The Final Act - Act 6: Glorification

Here is how Jan Winebrenner defines Glory...

 

"Glory is a cheap commodity these days.  Or what passes for glory...  It's obvious, we're pretty confused about wht real glory is.  But we do have one thing right: Real glory only happens when we're in proximity to another person, in relationship.  But we've gotten the "someone" all wrong.  It isn't the audience on the other side of the television camera... Glory captures you.  God, through Christ, enters our world and captivates us with the sweet allure of His indescribable magnificence."  

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth -John 1:14 (NIV).

"We experience the glory of Christ by being in His presence..."  Winebrenner goes on to connect the "glory" of Christ to our personal afflictions.  She states that, "glory will be inextricably bound to suffering."  

Thomas Merton concurred when he wrote, "Afflictions work for good, as they are means of loosening our hearts from the world.  When you dig away the earth from the root of a tree, it is to loosen the tree from the earth; so God digs away our earthly comforts to loosen our hearts from the earth."

To summarize in my own words, in order to experience the true essence of God's glory in my life, there will be suffering and affliction, but it is suffering with a just cause.  It is loosening the soil of this world to prepare me for another, one that reveals the wholeness of God's glory.  The glory of this world is momentary.  The glory of my eternity is timeless.  "Come Lord Jesus, Come!!"

The Final Act: Act 5 - Redemption

The word redemption is one of those "50 cent" words you don't randomly throw around for the simple reason people might think you are an unapproachable intellectual, or in other words "to big for your own britches."  Let me see if I can summarize redemption in an easily understood way.  To be redeemed means to be forgiven, the core of Christianity.  The two words are interchangeable.  

Here is how Catherine Marshall organizes the two ideas - "Forgiveness has two sides that are inseparably joined: the forgiveness each of us needs from God, and the forgiveness we owe to other human beings.  Most of us prefer not to face up to the fact that God's forgiveness and man's are forever linked.  Jesus warned us that if we want the Father's forgiveness, there is only one way to get it: Start the flow of forgiveness between heaven and earth by forgiving our brother from the heart."

The flow of redemption - heaven to human heart - was never meant to have dams installed, slowing or stopping the flow of redemption from our own hearts to those who need to experience reconciliation from us.  Isn't the concept of giving someone the "other cheek" meant for us to ignore our natural impulse to stay angry or to get even?  

Growing up I had a coach that used to have his athletes write on their chest - CH_MP.  After the game was done the athlete had to decide whether to place a "U" or an "A" in the blank.  To truly understand the concept of reconciliation with forgiveness, especially towards an enemy, being a CHAMP means first being a CHUMP.  This is not a recipe for being weak, it is a recipe for knowing that the ingredients of true forgiveness and reconciliation will cost us first because we are the agents of pursuit.  We are the engineers that disassemble the dams and allow the grace of reconciliation to flow into us and through us to our enemies.  

A daunting task?  You bet!  One that cannot be accomplished without first admitting personal weakness and laying it before the Lord in prayer seeking His assistance to accomplish a painting that we cannot visualize on the canvas.  

Randy

The Final Act: Act 4 - Citizenship

In his 2010 memoir, A Journey: My Political Life, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair shares the following story: 
 
A friend of mine whose parents were immigrants, Jews from Europe who came to America in search of safety, told me this story. His parents lived and worked in New York. They were not well off. His father died when he was young. His mother lived on, and in time my friend succeeded and became wealthy. He often used to offer his mother the chance to travel outside America. She never did. When eventually she died, they went back to recover the safety box where she kept her jewelry. They found there another box. There was no key. So they had to drill it open. They wondered what precious jewel must be in it. They lifted the lid. There was wrapping and more wrapping and finally an envelope. Intrigued, they opened it. In the envelope were her U.S. citizenship papers. Nothing more. That was the jewel, more precious to her than any other possession. That was what she treasured most.

I love this story for the same reasons, the preciousness of her citizenship.  This connects so well with what I shared in my message this week on Heavenly Citizenship and how precious that citizenship should be to each of us.  As I was reading from Matthew 7 this morning, I discovered one other element of our citizenship that I know I often forget, the seeking part.  Matthew 7:7 says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find..."  

I thought to myself this morning about the message Sunday and the connect I was making this morning to Matt. 7, to seek out my citizenship and the rewards of heaven.  Maybe that is why this lovely Jewish immigrant never needed to leave the U.S., because she sought out and experienced the rewards of her citizenship.  


Randy

The Final Act: Act 3 - Justification

Much of what Martin Luther did leading up to the Protestant Reformation surrounded the issue of our justification by faith.  The term actually means to be "acquitted" of a crime.  I like this definition - “displays God’s justice in condemning and punishing sin, his mercy in pardoning and accepting sinners, and his wisdom in exercising both attributes harmoniously together through Christ."  Paul addressed this topic with the Roman Christians - For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law -- Romans 3:28 (NIV). 

The Roman Catholic Church of Luther's era, believed that justification was a process not an event.  They believed that justification was a process that continued after death in Purgatory, in which, Christians were assured of entering heaven but only after years of enduring the punishments deserved by sin in this life.  Luther emphatically denied any truth to this and instead saw Paul's words in Romans 3:28 as sufficient for our eternity, simply that we are "justified by faith" alone.  

He illustrates this truth using the analogy of placing a cloak around his young son Hans before he left the house on a cold winter’s day. In the same way God covers us with His righteousness to shield us from the consequences of our sin and final judgement.  We are cloaked in Christ and protected from the punishment we deserved.  Because we are cloaked in Christ at faith through God's grace, we know that there is "now, no more condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus" -- Romans 8:1.  How we view this certainly affects how we worship.  I can't believe we could ever worship without celebration knowing that Christ has covered and protected us from certain punishment.

I've had to do a little soul searching myself, and evaluate my own mindset in personal worship and service.  I think of it this way, if I was on trial and was acquitted of a crime that had a price tag of death, how happy would I be?  

Randy