God’s grace

Super Hero or Super Weakling?

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As a kid I had my choice of maybe 10-12 super-heroes from my comic book collection. My all time favorite was Spider-man followed closely by Thor. Today the movie landscape seems littered with super-heroes, villains and some in between (I’m still not sure if Wolverine or Green Arrow are good or bad) 1553824974533_image.jpg

In the Bible there were some pretty amazing things done by some folks, like, raising the dead and calling fire down from heaven. But none of those guys did anything by their own power. Moses who parted the Red Sea, was a fugitive from the law. Samson who defeated thousands of his enemies in battle was a long-haired party-boy.  Even the Apostle Paul was so unpopular that he was stoned, beaten and whipped more often than applauded. But  in the middle of his trials Paul learned something that shed a whole new light on things for all of us in this not so super world. He discovered that the only real super hero was God; and that the way He loved to operate was through our super weakness: not our super strength.

To the Flat broke – Jesus promised His kingdom

To the Meek – Control of the planet

To the orphan – a Father and a family

To the Widow – the best husband in the universe

For lost sheep – a shepherd

For the criminal – Restoration

For the rejected – a Friend even closer than a brother

And for fallen sparrows – a loving creator who never forgets

And all of these things can be summed up in the one super power never once mentioned in films. The power of the grace of God. That one and only super power was released on the day when God was weakest of all – on the cross of Jesus Christ!

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

 

No More Lazy Grace!

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For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Romans 12:3

Do you battle with fear sometimes? I definitely do! I love God’s promises in

The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1

But there are times when I just wish that God would deal with my fear by His grace. But just like Adam and Eve’s failure in the garden we have all been bungling things up when we believe God is going to work things out by grace, without our participation. What we are calling grace; God may call simple laziness. The issue is not God’s lack of grace; but our lack of action. Yes, of course God is sovereign, almighty and all knowing; but for His own purposes He designed us not to be. I often pray for God to remove my fears; but Jesus said, “Do not let your heart be troubled…” In other words He put me in the driver’s seat and contrary to the song it’s me -not Jesus- who has to take the wheel!

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1 NIV

So when I asked myself, “How did Jesus deal with fear?”  I remembered the cross. There in humiliation and pain He endured. His confidence was not based on some heroic stoicism, but in the confidence that despite his abandonment and suffering, there was a joy that lay ahead. At the sixth hour, as His strength reached its end and His vision grew dark but He chose to believe in something He could not see – our salvation and forgiveness. So in those moments when I am afraid, I will remember that He was afraid too.  But three days later, on a morning He could not see from the cross, the stone rolled away and He rose and sorrow and mourning flew away!

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The New People

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For the entire ten years we lived in a rural Pennsylvania community we were considered the “New People”. I felt better when I learned that there were other “New People” just up the road from us.  They were from New Jersey and had lived there since the 1950’s!

In a more serious light the hysteria and anger over “New People” (Mexicans, Arabs, Muslims, Asians) has culminated in the most recent massacre in New Zealand. How we as Christians to respond must be linked to how Jesus responded to hatred and prejudice.  Jesus loved the immigrant, the stranger and amazingly so even His enemies. Jesus was not angry with Samaritans who had come from another place and worshipped differently than Jews.  Jesus did not protest about the brutal Roman rule or even agitate for the removal of Herod, who had murdered his cousin John the Baptist. Maybe Jesus was accepting of the “New People” because he knew what being rejected felt like. 20171231_232022

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. John 1:10-11 NKJV

Change can be difficult and unsettling, especially if we feel we are threatened by those new and different circumstances. But no matter what situation we find ourselves in the only true place of peace and acceptance is not in being surrounded by “Our People”. Real peace comes as a result of being adopted into God’s family by the blood of Jesus Christ.

I was thinking how last Wednesday a friends of ours; who is one of those,  “New People” became a U.S. citizen. He and His family eat different food, speak a different language and has a different culture.  But today Raj and I both have exactly the same rights, responsibilities and privileges. In the same way, when Jesus laid down His life on the cross to pay for our sins, we gained the privilege of citizenzenship and includsion in the community of God. Yes as His children,  we may always be treated as the “New People”; but God calls us His own. How much more should we  be ready to embrace whoever He has allowed to live just down the street in our town?

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For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Philippians 3:20 NKJV