Posts Tagged ‘Grace’

Day 232: Psalm 36:1-38:22; Romans 5:6-21 — Viruses and Allergies

Friday, August 20th, 2010

Well I’m traveling again and of course writing my blog entry at the last minute while on an airplane. Something in the New Jersey air really hammered my sinuses. Either that or I had a head cold going into the trip. Hopefully the return to the hot dry air of Austin will restore my nose and eyes to their former cheery selves.

When pollutants enter the body (such as pollen or cold viruses or the various toxins we put in our bodies by choice or not every day), the body tries to fight them off by creating antibodies and other immune responses. Snot is a great immune response. It wraps up the bad stuff in a gooey mucous coating which it then tries to expel. This is kind of gross and not very pleasant when you start having a sneezing fit at 30,000 feet.

God put great healing abilities in our bodies. The more pollutants, the more antibodies we create…up to a point. Eventually one will win and drive the other out. But the pollutants will eventually return. And our body is stronger to deal with them next time (if we treat it kindly). So should we get sick in order to make our bodies even healthier? Well I don’t want to spoil Romans 6:1 but 5:20-21 is a hint of what’s to come.

20The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger so they say. But it sure does hurt when you’re going through it.

Today’s reading in Psalms 36-38 is also filled with joys and sorrows, triumphs and losses. But through it all we can trust in the Lord that grace will reign in us through Christ .

Oh, and if you thought my comments about snot and mucous were too gross, take a look at Psalm 38:5:

5My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.

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Posted in Grace, Psalms, Romans, Sin | Comments Off

Day 117: I Samuel 2:25 — “It was the will of the Lord to put them to death.”

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

I love this passage! It is one of the passages in the Old Testament that shows the “good news” and “grace” of our God. You see there is a false teaching that has infiltrated our world, our lives, and our church. It is the false teaching that God is not just. You see it in those who would teach we have grace without consequences. These are code words for “God is not just”. If this passage of God’s will to put someone to death shocks you, it is a good sign that you have been infiltrated by this false teaching. I would suggest that you do not understand justice. You do not understand God. You do not understand the creator. This is a story of sin and its consequences. Eli’s sons are sinful and even Eli warns his sons (1 Samuel 2:22-25). I love this passage because just like so many other sin and consequences stories if you look for it there is judgment and the grace of God involved and vice versa. We, like Eli’s sons, deserve death but in 1 Samuel 2:26, we see there is one who is growing in stature with God and man. This is grace and hope. In the midst of judgment God has a plan to redeem us.

I love this passage because in God’s justice, we are all deserving death, yet God our creator chooses to prolong our relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. God sends His son through history to save us and pay the price for our crimes. I deserve death but the good news is that I am still alive.

However, we must not be fooled…having a relationship with God is both demanding and dangerous. Those who would serve God place themselves under both God’s grace and God’s judgment. I love this story because God is just. I don’t have to make sense of a world gone bad but I know who is in control and who is worthy to be worshiped. I don’t have to seek a warm fuzzy feeling to know God. To know God is to be judged by Him and to be judged by Him is to receive His grace. Grace and judgment are intertwined and to try to separate one from the other is foolishness. Do we really want justice (1 Samuel 2:25) or have we gotten used to injustice (we should be able to sin like Eli’s sons with no consequences)?

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Posted in 1 Samuel, Creation, Sin, Worship | 2 Comments »

Day 110: Judges 10:6-18 — “Oops!…I did it again.

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

Oops! 
… I did it again.
I played with your heart.
Got lost in the game.
Oh, baby; baby.
Oops!
… You think I’m in love.
That I’m sent from above…
I’m not that innocent.

I was reading the story of Israel’s continued disobedience in Judges 10:6-18 and the immortal words of Brittany Spears popped into my head, “Oops!… I did it again.” I didn’t know the words, just the title, so I googled the song and found the lyrics and a theological parallel to our text.  I think we are a lot like Brittany, we are not that innocent.  We play with God’s heart.  He loves us, He cherishes us, that much is clear as we look at the cross.  We like to look at God’s Word from our point of view.  What we can and cannot do.  If we don’t like one of the commands, we just justify it away and change it to fit our needs.  In Judges 10:6, we see that oops! … The Israelites did it again.  They did evil in the sight of the Lord.  In Judges 10:7, we see that God’s anger was kindled against them.  People claim a text like this shows God’s wrath and meanness.  I see His grace.  God is angry because we have damaged our relationship with Him. Think about it from God’s point of view.  His anger rises from our disobedience.  How many times would you women folk listen to your man say, “Oops!… I did it again,”  I cheated on you honey?  I am sure all of you women will say thats Ok, I love you and there is no problem (just to be clear, I am being sarcastic).  There is a problem!  Our disobedience to God deserves an angry response.  God is Holy and our cheating on Him is not acceptable because it breaks our relationship with Him.  It was not acceptable for Israel, nor, for us.  Brittany is right, we are not that innocent.  At least, I know I am not. I see the grace and innocence of God that He sends His innocent Son to die for us!

