Part 12

My family and I were at the lake a few weekends ago celebrating my son’s birthday. I was sitting on the back porch early one morning reading, and just enjoying time to reflect on my life when two fishermen came by bass fishing. When I saw them something immediately resonated in my soul. It wasn’t the people, or their boat, or that I wished I was the one fishing; it was nostalgia, it sparked memories. 

I grew up fishing with my dad. Some of my fondest times with him were fishing on Lake West Point. We would get up early and drive, stop at the Huddle House to eat, and be on the water before the sun came up. It was great. Some days we would catch a lot, and some days we wouldn’t catch a thing, but we were always together fishing. Inside of me something was growing, a love of fishing and wonderful memories; something which will be with me the rest of my life. 

I enjoy taking my son fishing now. We go when it’s cooler outside. We go trout fishing and someday want to go to Alaska for salmon fishing. He loves it. And he is good at it. Something is growing inside of him also. Something which one day, when he is sitting on the back porch reflecting on life, will resonate with him also. We are making memories. 

I don’t think I can explain the feeling I got on the back porch. It was a feeling something was “right” with those guys fishing. It was a “I should be fishing” feeling. I get the same thing when it comes to hunting, or camping, or anything I loved to do when I was a kid. It is like there is something inside of me that knows I am supposed to do “that”, it’s in my soul. It’s part of me. Something in me remembers those times and longs to feel that again. 

I think you know the feeling I am talking about. It’s a feeling you get when you see something that feels like you were made to do “that”. Whatever “that” is. Maybe when you go to a football game you can feel the game coming back from childhood. Or maybe when you watch someone play the piano it takes you back to where you know you are meant to be. It’s strange, you can’t put a finger on it, but it’s there. That feeling is sparked by memories. 

Experiences make memories, and memories shape our life. History, our history, shapes everything about us. It makes us into the person we are. It shapes what we love, what we don’t love, how we react to people. Memory is a motivator. You can act on faith when you have memories. For instance I will fish one spot longer than another if I have had good luck in that spot in the past, because I have a memory in that spot.  

Memories also make that which we can’t see easier to believe. For instance, I love to go ride my mountain bike at Bull Mountain. There is a creek crossing there I have been over many times. In the middle of the creek there is a deep channel that will suck your tire under and throw you over the handlebars. However, there is one rock there in the middle; if you hit that rock just right it makes a bridge to scoot right across. I was recently riding up there after a rainy day. When I got to the creek crossing the water was up and muddy.  I could not see the rock, but I knew it was there; I had a memory of it being there. Without hesitation I went right across. Someone who had never been there would have gotten off and walked because they would not have known the rock was there. My memory gave me trust to have an experience. 

We also have a faith memory. It is the things God has done in our lives which brought about change. The thing about your faith memory however, is you are more apt to forget those. You are more apt to write those off because they are spiritual instead of physical. It’s easy to speak about seeing the fishermen reminding me of my dad and our memories; it’s quite different to tell about an experience with Jesus changing my life. I think what can happen is in the spiritual realm there is more room for doubt, or it's easier to forget because it isn't necessarily tangible. I can see the rock in the creek but I can’t see the Rock that leads me through my life. I can feel the rock under my tire but I can’t physically feel the Rock that I stand on every day. This can create a problem. 

So many times I think about the Israelites. I feel like they were idiots in a lot of ways. Think about it, God delivers them out of Egypt in a mighty and miraculous way. He not only gets them out of Egypt, they plunder the Egyptians as they are leaving. They take their gold and silver with them when they go. And when the Egyptians pursue them, God not only parts the Red Sea so Israel can walk across on dry land, he collapses the sea on Pharaoh and his army and kills them all. Now I don’t know about you, but I would consider that little story a miraculous deliverance! That would make one heck of a memory. You would think Israel would learn to trust God from it . . . you would think. 

As soon as Israel gets across the sea they start to complain and doubt. They complained about water, (Ex 15:24) they complained about food (Ex 16:2-3). Every time God provided and then Israel would find something else to complain about. Even after all of these miracles when it came time to take the promise land Israel decided the task was too big, even though God told them he would give them victory (Num 14). You would think after all this Israel would have all the faith in the world, you would think the memories they had would produce faith. 

Moses was constantly telling the people, “Remember the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt.” Over and over again in the Old Testament there was a calling to remember. When you remember you literally re – memory. You recall memories from the past. Moses was asking Israel to recall the memories of what God had done in the past and trust him to do it again. When faced with monumental tasks, Moses called them to remember. He wants them to rest in what God has already done so they can trust he can do it again. 

I find this at work in me. I am an idiot as well. I know what God has done. I have seen him provide when I had no idea where provision would come from. I have seen him heal when healing seemed impossible. I have seen him repair relationships when it seemed all was lost. Over and over I have seen God at work. But I still find myself doubting. I find myself thinking, “That was then, this is now” kind of thoughts. But if I will get still long enough I can feel myself get calm. I can feel the memories bringing me peace. 

It’s the times when God came through that will bring you the strength to take the next step forward. Many people get stagnant in their faith. They sit still. They don’t want to move forward. Because they forget. They forget all God has done and therefore lose sight of all he wants to do. God has worked in your life. He is also working and also wants to keep working until you are complete in Christ Jesus. Some of the steps God may ask you to take are scary. Some of the steps God may ask you to do seem crazy, like crossing a sea he promises to part, but the fact remains memories will get you through. Memories of what God has already done and can do. 

