book by Mark E. Shaw called Addiction-Proof Parenting. (I'm not in love with the title --I almost expected some money-back guarantee, but many strategies and explanations were helpful.) In one chapter, Shaw talks about "The Cycle of the Victim Mentality". He rightly points out that it's important to challenge children, to stretch their capabilities and our expectations of them -- in a godly manner --as it is pretty much human nature to take responsibility for only the bare minimum of what is expected of us. When a parent fails to set high standards, to encourage their child to do the hard things, the results are tragic. 

And in that place is where I discovered yet another assurance of the love and mercy of God for His children!

Shaw writes: 

As the child takes less responsibility and a parent takes more of those responsibilities, the child develops an angry and depressed attitude. Why? The answer is that he knows he is failing in this area but is not willing to change. This internal conflict breeds his anger toward his parents.

When someone sins by omission, or by failing to do what is rightly required by the Lord, there are consequences for those sins because mankind is under the curse of the sin resulting from the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. Just as we are under the law of gravity, we are also under the law of sin and its consequences, which always result in separation from God, sinful emotional responses, and eternal death. When Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis 3, the emotions of fear and shame appeared for the first time in human history. The sinful failures of a person in addiction to be responsible are compounded by their wrong thinking-the victim mentality.

Here is a typical cycle:

• an addict fails to be responsible,
• a parent picks up the responsibility for the addict,
• the addict feels guilty about the sinful failure,  
• the sin causes consequential emotions (depression), 
• the addict mistakenly begins to believe that he is not responsible and that the parent is responsible, and finally, 
• the addict becomes angry at the parent, sometimes unknowingly.

It is incredible to see how many addicts are bitter and hateful toward their parents who are simply trying to do the right thing by filling the void left by the addict's irresponsibility. Parents are often shocked at the angry attitude of a child whom they are "enabling" to be irresponsible. The parent thinks, "I am only trying to help my child-why doesn't he see it?" While it may look like victimization to the child who desires to be in control of his own life, the parent does not see it. The parent simply believes he is doing the right thing by taking care of the responsibilities, but the consequences of the sin are designed by the Lord to point the person back to Christ for confession, repentance, forgiveness, and power to do the will of God. The dynamics of a "rescuing" or "enabling" parent who takes the responsibility from a child is acting sinfully, which will provoke that child to anger.

Though the child may not be able to verbalize it, he knows that he is failing to be responsible to his God-given responsibilities. ... By God's design, all sin produces consequences including emotions like guilt, anger, and depression. These consequences manifest in order to lead a sinning person to confession and repentance. Even though the parents mistakenly believe they are helping the child, they are actually sinning and contributing to the child's sinful failures to be responsible. Unfortunately, it's a double whammy of sin: the child's and the parent's!

Our Heavenly Father does not, of course, sin. He stretches us and challenges us, but He is with us all along. We are not without His grace and His law. He lavishes His love on us that we might serve Him and bring Him glory to the extent we were created to do so! In the seasons where we are tested and pressed, His divine mercy is operating to make us better servants and image bearers for His glory and our good!

What's Wrong with Believing You're Forgiven?

I was nine years old when my parents decided to send me to a new school, a private Christian school. I hated every minute of that first year. I'd gone from being the popular kid to the weird new kid. The jeans and tees I wore to my old school were a much better fit for my boxy frame. My new school required I wear dresses, and I felt like a hippo in a tutu. I went from being a straight-A student to being in what was then known as "the slow class" because of my poor placement scores. I even got into trouble twice that year --a huge difference from the one teeeeny-tiny incident in all my years at public school. BUT one of the very first Bible verses I recall having to memorize was 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. It and the verses surrounding have become some of my favorites. 

Our pastor spoke recently on this passage. He gave the example of a neighbor committing a crime: I can't go to jail for that because I'm not him. We no longer have to be bothered by, to live in guilt over the things we used to do before coming to Christ; we are no longer bound to those things because we are not that person anymore. And when we choose to daily, faithfully follow Jesus, our sins --past, present, and future --are remembered by God no more. As I listened, I recalled a coworker making light of the premise. Oh, I can just do anything: I'm forgiven for it anyway. In fact, he often pointed out the wrongdoings of Christians and churchgoers over the years, and would sardonically reply to his own remark, But it's okay; we're forgiven. Now, Dietrich Bonhoeffer would probably have preached him a sermon on "cheap grace" had he been present, but as I thought about my coworker, I wished I'd asked a single question: What's wrong with that? I don't mean the idea of cheap grace (basically, taking license to do as I please on the premise I am forgiven anyway) --of course it's wrong (Rom. 6:1-14). But what is wrong with believing you are forgiven? What is wrong with believing the One who created you, who is perfect and holy, who made a way through His Son for you to be counted righteous, who gave His Holy Spirit to work in and through you for your sanctification and God's glory --what is wrong with believing He remembers your sin no more?

