Well Done!

Sometimes it seems that the rest of the natural world recognizes Him better than we do and is giving God a thumbs up, each in its own way.  

"If they keep quiet, even the rocks will cry out."  --Luke 19:40

Dawn

“The crack of dawn on Easter morning was the sound of chains falling away.”—Steven James

The most precious gift in the world is to be allowed to be in Christ…being along with Him where His is and in what He does because of the cross and because of the empty tomb, and for Christ to be in us.

He died alone.  But His Father raised Him from the dead.  Community was begun again as the family reunited and began to expand immediately.  Now we can live from a whole different perspective.  I came across this saying this week which sure sounds like the Easter difference to me: 

“They tried to bury us.  They didn’t know we were seeds.”  --Mexican Proverb

Hallelujah!  He is risen, risen indeed.  And life will never been the same.  

The Stunning Exchange

“That evening a rich disciple named Joseph from the town of Arimathea went and asked for Jesus’ body.  Pilate gave orders for it to be given to Joseph, who took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth.  Then Joseph put the body in his own tomb that had been cut into solid rock and had never been used.  He rolled a big stone against the entrance to the tomb and went away.”  Matthew 28:57-60

Joseph of Arimathea…grieving Joseph taking the limp body of his Lord and placing it in the tomb he had prepared for himself.  He was likely only thinking that Jesus must have a proper burial and wanted to honor Him in any way he could.  Joseph was unaware of the irony of his actions.  Before any earthly being realized the unseen truth, it had already been played out symbolically through this scene—the exchange of Jesus’ death and burial for Joseph’s own.

Jesus takes the place of any who will give up their tomb.

Priceless Oil

As Jesus anticipated what was to come as the intensity was increasing and His crucifixion was nearing, He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.  As a human, I have envisioned Him struggling with the physical pain He was about to suffer.  But Jesus, seeing as clearly as He did, had to also have been able to understand the weight of our sin that He was about to bear alone.  He knew the amount of brokenness and separation and pain that our actions cause.  Sometimes we wonder if we can handle just the small circle of pain that ours and those near us has caused, yet somehow He really took on the tragedy of it that we each, and all have suffered, and bore it alone.  I know I can barely grasp what that means, but I am absolutely certain that it has brought a freedom of which we have barely skimmed the surface in believing. 

I am so very grateful that He was willing to live in a way that the Father’s greatest plans could unfold through His trust in the Father and His obedience for what could be birthed as He walked out that trust.  He was willing to go through deep pain for a greater good.  Thank you, sweet Savior, for your willingness to take my sin and save my life.  I am so in love with you for your passionate Yes to the Father.

This Mount of Olives was a place known for the preparation of the best produce that was to be had…being crushed…so that its oil could be poured out.  You, Jesus, were its supreme offering, proving that there is a crushing possible that when offered doesn't just leave us with brokenness.  

Endless Variation, Endless Supply

We’ve too often misinterpreted the concept of being good stewards.  If you’re like me, when I hear those words I typically jump right to the conclusion that it means to be cautious….careful…conservative.  I think of the economy and return, and ask if this is a good investment.  (Or maybe that is just fear for my own well-being, or a thinly veiled excuse to be selfish.) But that doesn’t seem in any way to be how God thinks. 

Maybe He is wondering how many of us will take hold of this spectacular good news and the resources we have at hand and then spread them out liberally like the sower did with his seed.  He broadcast it on all kinds of soil, not concerned with efficiency, but only seeing how much there was to give and realizing how sad it would be to squander it, to keep it to a few who were “good enough,” or worse yet, to hoard it for ourselves.  The sower wanted the seed to go everywhere.

I think that the wedding at Cana, the widow’s oil in 2 Kings 4, the feeding of 5000 (and of 4000 on another occasion), the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, and most especially a Savior giving everything He had on a Roman cross all give us a pretty good idea that what is with us is to be used, and what He has available will never run out.  Yet He didn’t insist that anyone take His gift.  He knew that the poor and hungry, regardless of their station in life, would receive it.

We don’t have to be picky about with whom we share the best stuff, for the Kingdom is known for generosity and supply.  God’s choice to bestow on us free will was His riskiest move, and one He obviously thought was totally worth taking for the chance that we would embrace the promise and enter the realm of generosity with Him to be distributors of what He has for the world He loves.

