Lent Day 21… Darkness Comes When / Dawn Breaks When
Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.
—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Jesuit priest Theodore Tracy wrote the following beautiful and challenging contrast… Read More
Posts Tagged: "darkness"
Able To See Beautiful Treasure
I have a thing for old German cars – Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes Benz…
Any car from these automakers between 1960-1969 is of interest to me.
I know a little bit about how much they’re worth when they have been restored, but my interest in these vehicles isn’t for business. I don’t care about making money on cars. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve only ever lost money on cars (so don’t come to me for advice on buying or selling cars).
One person might see a nasty old rust bucket of a car sitting on someone’s lawn… but I see a treasure.
I’m drawn to it.
I like it.
And I actually think it’s beautiful—even in its not-yet restored condition.
To me, it’s a treasure.
I realize I’m kinda weird about the old German car thing and I’m not gonna convince anyone else to see these quirky cars as treasures (I’ve been trying to convince my family for 25 years now and haven’t won over a single convert).
While I don’t really care if you see old Audis as beautiful treasures, I do care how you see people.
It’s not that I want you to see people my way, I want us to see people God’s way.
How does God see people? As beautiful treasure.
He sees beauty, value, significance, and worth.
Even before “restoration” He thinks we’re beautiful.
He is drawn to people.
He likes us.
For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. —Colossians 1.13, 14
When Jesus walked the earth, he never looked past or ignored the misfits. He saw their beauty, value, and significance… He saw the person. He was drawn to them—and they were drawn to Him.
Don’t believe me? Check out Luke chapter 5.
There, you’ll read a story about a man with an “advanced” case of leprosy.
That dude probably looked like something between a zombie and a mummy…
And while others looked away, Jesus saw him.
He spoke to him. He even touched him, and healed the man—because Jesus saw beautiful treasure.
Ultimately, this is why He willingly went to the cross.
That’s what you must understand about God. His treasure is us.
And we need to see people—all people—the way God does.
God in the ‘Hood, That’s Straight Up G
Central to the Gospel, the Good News message, is that God has come to us.
This is key.
We didn’t make our way to Him (that is the story of every religion—man earning or attaining something higher).
No. It’s quite the opposite.
God came to us.
He is The Hero of the story.
Christianity is not a “pick yourself up by your bootstraps and make something of yourself” philosophy or set of practices.
When we make it that, we become the hero and there is no need for The Hero.
That’s jacked-up.
Rather, Christianity is the story of our weakness, failure, and sin—being met on our home turf by the mind-blowing grace of a loving God.
Humanity became like the ghetto of a broken-down, sin-infested, violent, self-indulgent, lawless neighborhood—where any news coming out of it is always, predictably bad…
Until (The) Good News came.
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.
—John 1.14 MSG
The “Word” who moved into the ‘hood is Jesus.
The Gospel of John tells us,
“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (John 1.1, 4-5 NLT)
Our Hero has come.
And He brought light…
A light that shines in the darkness, and cannot be extinguished.
God in the ‘hood.
That’s straight up G.
Straight up, pure, unadulterated, beautiful Gospel.
He is present, and at work in the most unlikely of places.
Open your eyes. Take note. Be aware of The Hero—His presence and His work all around you.
Nothing is too far gone for Him—no sin too great a match for His scandalous grace.
Sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end. (Romans 5.20-21 MSG)
This is the Good News, the straight up Gospel.
