Sunday Thoughts

So this morning was an interesting place to be. I'm sure we all have moments when we feel as if we're re-reading an idea we already have grasped, or that the author of whatever we're reading has given a challenge we've already accomplished. This morning was filled with those.

First of all was the challenge to read several passages, all having something referring to a mountain and to a challenge of sacrificing ourselves to God. These are to be looked at in light of the challenge in Romans 12:1 to offer ourselves up as a living sacrifice. For those of you who know me well, this past year has been one of learning to surrender more and more each day, with each decision and trial. Got it covered, my thoughts would say as I entered into this challenge. But, since I committed to doing each challenge laid before me, I followed through. What I learned from each passage was not necessarily about submission, but about the faith of the person in the passage, and the lessons we don't learn from each one as we teach on the other lessons that we think are more important.

Abraham is asked to offer Isaac up as a sacrifice. (Genesis 22:1-14) Often we look to this passage to point to his life as not fully submitted to God, and therefore the need to offer that which he held most dear on the altar so that God could be proven to be his highest blessing. Though this is an important lesson we must learn, we miss the first part of the passage. God called to Abraham, and he answered "Behold, here I am." He was attentive to the voice of God! He was in relationship with Him so much that God only had to say his name, and he knew that he should answer. Then, when given instruction, he immediately obeyed, and walked forward with what he had to do. This is not about what we do, but being in relationship with God.

Which brings me to a thought that's been discussed in all of my mentoring relationships this week. The idea of righteousness, sin, and salvation is not about us at all. It's not about what we do, but it's completely about who God is, and the relationship He wants to have with us. To some of you, this is a "no duh" statement, but even though I have known this in my head, and experienced its truth, it still requires reminders along the journey. All of us need to be reminded of this as we walk our paths with Christ. It's not about what I do that is my salvation, it's about the relationship with Christ. This will no doubt lead to actions that are in line with His will, but everything is for the purpose of knowing God!

Abraham knew God. The story isn't about him walking in sin and needing to be reprimanded, it's about him listening to God's voice, following in obedience, and then being told by the angel that it was a test of who or what was most important to him. God already knew Abraham would submit, but I think maybe Abraham himself needed reminding that he was a man of faith, one who listened closely to the voice of God, and one who was ready to take action immediately whenever God spoke. I know I regularly need God to remind me of the new creation He has made of me, and that I am His!

The next passage was that of Mary being told that she would bear the Son of God (Luke 1:26-38). Mary was a woman who was often reflective about what was happening in her life. There are many times we read of her pondering something in her heart as she observed God at work in her life as well as that of Jesus, her son. The question that came to me here is one a little scary to me, because it questions traditional teachings about the birth of Christ and His sinless nature. I do not question that Christ was born of a virgin, nor do I question that He is completely without sin. What I do question is the notion that He is sinless because He was born of a virgin. I need to read a bit more of the Scriptures in the study of this, but for now what I've gleaned from this passage are two things:

A) Jesus is born and lives completely without sin because God is the Father. He is born of God, and therefore He is without sin.

B) The purpose of God choosing a virgin is so that there is no question about who the Father is. Those who knew Mary well, and knew her character, would know that she had not been with a man. They would trust her, no matter how much they didn't believe the story. Her character was stronger than the incredible story she told, and therefore she was to be trusted that it was as she said it was. If she were already married to Joseph, no one would have believed that she had conceived from the Holy Spirit because there would be a perfectly rational explanation for her pregnancy.

The final passage of this challenge was when Jesus took His disciples to the garden to pray just before He was crucified. Now up until this passage, something that occured to me is that with Abraham, as well as Mary, there is not angst. Sure, Mary knew how this would look to the world watching, and the implications and possibility of stoning. However, neither of these walked in fear or angst or worry as they walked forward. There may have been hidden feelings of these, but the text never points them out. Both obeyed, Abraham immediately taking action as it was commanded, and Mary submitting and considering herself the handmaiden of the Lord. (Note here: this is one of my life verses, Luke 1:38.) Neither of them put up a fight with God over the instructions He'd given them, and neither tried to think of another way that God might accomplish what He wanted. Simple obedience, full of faith.

Now we have Jesus...He is distressed! Whoa?! That's a 'negative' emotion, isn't it? Not very God-like, hmm? He pleads with the Father to let this cup pass, but then says "Your will be done." He knows what's going to happen to Him, and He's highly emotional about it. Here what I learn once again is that we are unwilling to attribute to God emotions we think are negative. We don't recognize that He created all emotions, and they can all serve a purpose. Here, we can relate to Jesus' suffering b/c we've all been in places where we don't want to go through the upcoming pain, even though we know it will accomplish something better than we have now.

The next phase of my learning this morning took place in church (Really?). Bert, our pastor, spoke on suffering this morning, and there's a lot here, so I'd like to point you to the church website (www.fccov.org) to listen to the sermon from there. He challenged us to enter into the suffering and engage it. As I look at Jesus' suffering, what it accomplished was to open a path to bring us back to a relationship with God. In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of good and evil, they were separated from the relationship they had with God. They were now walking in darkness, that place of lost direction. Jesus came so that we might walk with Him again, and that's what it's all about.

I may post more later about this morning, but for now, here's quite a bit to chew on already. Hope you are lifted up in the Lord today!

~MJ~