Nothing gives off the aroma of His generosity better than the events of this precious Passion week.  I am stunned by what He chose when the risk seemed so huge, the objects of His affection so ungrateful, so uninterested that Heaven’s storehouse were now permanently accessible.  Consider what you can take with you today to give away—the variations are endless and He will use your unique ways to reach dry places.  Fill your pockets with possibilities this morning, then listen for the whisper of the Spirit as you go, giving with a glad heart.  

Left and Right

In the book of Mark, chapter 10, verse 35, an account begins of James and John asking for positions at the right and left hands of Jesus.  They apparently wanted to be in places of power and influence, and it’s probable that they also hoped to be a little higher in importance than anyone else.  Ironically, the two that ended up in those pricise positions a very short time later hadn’t volunteered for the roles, and I’m certain the two brothers didn’t rush forward to offer to switch places with them.  It wouldn’t be until Pentecost’s fire fall that the hearts of Zebedee’s boys would be captured that fully, their intent truly forged, their devotion full on, their lives re-birthed to go anywhere He was leading.

Calvary was a lonely place in spite of the crowds, and one that sharply cuts through any illusions we have of being His heroic helpers.  We have only and always been on the receiving end of the good He has chosen to win and pour out for us.  But that abundance came at a huge price that the Godhead alone paid.  Incredibly, this God has invited us to keep Him company, to be with Him, to listen for the sweet and powerful words He is saying, to go with Him where He goes, to share the joy of watching the Kingdom expand, to each truly be at His side.

The image of the trio of crosses is a reminder that the first sign of companionship with Him comes through humility, but it isn’t our shame He’s after or requires us to bear.  As these last days of Lent unfold this week, maybe we can remember that He thought we were worth dying for and He knew the beautiful potential to unfold as we are Jesus-saved, Kingdom-knit, Spirit-filled, and Mission-given.   Life is different when we are living it as one big “Thank You” card back to Him rather than standing on the sidelines admiring Him at a distance or hankering for a title.  The day before He hung there with only our sin draping heavily on Him He had knelt down to wash our feet, a preview of the full washing He would be providing for us just hours later as His blood poured out to clean us fully and forever.  He wants us to be close, at His right and left side receiving and sharing all that He is, all that He’s done, anticipating all He is yet to do.         

The Leap

There is no way to receive the blessings of God that He says comes with following Him if I am distracted by other pursuits.  It isn’t that He chooses to scold or punish me, but that I have cheated myself of a better thing He has available. 

My life is meant to be the grand engagement with the Lover of my soul.  It is the relationship with the God who has chosen me (and each of us) to commune with, to be known by, to be the recipients of His care and provision. We don’t earn it, but we certainly benefit by all the responsiveness of our hearts and of the alignment of our lives into the way He has designed for this beautiful existence to work.  And He wants life for us in abundance—full of the best that He has prepared.

I am fascinated by the consideration of what that means and what we have the opportunity to see and experience, what purposes our lives can be a part of in His story, and what joy we may be able to give the One who rescued us and continues to restore us as we dare to trust Him, to walk with Him, and to respond to His call.  He is good.  He is amazingly good.  We will never get to the heights and depths and breadth of Him, but when we leap we can discover the deeper things of who He is than when we skim the surface or stay on the shore of trust.  We have to actually enter the waters to discover the reality of His character and love.    

Crazy Love

Known…  In the culture we live in, it is sometimes difficult to feel known.  We have numbers assigned to us for most every official dealing and often have to identify ourselves by them.  We call businesses and typically have to wade through several levels of numbers on our keypad to get to talk to another human being, and worse, sometimes we receive calls from automated lines.  We walk through our communities, and in the more populated ones it is pretty typical to have little eye contact, half of the issue being the avoidance from our own eyes.  When we do sit around tables or in rooms with those we love there is increasing probability that most of us are looking at our phones and texting away to keep contact with our friends while ignoring the opportunity of connection with the people closest to us.

I am struck this morning by the availability of the God of heaven.  In Exodus 33:17, even when His people had chosen to let other things take their attention, He has assured them that He knows them by name.  We have unlimited access to the Creator of the Universe; no small gift.  The benefits are astonishing.  Many books further through the Bible, and endless examples later we are still being assured of God’s attentive care.  In Matthew 6, Jesus is standing on a hillside, teaching us about the extravagant attention and care of a Father who knows us:

25 Here is the bottom line: do not worry about your life. Don’t worry about what you will eat or what you will drink. Don’t worry about how you clothe your body. Living is about more than merely eating, and the body is about more than dressing up. 26 Look at the birds in the sky. They do not store food for winter. They don’t plant gardens. They do not sow or reap—and yet, they are always fed because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are even more precious to Him than a beautiful bird. If He looks after them, of course He will look after you. 27 Worrying does not do any good; who here can claim to add even an hour to his life by worrying?

