SAYING "SORRY" IS NOT ENOUGH

There was a time in childhood when one of the hardest things in life was to say “sorry” to someone I offended or harmed, usually one of my brothers.  My parents would order me to say the word that seemed stuck in my throat.  Then as children as now with adults, “Sorry” was often mistaken at that moment as an  apology.  It’s not an apology.  It’s an expression of regret for a long list of reasons:  I’m sorry I got caught; I’m sorry I’m to blame; I’m sorry you’re angry at me; I’m sorry I got myself into this situation; and I’m sorry I hurt you.  It’s hard saying it because of pride.  Even when we finally say it, it’s not enough.  It doesn’t guarantee that it won’t happen again.  In “sorry” there is no check against future misbehavior or harm.  What’s needed is not regret, but repentance.

Repentance is a good thing.  It's a new beginning.  It is making a complete change; it’s a 180-degree turn going in the opposite direction and not looking or going back.  It’s going in the direction that Christ is going. It is a matter of the will. It is moving away from the self-will that runs contrary to the love of God. It is aligning self-will to Christ’s will which is always loving and kind.  John Wesley puts it like this:

Sooner or later after he is justified, the believer feels self-will, a will contrary to the will of God.  Now a will is an essential part of the nature of every intelligent being, even our blessed Lord Himself.  But His human will was always subject to the will of His Father.  The case with even true believers in Christ is that they frequently find their will more or less exalting their self-will with all their might, and thus they continue in the faith.

But self-will, as well as pride, is a species of idolatry.  Both are directly contrary to the love of God, as is the love of the world. . . If one does not continually watch and pray, he feels the strongest urges toward loving the creature (self) more than the Creator . . .  (In the pursuit of one’s self will) he is prone to forget God.  And for this, even the true believer needs to repent.[1]

“Sorry” is not enough. When it’s only “sorry,” it’s a good sign that the self-will is out of alignment with the God’s will.  It's time to change and to walk with him in loving-kindness and in the strength He provides to confess, repent, follow Christ in the direction of loving kindness, and forgive.

[1] Renew My Heart: John Wesley, (Barbour Publishing: Uhrichsville, Ohio), 2011, pp.214&215.

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THE GOSPEL IN SHORT OR SHORT SHRIFTED?

Jesus Christ came from the Father as pure, holy love incarnate, lived, loved, and laid down his life on the cross for our sins, resurrected and went back to the Father, gave himself to us again as the Holy Spirit and now gives us grace and power to live for Him restoring us to his likeness, the Imago Dei.

There are six distinct points in the Gospel In Short.  Anything less is the Gospel short shrifted:

THE GOSPEL IN SHORT 

• ·      Jesus Christ came from the Father as pure, holy love incarnate,
• ·      lived, loved, and laid down his life on the cross for our sins,
• ·      resurrected and went back to the Father,
• ·      gave himself to us again as the Holy Spirit
• ·      and now gives us grace and power to live for Him
• ·      restoring us to his likeness, the Imago Dei.

Hollywood portrays the Gospel story as only the first two points and usually (almost always) leaves out the third point, the resurrection and ascension.  The church mostly celebrates the first three points.  The two big events in the Christian calendar are Christmas and Easter.  The exercise of faith by many Christians takes the form of intellectual belief in the historical validity of the first three points. As a result, the Christian life remains only a set of cognitive ascents of belief regarding the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. This is the Gospel short shrifted.  It's like sharing only half the loaf of the Bread of Life. It is a Gospel that occasions only half the blessing of salvation when our salvation is not only from sin, but also to "the measure of the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19), holiness.

 

The tragedy of Christianity, especially in the West, is that too often only half of the Gospel story is understood, taught, and shared with others.  The fourth, fifth, and sixth points are ignored.  How is that possible when the gift of the Holy Spirit by the Father and the Son is huge?  In a Trinitarian perspective, the indwelling Holy Spirit is yet another way that God comes to us with a desire that we become complete and one with Him and with each other in Him.  Why ?  So that His unending, inexhaustible  pure and holy love can continue to be lavishly poured out into our lives giving us power over sin to live for Him.  In the context of his Holy Spirit dwelling in us, He restores us to what He envisioned from the very beginning, that we would be like Him in essence, holy love.

This is the full Gospel message.  It is a message about God’s heart for humanity.  For God so loved the world . . . By God’s grace, we must live and pass on the whole Gospel message.  We must share all of the Bread of Life.  Anything less is a half-hearted response to God’s love. 

Spirit of the Living God

Fall fresh on me. . .

Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me;

Spirit of the Living God

Fall Fresh on me.

THE RIVER OR THE SWAMP

The center of Christian discipline is this:  “The love of Christ constrains me,” or “narrows me.  The difference between a swamp and a river is that a river has banks, and a swamp has none – it spreads over everything.  Civilizations organize themselves around rivers.  Some people are like rivers.  They know where they want to go, and they confine themselves to the banks that lead to the goal.  But some people are swamps: they spread over everything; their minds are so open they cannot hold a conviction; they are everything and nothing. . . Paul could say, “This one thing I do.”  They can say, “These forty things I dabble in.”  Paul left a mark.  They leave a blur.

