Volume
10 Week 39 September 26, 2004
Living
With The Tensions Of God's Divine Economy!
He
Was Rich But Became Poor So We Could Be Rich, and Humble Servants!
We've had a stretch of weather that has been unbelievable. I have friends and family in San Diego, and this is the way they describe their weather. My enjoyment of these beautiful late summer, early fall days has been tempered by the disastrous weather reports from the Caribbean. Hundreds are now dead from the fury of the hurricanes.
God is so rich that from his storehouse he can pull out an unmatched period of balmy, quiet days. But in his wisdom, he can allow the terrors of our broken sinful creation to wreak their havoc. It's a mystery, isn't it?
How rich is our Father in heaven? We can't even imagine. He has been pleased to give us the kingdom, as Jesus said. That's pretty rich. Eternity and glory through the forgiveness of sins. It's hard to imagine the inheritance that awaits us. Hard? Impossible! We can't begin to imagine what is in store from the wealth of our Father.
And yet we live a little bit like paupers in this life. Pain, sickness and loss are our daily companions.
Here's another mystery. Why would the Son of God, Jesus, willingly leave the wealth of heaven to live like a pauper among us? The richest became the poorest. Heaven was traded for hell. Perfect glory was exchanged for the torment of the cross.
It was because he loved us, of course. But can you imagine the cost of that love?
One of my hopes for the 33 Days of Stewardship (Day 5 on Sunday! Keep reading!) is that we would all grow in our understanding of some of these conflicting aspects of the faith. He was rich, yet became poor, so we would be rich, and became humble servants! Look with me at a couple of the contrasts that we live with as we work out what it means to be extraordinary servants.
He is Lord!
The first thing I need to learn is that he is God and I am are not. God never invites my opinion about who should die and who should remain, and often I have questions on both sides of that ledger. I have no clue why some families endure sickness and tragedy and others do not. I can't understand droughts and floods, or plane crashes and drive by shootings. I can't answer why some play games for millions of dollars a year and others slave away endless hours at miserable, dangerous jobs to keep their families barely alive.
But I know that God is God, and that I am not. I know that he set this world in motion and still governs its affairs. I know that he chose not to end it when Adam and Eve broke it. He's chosen to let the world, damaged as it is, run it's course. He wanted me to see his world, and to hear of his love. He wants me in heaven one day.
And he's chosen to leave me here for a while first. Maybe he knows what he's doing after all. I do believe that. And life is much better when I let God be God, and try simply to follow his lead.
Owners and
Managers!
Renters have fewer headaches than owners. They let the property owners deal with the problems that drive us crazy. God is the Owner of the earth, of life, of every minute of every day and of all the stuff we see around us. He has a pretty good system worked out, if we can adjust to it. He'll take care of the ownership responsibilities. I'll just learn to manage according to his directions.
I saw a cartoon once where the mailboy of a huge corporation handed the president his mail as he was thinking, "Boy, I'd love to be the president of this company!" At the same time, the president was behind his desk thinking, "Boy, I'd love to be that mailboy!"
Our loving Lord knows our best position in his kingdom. He calls us stewards, or caretakers, managers of his good gifts. The heat is off. We simply manage the trust he's given us, with the love of our Savior and our love for our neighbor as our guide.
Rivers and
Reservoirs!
What's the difference between a river and a reservoir? A river flows and flows and flows. It's a very difficult job to stop the water from moving on down the way to where it wants to go. A reservoir, on the other hand, brings water to a complete stop.
By his nature, God is a river. In the CROSSWAYS! Bible study materials, the artist draws a symbol for God, a circle with arrows going in every direction. God is an endlessly flowing river of love. God is love, and love is always directed away from self.
On the other hand, by my nature, I'm a reservoir. When something good comes my way, I cling and hold. Part of the transforming that God is working in me is to make me more like Jesus, more of a river of his good gifts of life and love than a reservoir. How patient he is! And how odd that he would choose to channel his gifts from the river of his love to a thirsty world through someone like me. Lord, make me a river!
Cross and Glory!
In God's economy, the days of this life are hard, but the days to come in eternity will be endless peace and gladness. Now the cross, then the glory. The trick is for us to keep our eyes on the glory as a way of lightening the load of the cross.
That was the example Jesus set for us. He faced his hard task, knowing that glory was to come. Extraordinary service means recognizing that these are not the days of our reward, but the days of our sacrifice. Only here in this life will we have the opportunity to share Christ with others by sharing all we are and have. Then in glory we will see that no sacrifice we made during this life was too big. With glory like that awaiting us, we gladly bear the cross.
Always Plenty,
Never Enough!
And finally, during these 33 Days, I hope we can all wrestle with the odd tension God presents us that there is always plenty of everything we need in his heavenly storehouse, but it never quite seems that we have enough! God is so wise. I think he knows that if we would ever feel like we had enough of all we need to do his work, we'd no longer have the urgency to trust and rely on him for everything.
So we live by faith. I hope these 33 Day of renewal will be for you a time of deep and prayerful meditation on God's design for your life. I pray that you will grow in faith. He's transforming us. God is among us. The ordinary is departing. Extraordinary, isn't he?