This morning I read of the death of a man from our church who I never met. Rusty began coming to North City last summer, but he has been in the hospital for most of the time since then. Brent and I never went to visit him. It was one of those things where he didn't seem quite real. I prayed for him, and I always thought we should make time and go encourage him. But we didn't.
In the past few days I have also read about five people getting slaughtered in a lecture hall with a shotgun, and about a NY therapist being butchered in her office with a meat cleaver. A few days ago a woman was stabbed five times in the Nordstrom parking lot of our local mall during broad daylight.
My point here is not to stir up guilt about the Rustys in your life—the people you should make time for, but consistently don’t—or to strike fear in your heart about meeting some gruesome and untimely end. My point is not even to bemoan the evilness of the present age. This is a call to wake up and run. There is very little time!
Most of us live out our days in relative ease, placated with the stuff of this life. (You have struggles, to be sure, but the fact that you have internet access and the time to read this blog suggests you aren’t out fighting for food or clothing or shelter.) We don’t think that TODAY might be the day when our lives will be required. Or maybe the life of that curmudgeonly man in the office next door.
I write now to my brothers and sisters in Christ: we cannot afford to finger our doubts, to worry what other people think, or to put off the really important things. We must not be deceived that our purpose in this life, which is "to glorify God and enjoy him forever" (Westminster Catechism, Q1), can be actualized by anything less than an all-consuming love of God that manifests itself as a radical, operative love of our fellow man.
What’s more, while our salvation does come by grace through faith alone, our obedience to the Prince of Peace is not optional the way nuts are optional when you make brownies: no, action and self-sacrifice are essential. I can say I love the Lord six hundred times in a day, but if I ignore what he asks me to do, I really do not love him. Friends, he has told us to tell the Good News and make disciples of all the nations. What are we going to do?
I said earlier my point was not to stir up guilt or fear. But let’s distinguish between the self-focused, self-preserving kind of guilt and fear that becomes an unproductive end in itself, and the God-centered, holy kind of guilt and fear that moves us to repentance and provokes us to action. This latter variety may feel uncomfortable, but it is good. Hear then my exhortation: let these powerful motivators change the way you do one thing today. Show honor to someone who doesn’t deserve it. Take care of someone who can’t take care of you in return. Open your mouth at the lunch table and tell people who Jesus is. (But don’t ask me tomorrow what one thing I did; I am humbled by my own weakness, even as I write to charge you to be strong.)
God promises that if I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead, I will be saved (Romans 10:9). Let’s do be clear about that: I can in no way contribute to my salvation. But the Lord has wooed and washed me; will I just sit on the sidelines of love? I cannot bear the thought of going to my grave with energy left unspent! I imagine the words "Well done, good and faithful servant" will be spoken only to those who love and trust the Lord enough to attempt the hard things, like voluntarily giving up a particular gift he has given to be able to say, “The gift is good, but it’s the Giver I love.”
At the end of the day, though, I don’t think we need to worry too much about whether the sacrifices we are called to make will be too difficult for us. God’s grace is sufficient for the moment when you hear his voice calling. Also, there is joy in the sacrifice; a man will toil with joy if he knows it pleases his lover. So throw off the warm blanket of apathy that lets you ignore the homeless man on the corner when you don’t have anything smaller than a twenty in your wallet! Who cares if he may not really be homeless? Give the twenty and be blessed.
In the past few days I have also read about five people getting slaughtered in a lecture hall with a shotgun, and about a NY therapist being butchered in her office with a meat cleaver. A few days ago a woman was stabbed five times in the Nordstrom parking lot of our local mall during broad daylight.
My point here is not to stir up guilt about the Rustys in your life—the people you should make time for, but consistently don’t—or to strike fear in your heart about meeting some gruesome and untimely end. My point is not even to bemoan the evilness of the present age. This is a call to wake up and run. There is very little time!
Most of us live out our days in relative ease, placated with the stuff of this life. (You have struggles, to be sure, but the fact that you have internet access and the time to read this blog suggests you aren’t out fighting for food or clothing or shelter.) We don’t think that TODAY might be the day when our lives will be required. Or maybe the life of that curmudgeonly man in the office next door.
I write now to my brothers and sisters in Christ: we cannot afford to finger our doubts, to worry what other people think, or to put off the really important things. We must not be deceived that our purpose in this life, which is "to glorify God and enjoy him forever" (Westminster Catechism, Q1), can be actualized by anything less than an all-consuming love of God that manifests itself as a radical, operative love of our fellow man.
What’s more, while our salvation does come by grace through faith alone, our obedience to the Prince of Peace is not optional the way nuts are optional when you make brownies: no, action and self-sacrifice are essential. I can say I love the Lord six hundred times in a day, but if I ignore what he asks me to do, I really do not love him. Friends, he has told us to tell the Good News and make disciples of all the nations. What are we going to do?
I said earlier my point was not to stir up guilt or fear. But let’s distinguish between the self-focused, self-preserving kind of guilt and fear that becomes an unproductive end in itself, and the God-centered, holy kind of guilt and fear that moves us to repentance and provokes us to action. This latter variety may feel uncomfortable, but it is good. Hear then my exhortation: let these powerful motivators change the way you do one thing today. Show honor to someone who doesn’t deserve it. Take care of someone who can’t take care of you in return. Open your mouth at the lunch table and tell people who Jesus is. (But don’t ask me tomorrow what one thing I did; I am humbled by my own weakness, even as I write to charge you to be strong.)
God promises that if I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead, I will be saved (Romans 10:9). Let’s do be clear about that: I can in no way contribute to my salvation. But the Lord has wooed and washed me; will I just sit on the sidelines of love? I cannot bear the thought of going to my grave with energy left unspent! I imagine the words "Well done, good and faithful servant" will be spoken only to those who love and trust the Lord enough to attempt the hard things, like voluntarily giving up a particular gift he has given to be able to say, “The gift is good, but it’s the Giver I love.”
At the end of the day, though, I don’t think we need to worry too much about whether the sacrifices we are called to make will be too difficult for us. God’s grace is sufficient for the moment when you hear his voice calling. Also, there is joy in the sacrifice; a man will toil with joy if he knows it pleases his lover. So throw off the warm blanket of apathy that lets you ignore the homeless man on the corner when you don’t have anything smaller than a twenty in your wallet! Who cares if he may not really be homeless? Give the twenty and be blessed.
4 comments:
Amen, darling, amen... Just the message I needed to hear today
Me too--just what I needed to hear the other day when I first read this, and just what I needed to hear today. In fact, probably just what I need to hear every day. . . .
well said. we've been studying philemon, and this seems too near what paul is writing: 4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints
...love and faith towards christ and the saints
Kat and Brent - Your ever-growing faith astounds me and your challenge is what needs to be said and what everyone needs to hear. I've been catching up with your blog site since you are so far away from Columbus, OH. I've just started reading a book by Jerry Bridges with a friend called " Respectable Sins - Confronting the Sins we Tolerate" and one of the first "respectable/acceptable" sins is ungodliness - living one's life with little or no thought of God, God's will, God's glory, or one's dependence on God. That was a powerful chapter for me and your blog has reaffirmed it as well. Keep posting and I'll try to keep reading!
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