"but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him" - 1 corinthians 1:27-29
when i was a small child, we used to sing this song "Jesus loves me" it's a simple and familiar tune to many. i even learned to play it on accordion. in the lyrics it says "i am weak but He is strong", and as a kid i remembered this bugged me a little. i mean, i know i was a kid, but even then i didn't want to admit that i was weak. i wanted to be strong!
and yet this is the very thing that we must become as followers of Christ. it is a paradigm, but in our weakness, we become strong.
"but he (God) said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. therefore i will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me" - 2 corinthians 12:9
God's perfection made complete in my weakness. not to elevate me in the eyes of man or bring glory to my abilities, but to show off the power of God, that He should receive glory. for as it is also written,
“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” - james 4:6so in the same way, as the apostle paul said "that is why, for Christ’s sake, i delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. for when i am weak, then i am strong" - 2 corinthians 12:10
i delight in weaknesses? insults, hardships and persecutions? really? is this what the church likes? do we really welcome these things when they come? hmm. it seems like we're still on the road on this. still holding on to our rights instead of letting go of them for the sake of Christ. weakness. be strong in and through me Lord Jesus. allow me to be a fool for you, used for your glory. allow me to be weak so that your strength is shown in and through me.
"once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. but now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation" - colossians 1:21-22
a friend of mine, a pastor was recently being interviewed by a reporter about going to the game today in san francisco. the reporter called him a "holy" man in the article, and i laughed when i read this. he was separating my friend from the rest of us because of his job as a pastor and labeling him holy. and i was struck by the inadequacy of this statement. as if, because of his career or training, any of us could claim to be holy. what does it even mean anyway? my dictionary defines holy as "specially recognized as or declared sacred by religious authority" but whose authority? a church? some guy? no. there is only one who can make any of us holy. it's the one who was without sin.
"God made him [Christ] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."-2 corinthians 5:2
a Holy man. the only true holy man by choice and deed.
Jesus, the Son of God, . . . "has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin."-Hebrews 4:14, 15and so it is because of His work alone, not because of anything that i have done. let me say that again. i have done nothing to draw me closer to God except to receive the work of holiness that Jesus Himself has made possible. do you get it? you must understand that all of your previous efforts to make yourself holy and presentable to God, or worse, your efforts to elevate yourself as God are a failure. you are a failure, without Christ. and even though His blood is on mine and your hands, we have the opportunity to be reconciled to God through His only son Jesus. we dirty rags have an opportunity to be called holy.
why do i believe that Jesus alone is savior? because, as someone brilliantly replied "he is the only one who showed up to save". to believe in and put my faith in Christ, to take Him fully at His word. "i am the way and the truth and the life. no one comes to the Father (God) except through me." if i did not believe that i needed a savior, i would be like those pharisees who when asking Him why He ate with sinners, He replied "it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick" it is not those who are safe on board the ship who need saving, but the drowning. and did i even recognize this? until i saw my own pitiful state of failure in attempts to save myself, i could never call out for help.
or maybe i did. maybe in my floundering i recognized the savior and call out for help. and when he pulled me aboard the ship maybe i found that i didn't care for the savior's terms. "what? i owe you my life? are you kidding, forget it." and jumped back into the deep. but certainly this is foolishness. it is my rebellion, in hopeless attempts to redeem myself. failure. death. and it is also certain that the Savior dictates the terms of my redemption. "come with me if you want to live" He says.
when i was a kid i saw a prize on the back of a box of capn' crunch. it was a little treasure box. there were instructions for how to "redeem" your prize by sending money. as a kid it cost me something to get my prize. i had to give up something to own something else. and so it is with me. my life is not my own. it has been purchased. i have been redeemed. i have been saved.
"faith is the victory" read the words of the old hymn. and as in the words from that title, borrowed for this little project, it also says "we tread the road the saints above with shouts of triumph trod" reminding me that i too am a part of that "great cloud of witnesses" the author of the book of hebrews describes.
and although i have sometimes identified with tolstoy when he said "if i know the road home and walk along it drunken, tottering from side to side, does that prove that the path along which i am walking is not the true one?" i know too that as i walk by faith and not by sight on this journey, that God's word remains the only working lamp to illuminate my darkness.
but this faith is a continuing mystery to me. i continue to believe in what is not seen, and to hope for what is to come. and when i meditate on the very word i even wonder what is this faith, and from where is it supplied? for certainly in my own meager intellect i could not alone grasp it, hang on to it, like an anchor in the raging sea. but it is mine, a gift from the Creator. like a handshake made in the darkness. and so, like the apostles i ask for more of it! increase my faith in you Jesus. because you alone came to save us. and may it be said about me when i'm gone by the saints who remain, "the faith by which he conquered death is still our shining shield". faith is the victory.
i've been thinking out loud in my head for some time now. God gives me these things to meditate on and consider, and they roll around in there like a rock one finds while walking. you pick one up and roll it around in your hand a while, and take it somewhere new. and when you're done you deposit it back on the ground again and it has changed places. and perhaps, it has helped changed you too.
anyway that was the idea for beginning this project. that i am on that road. that God gives us all things to consider and meditate on. what we do with them. sometimes it's just one word. whispered in our inner ear. "faith". listen. if you don't stop and listen, you'll miss it.