By the way, I can’t believe I made a theological argument using Brittany Spears.

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Posted in Anger, Forgiveness, God, Grace, Holy, Judges | 1 Comment »

Day 90: Luke 2:21-40 — Old Dead Limb Or A New One Sprouting?

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

dead limbJoseph and Mary went about fulfilling the requirements of Jewish law. They had Jesus circumcised and named (Luke 2:21); Mary was purified (Luke 2:22); they took Jesus to Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord and offered a sacrifice (Luke 2:22-23); and they received God’s blessing at the temple (Luke 2:27-32). These rituals of commitment to God’s law appear to be a blessing for this young family. It is not the place of Jesus’ birth that seems to be important. It is not the wealth or status of the family that presents the King of Kings. Instead, there was just this ordinary couple going about doing the things of God. Here in this story of Jesus being presented at the temple is a nugget of the Gospel story. In Luke 2:34-35, we find that Jesus will be a sign. A sign of what? Later in Luke 11:29-30, we find that just as the sign of Jonah was judgment against Nineveh, the sign of Jesus will bring judgment to this generation. In Matthew 12:39-41, the sign is Jonah in the belly of the big fish for three days. As Jonah was spit out or vomited up, death will not hold Jesus and He will rise. I wonder what would happen if we were content to live our lives according to God’s Word? Would we find blessings along the way in the people we meet? Would we find the Gospel story of grace and judgment?

I was out in the yard working this past week. Clearing the old dead limbs out of tress. Some just hung there rotting away. I notice new limbs sprouting with new life. In this ordinary act of everyday work, I began to see grace and judgment. There was judgment as I cut the old limbs and threw them off in a burn pile. They had long been separated from the real live branch. I saw grace in the new life beginning to grow as spring approaches. I was left wondering which one was I?

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Posted in Discipleship, God, God's Word, Jesus, Luke | 1 Comment »

Day 64: Numbers 8:5-22 — Salvation

Friday, March 5th, 2010

waterI have a preacher friend from another tradition that likes to tease me. When he sees me, he will say something like, “Hey Randy, you still baptizing people or have you learned about grace?” I will answer back something like, “Yes, grace has taught me to baptize.” I don’t think we will ever come to terms with this but when I read our text from Numbers 8:5-22, it makes me think about why cleansing is so important to God. I mean God has already shown His grace to the people by saving them from the Egyptians. He brought them out of Egypt and saved them from Pharaoh at the crossing of the Red Sea. Well then after He shows them His grace, why does He give them the Ten Commandments, expect them to build a tabernacle, and then in our reading tell the people to cleanse themselves for purification of sins? In this long list of things to do, never do the people question God’s grace nor his commandments.

Next time, I see my friend, I am going to yell, “you still telling people to call on the name of Jesus to be saved or have you learned of grace?” I mean if grace saves us why do we need faith, or to call on the name of Jesus, or confess, or repent, or be baptized, or to give money, or to live morally? It seems to me if we understand grace then we understand judgment. The just thing for God to do is to annihilate us from the face of the earth. I mean we have all sinned. We are all guilty. Yet, Jesus died for our sins and saved us from our sins. Jesus is so much greater than the sacrifice and purification in the Old Testament in our reading. I think His call for us to obey His Word today is even greater.

I believe that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). I confess Him (Romans 10:9-10) and call upon His name (Romans 10:13), I repent of my sins (Acts 2:38), and I submit my body to be immersed (buried in water – Colossians 2:12) into Christ (Galatians 3:26-27). I believe that coming up out of that grave of water, that I am born again (John 3:3-5). I am forgiven of past sins (Acts 2:38 and Acts 22:16). I am saved (1Peter 3:21 and Mark 16:16). I am added to the church which Jesus built (Matthew 16:18, Acts 2:41, and Acts 2:47). I have received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as a seal of my salvation (Acts 5:32, Ephesians 1:13-14, and Romans 8:9-11). I am called to live a life worthy of Christ everyday (Ephesians 4:1-6).

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Posted in Baptism, Cross, Discipleship, faith, Forgiveness, God, Grace, Numbers, Repentance, Salvation, Sin | Comments Off