Grace

Ransomed

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For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

I think it was one of my favorite authors, Buddy Owens, who said, when reading Scripture, read “for depth, not distance.” And when a word “pops” out at me, one of my favorite ways of doing that… of digging deeper and allowing God to whisper to me… is to look up that word in the dictionary.

As I read the verse above, the word that stood out to me was “ransom.” It’s a word that’s not heard nowadays unless I’m watching a movie or TV show involving a kidnapping or the like. So I looked up the definition:

Ran’-som (n.) a consideration paid or demanded for the release of someone or something from captivity. A sum of money or a price demanded and paid for the release of a prisoner.

Okay. So what? But then I let my mind wander… “Captivity”…. Jesus came to set the captives free… I know that Scripture… but set “free” from what?

It’s here that I think of what we all need to be set free from. Sin. Yes, of course. But that seems so… religious. It’s so vague. So general. So religious.

Then I think about my own life. What is at the root of all my sin? Self. Plain and simple. Self. Self-absorption. Selfishness. Self-pity. I want to do things MY way. I have my plans and my agenda. I want. I need. Self. Self is at the root of all sin, both mine and yours. It was self that caused the Original Sin. Not only the fall of Adam and Eve but the ORIGINAL original sin.

When Lucifer, God’s original worship leader, fell from grace, it was because he wanted to set himSELF up to be like God. (See Isaiah 14) And when Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation, they became convinced that God wasn’t watching out for their best interest, and they knew what was best for themSELVES. I am not so different.

I need to be set free from my self. I need to be set free from that thing inside me that thinks that God isn’t looking out for my best interests… which thinks that God can’t be trusted to take care of ALL my needs: physical, emotional, financial, sexual, relational, amd spiritual needs… I need to be set free from that thing inside me that thinks I can handle all of that myself.

But the ransom has been paid. The price has been paid. In full. Once and for all. At the Cross, Jesus paid the price for you and me. I know that, but how does that set me free? Jesus came to give us life and life abundantly (John 10:10). That abundant life is a life free of having to do it all myself. I don’t have to fulfill all those needs myself. God does it for me in Christ. He sets me free from mySELF by living inside of me. As I allow Him to do so, His thoughts become my thoughts. His heart becomes my heart. And from that, His ways become my ways.

It doesn’t happen overnight and at times, it seems like I take one step forward with Him, and two steps back with my SELF. But He knows how I’m made. He knows I desire to be free.

His grace carries me yet again and this one-time prisoner walks forever free.

I need to be reminded…

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Maybe its just a trait of the generation that preceded mine, but I grew up in a fairly strict household. As I think about it, maybe it wasn’t strict. But I was constantly on the lookout for my dad’s temper. Don’t get me wrong: he instilled really good traits in me: I was raised to work hard, think about others, and work hard. Oh wait. I said that. But if I strayed off course, I’d have to answer for it. And that was scary because dad had a bad temper. That was something else he “instilled” in me.

So when I screw up nowadays – either by accident, or on purpose by rebelling – my “default” setting is to be on guard, looking out for God’s anger and temper. I feel like I have to look out for a “hammer” coming from the hand of my heavenly Father.

I can remember a time, when I lived in Roanoke, before I knew God, when I got caught out on the golf course during a lightning storm. Somehow, I knew instinctively that I wasn’t living a pleasing life. I was in a panic, thinking that God was going to punish me and was going to literally send a lightning bolt.

But as I think about that, I realize that is Old Testament thinking. That is what Job’s friends thought when Job was enduring the onslaught of tragedies that came his way. That was the kind of thinking his disciples wrongly had when they asked Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” (See John 9:2) Yes, God disciplines those he loves, but he does so as a father does a son he DELIGHTS in (Proverbs 3:12, Hebrews 12:7). He does it to shape us and mold us into the image of His Son.

I have to remind myself that he desires to be merciful (Hosea 6:6, Matt 9:13) to me and you. His “default” setting is love, grace and mercy. (James 2:13) A time is coming when He will judge, because He is a holy and just God. The tragic time is coming for that. But as we seek to walk in His ways, He isn’t looking for an opportunity to scold us and punish us when we mess up. He’s not looking to send a lightning bolt.

Lastly, He is not mad at you and me. We may screw up, but He knows how we were made. He delights that we are seeking to draw close to Him. He delights that we think about Him. He delights in the fact that we are trying to walk in His ways. He is not mad at us.

The Gospel is called the Good News. It is good news for everyone. It is good news for the wayward prodigal looking to come home. It is good news for the one (like me once) who is falling off his barstool. And it is STILL good news for you and me today.

He is not mad at you. He delights in you. That is Good News.

