In last week’s message, we discussed the Hebrew word charam. It’s super complicated, it can be absolute destruction, and it can also be dedication. It is death OR life, horror or beauty. I chose not to use it the way it is used throughout most of the Old Testament, when it refers to the Israelites commanded response to victory in war, and instead wanted to focus on the idea of taking our anything and consecrating (dedicating something to a higher calling or purpose, making something holy) it.
That “anything” I suggested consecrating was ourselves. That we might take our lives (and all that implies) and give them to the God that gave them to us in the first place.
The Story of our salvation (from creation to the fall to salvation), when fully & properly understood, carries with it a kind of reflexive response. Like the way our legs kick when hit with a doctor’s hammer. We are rescued, given new life, and we have no choice but to charam those new lives. We are buried under and avalanche of God’s love, so we have no choice but to love, Him and everyone/everything else. We are wrapped in His arms, see & feel His heart for His creation, we simply cannot remain unmoved, cannot stay stuck in our own blissful apathy.
[This presents an interesting question regarding enemies. If we truly see ourselves and each other as God sees us all, then there would be no such thing as an “enemy.” We are all brothers and sisters, under His grace. Also, now that I’m thinking about it in this way, if we truly saw each other as brothers & sisters, with lives given by the same Father, would we ever take a life? I don’t imagine we could ever, ever watch it on tv, either. But maybe those questions are for another day.]
And consequently, if we continue to be impatient and unkind (the first 2 concrete characteristics of love in 1st Corinthians 13), there are only a few reasons. 1. We don’t know The Gospel of Jesus Christ. 2. We don’t understand The Gospel of Jesus Christ. 3. We don’t care about The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I’ll allow a 4th. We have forgotten (even for a moment) The Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I guess, more and more, I’m seeing our growth and (fancy Christian word coming…) sanctification as a process of opening our eyes to the God that is there and has already done all of the work. Our only work is to just relax our legs and allow our natural reflexes to operate as they have been designed. Maybe that’s it. No climbing. No self-improvement plans. Just waking up to the Truth. And opening our eyes might just look like nothing more than knowing Him and His Gospel.
The path just keeps going. Say yes will lead us to allow us to experience His love, which will lead us to open our eyes, which will lead us to know Him. And to know Him will lead us to knowing ourselves, and knowing ourselves will bring us into a new reality of gratitude and love.
In a conversation with my sister this morning, I wondered to myself is gratitude is nothing more that fully present mindfulness. IF we are where we are, fully aware to who/where we are and The Story we are born into, then we couldn’t be anything else but thankful.
Love is just simply logic. If love goes in, if love is the only thing that goes in, then love will go out.
I know this all sounds elementary, but that’s probably because it is. We just make it so hard and complicated. What I’m asking us to do is to soak in the Truth of Who He is and what The Gospel truly is. If we can do that, then everything is possible.
