So, the Cardinal was a sinner. That’s the conclusion of one of the headline
stories in the news today. Cardinal
Keith O’Brien resigned from his position as Britain’s senior Catholic after
several priests accused him of ‘sexual impropriety’ in the past. He apologized to those he offended and acknowledged
his ‘failures’ to live in accordance with the vows of the priesthood. As I read his story, my thoughts were not
accusatory, but reflective. How many of us could withstand intense scrutiny of
every act, private and public, in our lives?
Granted, his position placed a heavy burden of accountability on his
shoulders, but each of us who bears the Name of Christ is called to “ live a life worthy of the calling you have
received." (Ephesians 4:1, NIV)
A life worthy of Christ is
within our grasp, but only if we accept what Scripture reveals about us – that we
are, by nature, sinners. Left to ourselves, we will never achieve a
holy life. Our sin will sometimes be open, scandalous failure; more often
it will be darkness of the heart, hidden, but just as offensive to the One who
knows us best. No behavior modification
techniques will produce a holy life. If we put our focus is on ourselves, on our best
intentions or efforts; we substitute
what Dallas Willard calls the ‘gospel of
sin management’ for the truth of the Gospel of Christ. We can make ourselves measurably better, for
a time, but only with intense effort. So what can we do? There is but one thing and even that does not
depend on us. We accept the transformational power of the Spirit provided to us
in Christ Jesus.
Radical dependence on Christ, ready acceptance of the gift
of our restored relationship to our Father, opening ourselves, without shame or
guilt, to the Spirit’s life will create a new personal identity that will grow
from the inside out. “Change the heart,
change the man,” is what Jesus taught. Our pride resists the Gospel. We want to do something that proves our
worth. We want to look around and
feel that we are somehow not as prone to greed, lust, selfishness (it’s a long
list) than those with whom we walk. We like to pray like the
self-righteousness, moral man of Jesus’ story – “I thank You, Lord, that I am not as other men! I tithe, I fast, I go to church regularly.” If we surrender to that impulse to compare,
measure, and justify ourselves, we are cut off from the only One who really make
us whole. But, there is a gift freely
provided to those who abandon themselves like the sinner of that same story who
" would not even look up to heaven,
but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’"
(Luke 18:13, NIV) This man, Jesus said, "went home justified before God. For everyone
who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted.”" (Luke 18:13-14, NIV)
Salvation is given in a moment, not to the deserving, but to
those who receive His gift, by faith. In Christ, you and I are perfect – here,
now – before the Father. What joy I find in knowing that He has lent me His
clothes, that I am dressed to enter the Presence of the King, in borrowed
robes. In that confidence, I come to understand that becoming holy is never a
once and done thing, it is on-going – a process of change that continues from
that moment of conversion until that moment when this ‘mortal puts on
immortality!’
Here’s a word from the Word. “I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law,
but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with himself
depends on faith. As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the
mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer
with him, sharing in his death, so that, somehow, I can experience the
resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved
these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working
toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and
wants me to be." (Philippians 3:9-12, NLT)
___________
Beautiful Things
All this pain
I wonder if I'll ever
find my way
I wonder if my life
could really change
At all
All this earth
Could all that is lost
ever be found
Could a garden come up
from this ground
At all
You make beautiful
things
You make beautiful
things out of the dust
You make beautiful
things
You make beautiful
things out of us
All around
Hope is springing up
from this old ground
Out of chaos life is
being found
In You
You make me new You
are making me new
You make me new You
are making me new
Lisa Gungor | Michael Gungor
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