and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
Holiness starts at home. It begins with the everyday and ordinary things. Perhaps we imagine that our neighborhoods and offices can be places of strife and jealously but that we can escape these and run to distant temples and far-off lands to see God. But we are called, at least on our part, to peace with everyone. We are warned that bitter roots can spring up and deprive ourselves and others of God's grace.
Since we can't get past these things to God's presence in the distance let us instead welcome God himself into our daily grind. We see today that it is not as easy as it sounds. Jesus is challenging when we let him in to our daily lives. He teaches us something so contrary to the wisdom of the world that it is hard to trust and easy to mock.
They said, "Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
As Paul tells us, "the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." It is the message of the cross which tells us to forego self-promotion, to stop working only for our advantage, to stop seeking to save our own lives and to instead seek first the kingdom (cf. Mat. 6:33).
At a distance we appreciate the beauty of the cross. But when we see it closely we see all the lines and creases of pain on the face of Christ. This sort of sacrificial love is recommended to us but we often draw back. Or perhaps we accept it. But when someone gets on our nerves again for the umpteenth time and we are called to lay down our life for them, for this person that should know better, for this person that has had so many second chances already, this person who it seems will never change, when we are called to lay down our lives for this person specifically things get real and they get challenging.
Our hands begin to droop and our knees grow weak when we see this up close. But we are looking at this all wrong.
My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord
or lose heart when reproved by him;
for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;
he scourges every son he acknowledges.
God is trying to help us to live as his children. He wants to be more fully our Father. He is teaching us how to give and receive his kind of love rather than our own. After all, how many second chances does he give us? How must we test his patience after failing again and again. Doesn't it seem at times as though we ourselves are the people who will apparently never change even though we know better. Even as he teaches us to love others he teaches us that we ourselves are worthy of love.
The end goal is seeing him face to face. The promise set before us is a pure heart which can see God (cf. Mat. 5:8). The hard stuff we endure isn't God beating us up because he is cruel or capricious. He is training us. He is disciplining us. He is helping us to grow up. And this is true in each and every little thing where we are called to surrender. This is true of every invitation to offer our lives as a gift.
When we see things correctly we are able to welcome Jesus into our daily lives without taking offense at him. He will have honor in his native place and not just in the distance. And when he is so honored, recognized, and welcomed he is able to do, not just a few healings, but many mighty deeds.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him,
No comments:
Post a Comment