Sometimes when I leave these posts I feel as if I leave you empty handed, so today I want to give you something practical to do. I want you to go get a spiral notebook. I think they are 99 cents at Kroger. I want you to write down every time in your life when you remember God doing something. Then, daily, I want you to write the things God continues to do in your life. Because when things go bad, when faith seems to get thin, you can go back to memories, times when you and your Heavenly Daddy went fishing together, times when the Rock was in the center of the creek, and the peace of God can flow through you and relieve your anxiety. 

Part Eleven

We have been talking a lot about law, and obedience to the law.  Today, I want to talk about grace and how it interacts with the law.

How should God react to our sin when we break his law? Is there to be no consequence? Is He just supposed to say, “Aw shucks, it’s ok, don’t worry about it. Try and do better next time.” Is that just?  Is that holy? Is that righteous? Imagine someone broke into your house, stole your grandmother’s jewelry sold it all and got caught. The day of court comes and the judge says, “Aw shucks, it’s ok, don’t worry about it. Try and do better next time.” How would you feel? I would hope you would feel outraged! That’s not just! No just judge will let a criminal go no matter how miniscule the crime is.

The next logical thought in the world of Christianity is, “Yeah but Jesus paid the price for my sins, so God will not judge me for my sins.” Now this is very true, but this is also where grace gets sticky. So let me ask a logical question. Does forgiveness make one sin more?

Consider this scenario.

 Someone breaks into your house, steals your grandmother’s jewelry sells it all and gets caught. They go to court and you are there to hear the sentence.  The judge pronounces the thief guilty, the gavel falls, and the penalty is announced “Ten years in jail.” Just then the perpetrator’s father walks in and says, “I will take that penalty for him.” It turns out the man who broke into your house has 5 kids and a wife with a drug addiction and he is doing all he can to provide for them. He works two jobs. He used to be a thief and quit ten years ago but came out of retirement to provide for his family. His dad hears about his problem and steps in to take his place so he can continue to care for his family. Now what do you do? Well you still want justice, as you should. Someone has to pay for the wrong someone has to pay the price for stealing your grandmother’s jewelry which can’t be replaced. A price has to be paid for justice to be served.

The sentence has been passed.

Judgment has been made.

The righteous judge then allows the father to do the ten years and lets the son go free. We have quite a few questions don’t we.

First why should someone else be able to pay the price? Second, why should the guy’s story be taken into account? And finally how could a just judge let a guilty man walk free? One word. . . grace. There is no other explanation but grace. Grace allows someone else to pay the price, grace allows the story to be taken into consideration and grace lets the guilty man walk free. Grace. But you could say, “That’s not fair!” BINGO! It is not fair, it is grace! It is not fair, it is unmerited favor.

But now let’s deal with another problem, what if the guy walks out of the courtroom, goes down the street and breaks into another house and steals another grandmother’s jewelry? Now it’s getting really bad right? Why? Why would that outrage you so much? Because his dad is sitting in jail paying for his crime and he is out doing it again! The father does not deserve that. The first time this happened we could possibly understand, even if we didn’t like it, why a “stand in” was necessary, but now, now we say, “But you went and did the same thing again. The sacrifice was for nothing!” The dad sacrificed his life for the son but the son went right back and committed the crime again.

If the son would have felt the weight of the gift he had been given there is no way he would ever walk out the door and rob again. He would have been transformed by the power of forgiving grace, instead of feeling like he got away with it and could go do it again.

This is deep.

This is the making the eighteen inch journey from the head to the heart.

Check out this scary verse that has been translated a million different ways, “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of truth, there no longer remains sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of the judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.” (Hebrews 10:26-27) I have heard people say this is not saying what we think it is saying, but I think it is straightforward because of one word in there, “knowledge”. If we keep going into sin deliberately after we know what has been done for us there is nothing else that can be done for us. Knowledge creates belief and belief changes behavior.  If you truly believe Christ died for your sins, stood in your place and took the penalty, then you will not keep doing the same things over and over.

I realize this may bring even more difficulty. Paul said himself “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. . . For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” I get it, I truly do, (more than you know) but here comes the question, does “that” break your heart? Do you say what Paul said, “Wretched man I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Does the fact you keep doing what you are doing break your heart to the point you feel the weight of the sacrifice Jesus made for you? If you cannot feel that weight, then I am not sure you have fully understood grace.

I don’t think Jesus is as worried about what we do as much as he is worried about why we do what we do. If we keep doing what we do and it breaks our hearts when we do it then we are being transformed. If we keep doing what we do with no regrets then we have not understood exactly what Jesus did.

The simple truth is we all “steal grandmother’s jewelry”, we have all, as Christians, walked out of the courtroom with our penalty paid by our father, but the problem is we are prone to steal again. Is there progression though? Is there movement toward leaving the “old life”? Does that proneness bring you to tears at night? Does your ability to keep on sinning in spite of what Jesus did drive you toward him or away from him? That’s the issue. The life transforming power of Jesus is in the grace he has given us in spite of our guilt. It should drive us to Him.

I realize no matter what metaphor I try and use it will break down at some level. We are dealing with a mystery of God. He forgives over and over and over no matter how much we sin. But on the other hand we cannot just keep sinning as if we have a license to do so. There comes a point where the sacrifice of Jesus breaks us to the point of obedience. And obedience starts to bring blessing. I will save that for the next post.