Independence

I was watching a mother with her child. He was just a little toddler. No doubt he was just about four of five months into his adventure in walking. They were walking down the street and the toddler was pushing his stroller. I had to smile as I remembered how Nick used to do the same thing. This little guy didn't understand his inner desire to prove what he was capable of doing "on his own". All he knew was he was tired of being confined in the stroller and he wanted to be in charge of pushing it. Even though his mom was ready, willing and able to push him around, he would have none of that. This little boy was progressing in life and that is a good thing. Yet, I thought about how his craving for independence mirrors an unhealthy proression in our own spiritual lives. God walks alongside us. God provides a great deal of help and assistance. He gives us power to live and move and have our being. Too often, we prefer to push through life and reject or ignore His help. Why? It's because we have distorted healthy spiritual growth and development into an unhealthy dependence our own strength. We fool ourselves into thinking that we can make it just fine without Him. I'm not suggesting we ride through life in a stroller. I am suggesting a bit of irony. Trust and dependency on God's help is a mark of maturity.

More on Forgiveness

The story of forgiveness is a story of two kingdoms. The kingdom of heaven is a generous kingdom. It's a kingdom where workers get paid the same whether they begin the day at dawn or dusk (Read Matthew 20:1-16). It's a kingdom that is marked by God's righteousness more so than by what we deem is fair. That bothers us. It doesn't bother us so much when we are recipients of God's mercy and grace. But, in our kingdom, we tend to get envious, jealous and selfish. We tend to want rules to apply to others that we desire to escape. We tend to view forgiveness as something we deserve and yet ration it when it comes to dispensing it to others. Jesus knows us well. Jesus knows the difference between our kingdom and His. That's why He taught us to pray: "Father...forgive us as we forgive". More and more this part of my prayer causes me to pause. It brings a lump in my throat. It's easy to rush through it. It's easy focus like a laser on the forgiveness I need rather than the forgiveness I need to give. But, I dont' believe that is what Jesus has in mind.

Forgiveness

"The strongest argument in favor of grace is the alternative, a world of ungrace. The strongest argument for forgiveness is the alternative, a permanent state of unforgiveness."
Phillip Yancey

Yancey's words interest me. I'm studying forgiveness. I'm preparing for a message about forgiveness on Sunday. It's a lot easier to study forgiveness than it is to practice it. It's fine to keep it at a safe distance and comment about what Jesus had to say about it. It's quite another thing to be confronted with a real live person who has caused hurt. When it happens we build a case for what Yancey calls "ungrace". We wait for an apology. We crave retribution. We construct a list of will be required in order for someone to deserve forgiveness. And we wait for satisfaction. When these conditions are constructed by a heart that has chosen "ungrace", satisfaction never comes. In the midst of our "ungrace" we develop a profound case of amnesia. How many times have I been forgiven? Many. How many times did I deserve to be forgiven? None. These two questions have the potential to bring about a quick recovery from forgiveness. Meditation on own experiences with forgiveness can melt away "ungrace" and uncover the grace within us.