There's a dent in the nice pewter chalice that we use during festival seasons. I noticed it yesterday morning while setting the altar for the day's Eucharist. It's not big. It won't prevent us from using the vessel. But it's definitely there...a little chink in an otherwise beautiful thing.
It got me to thinking about the other vessels through which Christ's presence is delivered...namely the human ones. Undoubtedly, most of us would fall into the "beautiful, but dented" category, too.
St. Paul is right. We're basically a bunch of crack-pots (2 Corinthinians 4:7ff). It makes me all the more thankful for a God who could claim worth enough in us for which to die. I'd like to do better by that God...not that I think my dents will go away, but that at least His grace might be visible in and through them.
08 May 2006
02 May 2006
Too good to be true...
We know how things work in this world. If you want something, you’d better be prepared to work for it. And the more valuable that something is, the higher the price…the more you’re going to need to fork over in money or time or labor or integrity…whatever. It’s a simple proposition called quid pro quo...an assumption that there is a transaction behind everything we need or want. It’s what drives our culture and our economy. We are trained in it from a very early age. And in fact, if something doesn’t conform to this model we’re told to be wary…to be skeptical. If something is too good to be true (so the saying goes) it usually is.
So what, then, are we to make of the Gospel? What are we to make of a promise so bold as “I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly?”
Well…the first thing we usually do is to start “reading in” certain qualifications. That’s been the church’s solution (following the pattern of society) for centuries. You can have abundant life if you believe in the right doctrines. You can have abundant life if you don’t drink, smoke, dance or (insert favorite vice here) . You can have abundant life if you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. You can have abundant life if you have the proper experience of the Holy Spirit or if you belong to the right denomination or if you listen to the right TV preacher. You can have abundant life if…if…if…
Wonderful. We’ve just managed to make God’s promise into legal code…one more transaction in a life full of transactions. Or, as one sage recently put it, we have the nasty habit of making God’s gifts to us into just one more damn thing to do.
But there is another way…a Good News way…of hearing what God has to say. And it begins by not adding to what the Scriptures say. “I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.” Notice: there are no qualifications on that statement. It is sheer promise. Better yet, it is promise from the One who is able to keep all His promises…even the promise that death cannot separate us from His love. And because God in Christ Jesus has made us so generous a promise…has given us life abundant and eternal even before we asked for it…we are free to respond with joy and thanksgiving...which might look something like this:
When you remain faithful to your spouse, it’s not so you can impress God by how good you are. It’s too late for that. Rather, it’s so you can pass along the love of God to the one with whom you share your life.
When you drag your sleepy self out of bed every Sunday morning (especially on those mornings when you don’t feel like it), it’s not so that you can impress God by how faithful you are. Again…too late. Rather, it’s so you can take the time to return honor and thanksgiving and praise to the One who gave you life to begin with.
When you try your best to be your best in everything you do…even when you fail…it’s not so you can impress God with how earnest you are. Too late for that, too. Rather, it’s so you can grow into being the very best disciple of Jesus you can be…with all the gifts and foibles that are yours.
For Christians, life is no longer a transaction. It’s a reaction…a response…a giving back to the One who has already given us everything we could possibly need. Our identity, our purpose, the path we follow, sustenance along the way and a final destination…all of these things are ours already. In Christ…the One who is too good to be true…we are set free to shed our anxieties and our despair. We are set free to really live.
So what, then, are we to make of the Gospel? What are we to make of a promise so bold as “I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly?”
Well…the first thing we usually do is to start “reading in” certain qualifications. That’s been the church’s solution (following the pattern of society) for centuries. You can have abundant life if you believe in the right doctrines. You can have abundant life if you don’t drink, smoke, dance or (insert favorite vice here) . You can have abundant life if you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. You can have abundant life if you have the proper experience of the Holy Spirit or if you belong to the right denomination or if you listen to the right TV preacher. You can have abundant life if…if…if…
Wonderful. We’ve just managed to make God’s promise into legal code…one more transaction in a life full of transactions. Or, as one sage recently put it, we have the nasty habit of making God’s gifts to us into just one more damn thing to do.
But there is another way…a Good News way…of hearing what God has to say. And it begins by not adding to what the Scriptures say. “I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.” Notice: there are no qualifications on that statement. It is sheer promise. Better yet, it is promise from the One who is able to keep all His promises…even the promise that death cannot separate us from His love. And because God in Christ Jesus has made us so generous a promise…has given us life abundant and eternal even before we asked for it…we are free to respond with joy and thanksgiving...which might look something like this:
When you remain faithful to your spouse, it’s not so you can impress God by how good you are. It’s too late for that. Rather, it’s so you can pass along the love of God to the one with whom you share your life.
When you drag your sleepy self out of bed every Sunday morning (especially on those mornings when you don’t feel like it), it’s not so that you can impress God by how faithful you are. Again…too late. Rather, it’s so you can take the time to return honor and thanksgiving and praise to the One who gave you life to begin with.
When you try your best to be your best in everything you do…even when you fail…it’s not so you can impress God with how earnest you are. Too late for that, too. Rather, it’s so you can grow into being the very best disciple of Jesus you can be…with all the gifts and foibles that are yours.
For Christians, life is no longer a transaction. It’s a reaction…a response…a giving back to the One who has already given us everything we could possibly need. Our identity, our purpose, the path we follow, sustenance along the way and a final destination…all of these things are ours already. In Christ…the One who is too good to be true…we are set free to shed our anxieties and our despair. We are set free to really live.
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