Surrendered to Love

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I’ve been thinking about the term “Sanctification” recently. It’s term used by certain denominations within the Christian church which means, in essence, totally sold-out or surrendered to the Lordship of Christ in your life. It’s turning over the reins of all aspects of your life to God. It happens both in a moment in time and over a span of time. It is an instantaneous occurance and a process. It can be interchanged with the words or phrases “consecrated” and “baptized in the Holy Spirit”, depending on the denomination. I’m sure there’s other terms for it as well.

But I’ve come to understand it in a new way recently.

I used to believe that when I surrendered fully to God in my life, I was fully sanctified. I wanted to be his vessel to use as He wished. I still do. But it seemed like it depended on my degree of surrender. It seemed like it depended on me. It seemed like it depended on my effort.

We sing “I Surrender All” in our church services. In fact, we sang it yesterday. Surrender or yielding to God’s will and God’s ways certainly must happen. But what I don’t understand is how there can be differing degrees of surrender. Maybe some of you can chime in with your thoughts.

What I’ve been “yielding” to recently or “surrendering” to is God’s overwhelming love for me (and you). It is an amazing love that has nothing to do with you and me, because, I don’t know about you, but I can be quite un-loveable at times. It is a love that depends solely on the Lover. It is so irrational, so incomprehensible, and so amazing. Once I really understood and meditated on that kind of love… once I got that deep down inside me… and I mean DEEP down… it transformed me. And now it’s working its way out.

As I stated yesterday, I’ve re-discovered grace. I’ve found that I don’t have to “be a better Christian” to have God love me any more than He already does. I don’t have to do anything to have Him accept me more than He already does. I can rest. There is tremendous freedom in that.

The funny thing is: It doesn’t “free” me to live my life any “looser”. I don’t feel like I can get away with anything and then ask for God’s forgiveness. On the contrary, it is a freedom that compels me to live my life totally for Him. It makes me “sold-out” by default. There’s no effort involved. I just “am.” As you can tell, I almost can’t explain it.

One or more denominations refer to sanctification as a “second work of grace”. Well then, by definition, it is a gift. There is nothing I can do to earn it. It is a gift that God gives. The only thing I think I’m surrendered to is God’s unconditional acceptance of me and unbelieveable love for me.

If that makes me “sanctified”, then I need to go into Staples and hit the button that says, “That was easy!”

Buried Treasure

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Did you hear of the couple in California who were digging in their backyard and found a huge collection of gold coins throught to be worth $10 million? Of course you did. How about the 100-year old baseball card collection found in the attic worth over $500,000? Astounding.

Have you ever found something like that? No, not something worth millions or even several thousands of dollars, but something that you didn’t know was there or forgot was there, and when you found it, it was like you discovered it for the very first time? Maybe some old clothes or old photographs of your children? I found something recently and it was like I discovered it for the very first time.

I was raised by parents who valued acheivement and good grades. They were both high achievers themselves and they instilled a work ethic into me and into my two older brothers. We knew the value of hard work. We still do. But when we wanted to rebel, we would get lazy. I can still remember the first time I purposely didn’t do my homework in 5th grade. What a sick feeling I had in my stomach as the bus approached the school!

Until recently, I still felt sick when I failed. When I failed to live up to expectations – either my self-imposed perfectionism or someone else’s – I still had this empty feeling. Truth-be-told, I imagine there are others out there like me.

But over the past several months, I discovered something that was “buried” in my “attic”. And that something is grace.

It’s not that I’ve been rebellious or have fallen into some pit of sin. I haven’t. It’s just that I’ve discovered grace as if for the very first time. No, I haven’t discovered God’s forgiveness for the very first time; I’ve known that and experienced that and am so thankful for that.

What I’ve discovered is that I don’t have to do ANYTHING to experience God’s acceptance and love. I don’t have to “get my act together.” I don’t have to “get serious” about my faith… I’ve already been plenty serious, believe me. I don’t have to “step-it-up” or “take it up another notch” or “double my efforts” or any other cliche you’ve heard before. Jesus has already done all that’s necessary by (literally) His own blood, sweat, and tears. I don’t have to work for it. The work’s already been done. I’ve discovered my utter dependence on Jesus and this loving grace. And utter dependence IS OKAY. Actually, there’s no better place to be. Again, this flies in the face of “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” thinking.

This “discovery” or re-discovery has been life-changing. It has been so liberating, especially for the perfectionist like me, always trying to get good grades. And it compels me to live only for Him. It compels me to give my all for Him.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Matthew 13:44)

Incidentally, this kind of liberating grace is annoying to the legalists, those who are still trying to measure performance (either their own or someone else’s). If it rubs you the wrong way, ask yourself (as I did), “How do I measure my righteousness?” Is it by something you do – prayer, Bible-reading, serving, etc.? Or is it only by the blood of Jesus? The blood of Jesus is the only thing that makes you righteous. It’s the only thing that matters.

That, in itself, is liberating. I guess that’s why it’s called Good News.