Back to the Ragamuffin Gospel: this section of the book, together with a sermon that Ryan Fullerton preached on the first verse of the Lord's Prayer, have really reformed my understanding of who God the Father is and have helped/are helping me learn unreserved trust.
"Many of us don't know our God and don't understand His gospel of grace. For many, God sits up there like a Buddha, impassive, unmoving, hard as flint. Calvary cries out more clearly than any theology textbook: We do not know our God. We have not grasped the truth in the First Letter of John: "In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." The cross reveals the depth of the Father's love for us: "For greater love than this no one has than that he lay down his life for his friends."
The disciple living by grace rather than law has undergone a decisive conversion--a turning from mistrust to trust. The foremost characteristic of living by grace is trust in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ.
To believe deeply, as Jesus did, that God is present and at work in human life is to understand that I am a beloved child of this Father and, hence, free to trust. That makes a profound difference in the way I live. To trust Abba, both in prayer and life, is to stand in childlike openness before a mystery of gracious love and acceptance.
The tendency in legalistic religion is to mistrust God, to mistrust others, and consequently, to mistrust ourselves. Allow me to become personal for a moment. Do you really believe that the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is gracious, that He cares about you? Do you really believe that He is always, unfailingly present to you as companion and support? Do you really believe that God is love?
Or have you learned to fear this loving and gracious Father? "In love," John says, "there is no room for fear, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear implies punishment and no one who is afraid has come to perfection in love" (1 John 4:18). Have you learned to think of the Father as the judge, the spy, the disciplinarian, the punisher? If you think that way, you are wrong.
The Father's love is revealed in the Son's. The Son has been given to us that we might give up fear. There is no fear in love. The Father sent the Son "that they may have life and have it to the full" (John 10:10). Is not the Son the Father's unsurpassable sign of love and graciousness? Did He not come to show us the Father's compassionate care for us? "Whoever sees me, sees the one who sent me" (John 12:45). The Father is not justice and the Son love. The Father is justice and love; the Son is love and justice.
Abba is not our enemy. If we think that, we are wrong.
Abba is not intent on trying and tempting and testing us. If we think that, we are wrong.
Abba does not prefer and promote suffering and pain. If we think that, we are wrong.
Jesus brings good news about the Father, not bad news.
We need a new kind of relationship with the Father that drives out fear and mistrust and anxiety and guilt, that permits us to be hopeful and joyous, trusting and compassionate. We have to be converted from the bad news to the good news, from expecting nothing to expecting something. "The time is fulfilled," Jesus said, "and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). Turn away from the sins of skepticism and despair, mistrust and cynicism, complaining and worry.
The gospel of grace calls us to sing of the everyday mystery of intimacy with God instead of always seeking for miracles or visions. It calls us to sing of the spiritual roots of such commonplace experiences as falling in love, telling the truth, raising a child, teaching a class, forgiving each other after we have hurt each other, standing together in the bad weather of life, of surprise and sexuality, and the radiance of existence. Of such is the kingdom of heaven, and of such homely mysteries is genuine religion made. The conversion from mistrust to trust is a confident quest seeking the spiritual meaning of human existence. Grace abounds and walks around the edges of our everyday experience.
Trust defines the meaning of living by grace rather than works. Trust is like climbing a fifty-foot ladder, reaching the top, and hearing someone down below yell, "Jump!" The trusting disciple has this childlike confidence in a loving Father. Trust says, in effect, "Abba, just on the basis of what You have shown me in Your Son, Jesus, I believe You love me. You have forgiven me. You will hold me and never let me go. Therefore, I trust You with my life."
2 comments:
"Abba does not prefer and promote suffering and pain." Please explain this statement in light of God's sovereignty and His claim to be the author of calamity (Isaiah 45:7). I believe we must see suffering and pain as coming from the good hand of our Heavenly Father for our sanctification and His glory.
Ashlea, thanks for engaging in the "lively" discussion. Have a superior day. :)
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