28 Nor should you worry about clothes. Consider the lilies of the field and how they grow. They do not work or weave or sew, and yet their garments are stunning. 29 Even King Solomon, dressed in his most regal garb, was not as lovely as these lilies. 30 And think about grassy fields—the grasses are here now, but they will be dead by winter. And yet God adorns them so radiantly. How much more will He clothe you, you of little faith, you who have no trust?

31 So do not consume yourselves with questions: What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? 32 Outsiders make themselves frantic over such questions; they don’t realize that your heavenly Father knows exactly what you need. 33 Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be given to you too. 34 So do not worry about tomorrow. Let tomorrow worry about itself. Living faithfully is a large enough task for today.

We are known by name and every need we have is understood thoroughly by the God who loves us lavishly.  We may too often be treated with the anonymity of a number, but we are never just another person to the Author of life and Lover of our soul.  

Gathering

In the beginning, God spoke, and creation began.  He sent His Word to show us what He looks like.  He has given us scriptures, His in-spired (breathed into) writing, filled with promises He has made. 

This morning I awakened feeling agitated.  As I asked Him for help and assurance of His care and power for this day in these matters, two chapters of the Bible came to mind, two different books but the same chapter number in each.  The theme of both of them was the same.  “I am the Savior, there is NO other.”  Then the chapters listed in detail the very things that were weighing on my mind and emphasized that HE is the one who brings the solutions to those very things.  That they both SAID those things was powerful.  That He, in a moment, had LED me to those exact passages was one tiny piece of evidence of His ability and interest and care. 

We have a God who has spoken, who is speaking, and who will continue to speak and move.  Don’t doubt that He has and can and will.  If He seems silent to you at the moment, remember that the promises in His word have not lost any power.  They are for you and as pure and strong as when they were first delivered.  Gather up some and carry them with you.  They are yours.  They are your food for today and hold your future secure.

Where it Matters

We know that the seam of a garment is where two pieces of cloth are joined together.  It is often the place where stress will be most felt, where separation is likely, and where vulnerability is evident.  So, perhaps, is the “seems” we experience.  We know one thing as truth, but are tugged by the circumstances that are in our face at the moment.  However, what we will believe as most true in the moment, holding fast to the promises and the nature of the One who has chosen us, called us His beloved, and is oh-so-near, is the strong thread of faith.  Believing what is unobservable in the moment is the firm step forward, enabling us to move well even if strong winds are blowing.  Hold fast to Him, dear one.  This is where it makes a difference.

Release

God is less a surgeon, than an inspired artist, carving away every thing that inhibits who we were intended to be.  Our job is to put down our defensive shields and let Him work to reveal beauty and strength, to remove masks and baggage that hinders movement, to release us to truth of who He sees us to be, our true identity.  We can’t do that if we struggle to hold the reins, to dictate the clock, to order the design.  

It's Time

Will I actually believe?  Will I put real confidence in what  God says is true and stand with the weight of my heart, my mind, my time, my money, my tongue, and the events throughout my daily life on the glorious foundation and stunning promises He gives you and me?  In my workplace, in my home, in any place I go in my community?  What would change in my life if I did?  What habits would I give up for so much better?  What second-rate comforts or self-medications or quick justifications could I dump, and embrace instead what is truly beautiful and strong and worthy of this precious short life I get the privilege to live and for the King who came to have me?  What excuses would I be willing to shelve if I had the courage to take Him at His word? 

He has invited me into peace and rest and joy and watching what happens when a dazzling heavenly Kingdom kisses earth.  Sometimes I settle for chaos and turmoil and hiding, just like my great-grandparents did in the Garden where they too thought they could find something beyond, thinking it would taste better.  We’ve all been reeled in by some pretty potent lies instead of taking the good He offers and trusting Him with these lives He made for His delight.  Sometimes I am utterly stupid.  That He loves and calls me anyway and offers me His companionship sometimes seems unbelievable.  But believing Him is the beginning of life and the genesis of being what He envisioned when He spoke our names.  If we are willing to start believing He is good we will find ourselves at the doorway of His power and provision and the miracles of how He works in the “even so.”  “But God”…glorious stuff.