We live in a broken and hurting world. So much so that people take liberties that are not rightfully theirs to take, and, in so doing, harm individuals in ways we were never meant to be harmed. For example, some friends of mine suffered a home invasion this week. Yes, without respect for person or property some criminals identified an empty home that did not belong to them and accessed the home through a window that is unseen from the front of the home or the adjoining road. What cowards. They didn’t steal too terribly much and, thankfully, no one was injured in this particular crime. In fact, indications may be that the criminals were spooked during the robbery and left before they could finish the job – thank goodness.
There are things that are stolen, however, that go beyond that which we can taste, touch or see. For instance, your sense of security is robbed for a time and your sense of peace and stability is eroded just a bit when you become the victim of such actions. As one who has lived through such before, I know how very real those intangible thefts can be and how long they can last.
We tend to recover. I wonder, “Why?” Why do we not linger in the frailty of fear that such actions bring to the forefront of life? After all, who is to say it will not happen again? How does one freely and fully protect oneself in a world where people no longer enter your home as invited guests through your front door, but choose to enter through force - undetected, uninvited and, often unpunished?
Perhaps we do not linger in fear because as real as crime is in a fallen, sinful world, we experience an even greater reality. This reality says that the world is moving toward being restored. Yes, restored. While it may not look like it, I think an indication of this truth can be found in our own ability to heal, move on, get over it, trust again, forgive, get better, let go of the past, etc. Yes, all of these realities point to the deeper reality that, though stained by sin, we and the world are being and indeed have been redeemed. We have been reclaimed and we are being restored! While we do not fully taste this restoration now, nor is it fully experienced, it is evident in every nook and cranny of life.
The Bible indicates on nearly every page that the world has been horrifically disfigured and, as such, human behavior has been altered at its core. Our hearts, once righteous before God, became the seat of wickedness as a result of our sin. This wickedness is so deeply rooted in life and experience that we are told further that it has stained the entire creation. Yes, the creation itself now groans. She groans for the glory that she once knew and will one day know again.
Life, my friends, is a groan. In the groan we experience pain. In the groan we experience betrayal. In the groan we experience theft. In the groan we experience heartache. In the groan, however, we also experience hope. In the groan we experience growth. In the groan we hear the deep sigh of the human heart that exclaims, “One day we will groan no longer – one day we will be renewed.” Yes, in the groan there is glory!
There is glory because God has reunited all things in Him - in and through the person of Christ. Scripture reminds us that Christ holds things - all things - together. Even now, when so much seems fractured, hope is not lost because and only because Christ holds all things together. The culmination – the new heavens and earth – is yet to come. But, even now, in the groan, the Christ child reminds us, Be still my child, I have brought you peace; a peace that never ends and one that is felt daily, even as we groan!
See you Sunday!
Biz
No comments:
Post a Comment