Acts 3:19 says, Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Clearly there is no continuing in sin. Clearly, we are called to turn away from our old nature and walk in the new nature we are given --"new creation," right? But walking around debt-free? How cool is that?! Have you ever paid off a credit card? Made your last payment on a mortgage? What a feeling of freedom that is! I am never getting into debt again! Right? What's wrong with that? You see, we haven't been freed, our slate has not been wiped clean so that we might go out and act the fool again; we have been made new, our accounts settled, our sins cast into the sea, so that we might know the freedom of being unshackled, of being forgiven! Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed (John 8:36).

As time passed, I went from being the new weird kid to being relatively popular again. As I matured, I looked forward to school shopping and selecting new dresses and skirts to wear. My grades improved as I learned what was expected of me, and I not only didn't get into trouble, but I even babysat for some of my teachers. I joined the Bible quizzing team which required me to memorize large passages of Scripture. Change had come, slowly and not without its problems. In fact, it wasn't until years later 2 Corinthians 5:17 really resonated with me. But the longer I hung in there, the easier it got. I didn't want to go back to where I'd been before; I liked "the new." 

The change Jesus produces in us, the pardon and freedom He provides through His shed blood on the cross spurs us on not to license for sin, the perfecting of our old nature, but to boldness and greater faith, to the works ordained for us to do, to the fulfilling of the Great Commission, to the loving of God with every part of ourselves and the loving of one another as we have been loved, to life, free and new!  

Midweek: The Lesson

Even when princes set to scheme against me,

Your servant dwelled on Your statutes.

~ Psalm 119:23 (Alter) 

Imagine Elijah, pursued by the queen's forces for killing the prophets of Baal. Imagine David hiding in caves to escape the hateful designs of the king upon his life. Imagine the disciples of God, fearing and fleeing Paul (before his conversion) as he breathed out threats and racked up a body count of innocents. Fear. Chaos. The unknown. A powerful enemy and what appears to be a serious lack of resources.

Let me tell you a little story...

Chapter One: Bad Decisions. My husband and I took a much needed vacation. Our timing probably wasn't the best --it was just as things were opening up after a certain pandemic, we ourselves were on the tail end of a brief experience with it --but we'd had enough; we needed to get away. Our pick of destination may not have been very wise either --we chose the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee in January --but, again, we'd had enough. I wanted isolation. I wanted to be removed from the busy "normals" of life. So be it! The night we arrived, so did a storm. Snow! Ooh! Ahh! A winter wonderland! But the ice? On a mountain? Not so much. Our dreams of a romantic dinner in town, returning to our mountain hideaway... Our dreams of sightseeing under a Southern sun in forty-degree temps... Gone! Instead, we received for our money an empty fridge, grey skies, and a forty-degree ice-covered slope to the main road. Given little option, we saddled up the luxury SUV we'd rented, hereby dubbed a pavement princess exclusively!, and attempted to procure provisions. 

Chapter Two: The Slope. As we started down the slope leading to the main road, we encountered ice. Slick and terrifying. Terrifying because on one side of the narrow slope was about a foot of brush before the solid rock of the mountain's upside. On the other side of the narrow slope was about a foot of brush before the certain calamity of the mountain's downside.   

        No guardrail. 
                At all. 
With every foot we crept, the rear of our pavement princess slid closer to the edge of the downside while the front threatened to lose traction completely. The option of backing up the slope garnered the same result as the attempt to move down, only in reverse. The front end of the vehicle sought the precipice while the back end struggled to hold the slope. In all my husband's years of driving, he'd never been so unnerved. In all my years of praying, I'd never longed so badly to bounce off of a guardrail.    

Chapter Three: The Lesson. Okay, if I'm being honest, we learned lots of lessons that trip; but here I am, sitting safely in my office almost five years later being shown another. That day I kept wishing for a guardrail, some sort of barrier to keep us from going off the edge. Better to sideswipe some rocks than roll eighty feet down a mountainside! Your servant dwelled on Your statutes. Seeing God's law as the protective barrier that, though we may bounce off it a time or two (or more, if we're particularly inclined to repeat offenses), it keeps us from dropping headlong to our peril. That icy slope represented all sorts of treachery; but having the benefit of a guardrail, as hard as it would have been on our pavement princess were we to ride it all the way to the bottom, would have assured us of safety. God's law, guiding us, keeping us --as hard as it is on our human nature to obey --guards us against the certain peril of leaving the path. Even when the distractions are many, even when fear grips us menacingly, even when all around us is thrown into chaos, even when we cannot know what lies ahead, the statutes of God --if we dwell on them, build our lives on their truth --we have the blessing of a guard and guide as we follow after Christ our conquering King.