Active not Absent

Active not Absent

Lent 2016 (C) 2016-03-18: Reading the Lectionary with my family
(I encourage you to read the full text. Hold me accountable if you feel it has not been handled well. It is what Scripture means when it says to wrestle with the Bible and mentally struggle with it and inwardly digest it.)

In the passages today, it seems all the big God themes communicated by God in Scripture are brought into play: love, sin, judgment, atonement, sanctification, justification, and mission are all present! The big idea for today is that God is not absent; God is active and present! God is Immanuel. It is a word we do not often hear this time of year - yet it remains amazingly appropriate. God is with us in the joys and sorrows, at the heights and in the pit, and in the meadow or the mud.

The joy we find as we wrestle with these passages and unpack all these themes is that we have a God who is present and involved instant by instant in our lives, who seeks our personal salvation and the return of His people.

A number of years ago Bishops of a large denomination seemed to notice "the Church is in trouble." First, the "Church" is not in trouble. What was in trouble was a human bureaucratic organization that called itself "Church" that had lost its way because it had lost its focus and because it had turned away from its foundational purpose. That said, a number of Bishops took up the torch and in fancy philosophical rhetoric defined the problem, articulated a plan and then requested regular reports from pastors and congregations on how things were progressing. While the Bishops remained distant overseers of a plan for church revival, congregations across the country met to formulate a response to these plans.  During one completely boring and lifeless meeting, my mind wandered back to a business meeting years before where a client in desperate attempts to ward off bankruptcy called in consultants. These consultants spoke in fancy lingo telling everyone that there was a problem (which was actually very obvious) and laid out theoretical plans for solving the problem. They were vague on precisely what must be done and how, but were clear on the benchmarks and targets we must meet to avert bankruptcy. In that meeting, my mind again wandered back to a high school basketball coach. In the dying minutes of a game, he was drawing up plans on his chalkboard. With  x's and o's and lines and arrows, he was blocking shots and making passes and it was wonderful; the problem was our team was short, maybe 5'11" average; the other team was huge with nobody under 6'. It seems our "Churches" are full of coaches, consultants, and overseers but sadly lacking Christ following Gospel workers.

So I really had a good laugh the first time I saw this:

(if the link will not work click here)

Here is the thrust of the message in our readings today. We don't hear of a god proposing unrealistic plays, giving vague advice, consulting in the abstract or demanding unattainable results - we experience The God who steps right into human history, right into our lives and does precisely what needs to be done. Our God actively executed the play at the Cross and He walks with us in working out our salvation. God does not propose an abstract - God works with us in life and He draws us into His work. If we trust Him and do His work He transforms us individually and through us, He transforms others. The Body of Christ must reflect our present and active God; each of us must walk the walk in the footsteps of our Saviour.

God calls us to walk with Him - even if the path is hard and dark. Are we prepared to walk the Way of our Christ? Is it yes or is it no?

For today's full-text click here