-       E. Stanley Jones

Like the banks of the river, when we commit ourselves to the constraining love of Christ, such discipline occasions habits of the heart.  Such habits constrain us. Jesus’ commitment to the love of the Father resulted in three disciplined habits:  1) He read the Word of God.  Luke’s gospel (4:16) reads that it was his custom to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath where he would stand up and read the scriptures.  2) He frequently sought solitude to pray. “He went into the mountain to pray as was his custom.”  And 3) He shared what he had and what he gained through the Scriptures and prayer.  In John 17:14, Jesus says in his prayer to the Father, “I have given them your Word,” and in 17:22, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.”  In the life of Christ, The River of Life is one of disciplined habit.  In this way, the love of Christ constrains.  If we love Him, we will exercise the disciplines of prayer, reading the Word of God, and sharing the Truth with others.

E. Stanley Jones says in his autobiography, A Song of Ascents,

 “Long before I had discovered these three things in the Scriptures, I say this instinctively (or was I led by the Spirit or both): the deep ingrained necessity of these three simple habits. So I fixed them deep into habit; they became part of me.”

O, God our Father.  The swamp is not the place for me.  I want to move with you in the River of Life.  Your grace takes the form of constraining love.  You show me the way to my only realistic response to your great love for me.  I confess it takes time and discipline to form core habits.  I ask for more grace to strengthen my resolve to love you more and to reflect that love in the life-changing habits after the likeness of my Lord, Jesus.  Amen!

AND NOW THE REST OF THE STORY . . .

I confess frustration when a suspenseful TV program peaks in the story line and then onto the screen comes the words, “To Be Continued.”  Ugh!  I want to know the rest of the story now!  I don’t want to wait a whole week to see how it turns out.

In 1976, Paul Harvey became a well-known radio personality for his program “And Now the Rest of the Story.”  In each broadcast, Harvey began the most engaging stories.  Then he left his listeners hanging while the program cut to the sponsor’s commercial.  It was a brilliant marketing ploy.  Then, he was back to finish the story by saying, “And now the rest of the story."  The ending was always a surprise.  It was great entertainment.

If you are of a certain age, you may remember the 1965 movie “The Greatest Story Ever Told.”   It was one of many Hollywood portrayals of the life of Christ right through the crucifixion and resurrection.  Where was Paul Harvey when that script was written (and so many other movie scripts of the same genre)?  The audience only gets half of the story.  What about the rest?  The good news of the Gospel doesn’t end with the resurrection or Christ’s ascension.  There’s more!

For the rest of the story, read the book of Acts.  The Anglican pastor and author, John Stott, writes that it is not really the “Acts of the Apostles.”  Rather Acts chronicles “The continuing work of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit through the church to the world.”  How that happens is captured in the writings of the Apostle Paul (Ephesians 3:16-21).  That’s the rest of the story.

But wait, that’s not all.  The story continues.  The work is not finished.  The rest of the story is still being written in and through our lives.  We are the rest of the story.  The story is still being written!  Thanks be to God!

TROUBLED WITH CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES?

What do you do when you are troubled by circumstances; when the path suddenly changes; when life is not a steady state and change jumps out of the bushes and hits you over the head; when you are caught off guard and your life is forced to take a turn and direction that throws you out of your comfort zone; when what you thought was your spiritual “calling” takes a turn away from your plan; when you land you on a desert island of confusion and disappointment; when your joy is snuffed out and despair looms on the horizon? 

It is a dangerous, shaky existence when your joy is based on remaining in certain circumstances; when your position in life seems settled; when the company you keep or position you hold is the source of your happiness, emotional well-being and  joy.  Circumstances change.  The only thing that changes not is the high probability that life will change.  Inevitably, change will occasion a sense of loss. What do you do when you are overwhelmed by changing circumstances and feel the sting of loss: loss of a loved one, loss of capacity, loss of home or health, loss of position or job?  How do you grieve over your loss, but still maintain your joy?

The chances are great that you can’t do it on your own.  If your joy is found in the circumstances you were settled into and now you are facing change, if the ground has shifted and the wind that was in your sails now blows in another direction, you need help.  When the disciples of Jesus were together in a boat on the Sea of Galilee and a great storm blew up, they were afraid.  They thought they might drown.  Jesus stood up and calmed the sea.  Their joy and peace were restored.  When Christ was crucified and the disciples were gathered in one place fearful of further violence and aggression, the risen Christ appeared and said to them. “Peace be with you.”  Their joy and peace were restored.

Our joy cannot be grounded in our circumstances.  Circumstances change.  Joy must be found in Jesus who said “My joy may be in you, and your joy may be full.”  This is Christ’s desire regardless of our changing circumstances.  The joy of Christ is a full joy.  It is full of hope and promise, because God is love and He is faithful.  It is therefore a joy of fulfillment now and yet to come.  It is the joy of being in Christ and Christ in us.  In the words of E. Stanley Jones, “It is the joy that is joyous in certain circumstances, or without them; a joy that sings when it gets and when it doesn’t get.”

This is the time of year when people hear news of change.  Students hear about their acceptance or not into the university of their choice.  Faculty hear news of tenure and promotion or not.  Pastors hear news of new appointments to new venues of ministry.  It is in such times as these that we must guard against the Great Thief who delights in stealing our joy should our hopes go unfulfilled or circumstances of change seem overwhelming.  We remember that all circumstances are temporary and God is faithful.  

There’s joy in following Jesus all the way,

There’s joy in following Jesus every day;

His love is like the rainbow when earthly skies are grey;

There’s joy in Following Jesus all the way.