The Grace-Filled Life. Maxie Dunnam
open to God's love if we continue to bitterly nurse our resentments against someone.
I recall a movie entitled Stars in My Crown. The story was especially powerful for one who grew up in the South and knew the integrity of the story, even if it wasn't truly biographical. An elderly black man owned a small, rather unproductive farm outside a Southern town. When some precious metals were discovered in the area, the land suddenly became valuable. Though many sought to buy it, the old man refused to sell. It was his land, his home, and he wanted to stay where he had spent his life. People did everything they could to force him out, but he refused. They burned his barn, shot through his house at night, and, in a final threat, told him he would be hanged by sundown the next day if he did not agree to sell.
The local Methodist minister heard about the trouble and went to visit, and an amazing thing happened. As promised, at sundown the next day, they came. Though they were robed in their white sheets and hoods, the old man knew who they were. The farmer came out on the porch, wearing his best clothes. He told them he was ready to die, that he had asked the minister to draw up his last will and testament. He asked the minister to read it to them. He willed the farm to the banker who had been most clamoring in his effort to get it. He gave his rifle to one, who as a little boy had first learned to hunt with that gun, who was taught by the old black man. He gave his fishing pole to another; on and on, giving everything he had to those who were threatening to kill him.
The impact was incredible. He killed them with love and forgiveness. They couldn't take it. One by one, in shame, the lynching mob disappeared. The minister's grandson had watched everything from a distance, and as everyone was leaving, he ran to his grandfather and asked, "What kind of will was that, Granddaddy?" The minister replied, "That, my son, was the will of God."
Doesn't that make you think about Jesus at the Cross? And thinking about the Cross makes us think of God's loving sacrifice. What does all that say to us, about what we are to do when we have been forgiven?
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Who do you need to forgive? Whose forgiveness do you need?
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IF ONLY . . . NEXT TIME
ISAIAH 43:1-3, 14-21; ROMANS 15:22-33
If only! We hear it all the time. If only I hadn't had that accident. If only I'd lived in some other place. If only he had not died so young. If only I had more money. If only I were younger. If only I were older. If only I had a different job. If only people really knew me. It goes on and on . . . if only!
A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE
There is a world of difference between if only and next time. If only looks backward; next time looks forward. If only is a phrase of defeat; next time is a phrase of hope. The prophet Isaiah kept reminding Israel that our God is a "next time" God. Isaiah is referred to as "the golden prophet." He rises to great heights in expressing truth in illuminating imagery. That truth was always "Truth," no diminishing of the judgment of God upon Israel because of her lackluster faithlessness, but also no hesitancy about promise and hope.
At the close of Isaiah, in chapters 40–44, he has offers of comfort.
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, . . .
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid. (40:1-2)
And the assurance of God's help
Do not fear, for I am with you, . . .
I will strengthen you, I will help you. (41:10)
And affirmation as God's servant and witness
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness. (42:6-7)
And the promise of unlimited blessing and protection
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine. . . .
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you. (43:1-2)
After all that, he makes it clear that Israel is called to faithfulness and God is a jealous, demanding God. He gives a scathing denunciation against idolatry.
All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit;
. . . they will be put to shame. (44:9)
Isaiah keeps the picture clear. God is jealous and demanding. He calls for faithfulness. But he is a "next time" God.
Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? (43:18).
Let Isaiah speak to us personally about if only and next time.
FREEDOM FROM REGRET AND SELF-PITY
If only is a life dominated by regret, and regret is a paralyzing emotion. Many of us are its victims. Our lives are dominated by this energy-draining emotion: "If only I hadn't done this" or "If only I had done that" . . . These are useless words. They keep us preoccupied with the past and drain us of the energy needed for present living. If only regrets also blind us to the offer of life and relationship, the opportunities for service and joy that are coming all the time. That's the reason God says to us, "Do not remember the former things. . . . / I am about to do a new thing" (43:18-19).
If only is not only a life dominated by regret; it is always an expression of selfpity, and there is nothing creative or positive about self-pity. Rather, self-pity is debilitating. When we bury ourselves in self-pity, we cut off the creativity and the power that could open doors to new life.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
What regrets hold you back? What can you do today to trust your "next time" God?
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THE CROSS: THE POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD
JOHN 18:1-11; 1 CORINTHIANS 1:1-25; 1 CORINTHIANS 2:1-5
John Milton was one of the great English poets. In 1629, he wrote his lovely poem On the Morning of Christ's Nativity. A year later, he attempted to write a companion poem entitled The Passion. After some eight toilsome verses, he gave up. Sometime later, he wrote these words about the unfinished poem, "The subject that author finding to be above the years he had when he wrote it, and nothing satisfied with what was begun, left it unfinished." Though we are powerless to adequately put into words the full meaning of the Cross, we cannot leave the matter "unfinished" as Milton did. There is something haunting about it that will not let us put it aside.
BEYOND OUR KNOWING
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Cor. 1:18)
If ever there was a person of one subject, it was Paul. His mind and heart are set like flint: "I decided [Some translations have 'determined.'] to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). He was confident that the "wisdom" of God was most clearly expressed in the Cross. The depth of this wisdom is beyond what we can fathom; we depend on the Spirit for revelation and the demonstration of the power of the Cross.
A popular monk in the Middle Ages announced that in the cathedral that evening he would preach a sermon on