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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Scandal of Grace




"Scandal of Grace" is a worship song by Hillsong that has been stuck in my head for the past few days and the title has got me thinking about how much the message of Jesus is unexpected. God's grace took the form of a scandal - a public disgrace that should have damaged His reputation. But just like so many other things in life, God took what man sees as negative and turned it in to a win. Everything about Jesus' message was and continues to be against conventional wisdom. In the eyes of man, when we commit a crime, we pay the price for it. But the message of Jesus says that we do the crime and He pays the price. His grace has set us free from our sin, not so we can continue to pursue a life of sin, but so we can take a part in His plan for this world.

The message of Jesus is so shocking, so unexpected, that we struggle to really accept it. When Jesus brought the message the Pharisees couldn't accept it. They were so focused on their sin and making it right with God that they couldn't move forward. They were stuck on sin. I think we often continue to do the same thing today with whatever guilt, shame, or scandal we have had in our own lives. Even with our sin conquered we choose let it hold us down. God's grace is so amazing that we can't accept it for ourselves. Even though we hear about it, we struggle to let go of our sin, accept the grace, and move forward with our lives. It happened to me. A few months ago I wrote a post called "Beyond Judgement" where I shared about how the church reacted after my divorce. I felt shame that I had let God down. I held onto that shame for a long time. I chose not to forgive my own role in the divorce. In fact, I think I looked down on myself more than anyone else did. Even though I knew that God forgave me, I still wanted to hold onto it. Think of the prodigal son coming home, practicing what he is going to say, still holding onto the shame of his sin. But the father didn't care, the father was just glad to have him back. In an act of scandalous grace the father showed him how to get past it. That is what it took for me as well. In the midst of my self-imposed shaming God gave me the most significant experience in my life: He called me to missions: I was listening to a sermon here at Crosswalk by a guest speaker and there were images on the screen of children in other countries dying of hunger. While looking at the pictures I felt an overwhelming urge to be there and help those children. Not just to visit, but to make it a part of my life. It was bigger than a simple desire to help people, I knew that in that moment God was reaching out to me and calling me to a specific part of His plan. I came up with every excuse I could and each was shot down. I felt I wasn't worthy to share the Good News with anyone if I was divorced. But, God was calling me to something so it was obvious He was looking past the divorce, why couldn't I? There is so much more to this story and now is not the time to share it. Suffice it to say that after that day my life was changed greatly. I am still waiting on God to show me the when and the where of my missions calling, but I am gaining experience and preparing in the meantime. Working at Crosswalk is a part of that preparation.

The prodigal son held onto his shame but the father's grace shocked and surprised him. I had a hard time letting go of my shame, but God surprised me with His grace. He wants you to move forward too. If there is some shame, guilt, or disgrace in your past that you are holding onto, let it go. God provided us with a scandal of grace so great that we are set free. Jesus died so that we don't have to. God has done something so amazing for us, forgives us, and wants us to be a part of His plan; why waste time holding ourselves back? There are plenty of other obstacles in life to overcome that restraining ourselves is useless. It may not happen right away, and it may take help, but that is one of the things the church is here for. Talk to your LTG, to your Life Group, to one of the pastors here. But take that step in letting it go and move forward. God has given you the strength to do amazing things in this life. Choose to accept it and respond in love towards others.

 
The day and its trouble shall come
I know that Your strength is enough 
The scandal of grace, You died in my place 
So my soul will live
 - Scandal of Grace by Hillsong
 
Trying to Follow,
Mark

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