There's a book by Bo Giertz called 'The Hammer of God.' Giertz passed away in 1988, a bishop of a Lutheran Diocese. The book tells three separate accounts of three different people who discovered God's grace in unique ways.
In one of the stories, a young preacher, troubled by the carnality all around him, begins delivering impassioned and convicting messages regarding the penalties of sin. Over time, his sermons begin having a significant impact on the village in which he is ministering. Debauchery, drunkenness, adultery and the like are decreasing.
And yet, it seems brand new sins are showing themselves in spite of it all. Pride - arrogance - apathy - legalism - self-righteousness - lukewarmness - are taking the place of the former sins.
Beyond that, he begins to doubt his own spirituality - even his own salvation. As he confesses this to a friend, the friend responds:
"We have thundered like the storm, we have bombarded with the heaviest mortars of God's Law in an attempt to break down the walls of sin. And that was surely right ... But we had almost forgotten to let the sunshine of the Gospel shine through the clouds. Our method has been to destroy all carnal security by our volleys, but we have left it to the souls to build something new with their own resolutions and ... attempts at amending their lives. It is never finished. We have not become finished ourselves ... I have instead begun to preach about that which is finished, about that which is built on Calvary and which is a safe fortress to come to when the thunder rolls over our sinful heads ... And I find strength for each day for my own poor heart at the fount of redemption.'
'Paid in full.'
I have such a long way to go. I am no special saint of God. I have a desperate need for transformation, as do you.
As one pastor said: 'Preachers these days are expected to major in 'moral renovation.'
We give practical to-do lists rather than announce, 'It is finished.' You cannot live your way to life. You can only 'die your way there.' You can only 'lose your way there.'
I'd like the last word I speak over people every weekend to be the last word God speaks over them - 'PAID ... in full.'
So be it.
And be blessed.
1 comment:
Yay!!! I dare say I am your most faithful reader. I find your thoughts and information terribly interesting. Lol...maybe you aren't the only nerd. Believe it or not, I was in the top 5% of my class in college...BUT I had to study a LOT. Hmmm...I have discipline in some ways. Anyway...who cares.
When I read this:
"In one of the stories, a young preacher, troubled by the carnality all around him, begins delivering impassioned and convicting messages regarding the penalties of sin."
It makes me pause and wonder something. I have turned out to be a miserable failure as a Christian. Do you ever feel like you have failed with me? I don't exactly know how responsible pastors feel for their flock. I have my own thoughts about my human nature. One, I am an immediate-gratification type of person. I like what feels good now. Two, part of it is genetic. I have a susceptibility to addiction. Third, I imagine you might attribute it, in part, to Satan's influence. I can't put too much of the blame there, though. I am a grown woman with free-will. I dictate my own course in life when it comes to this. You have told me in the past to pray that God will make me despise alcohol. I just can't put my heart and soul into it, though. Sometimes, I honestly wonder what I would replace it with. Weird, I know, for someone that isn't in this situation. But there it is.
Transformation is a big word. Would I be self-righteous? (that is a definite possibility) I remember when I was immersed in JC and I was doing pretty well. There was that kernel of judgment for "others" who weren't following my idea of the right way to be a Christ-follower. I can think of one situation, but I won't go into it here. Suffice to say, I was on my "high-horse" then.
I know this may not be PC for Christians, but I deep-down wonder who I would be if I were transformed. Would I be boring? Would I fit in? Should I even care? Nevermind, I think I know the answer to that. Oh well. I know there are plenty of times when I am pretty plain-spoken and I don't convey my thoughts like most other Christians. Truthfully, I know if I did, I would probably be prideful and self-righteous. I would trade one sin for another. Makes me wonder if there are some sins that really are worse than others.
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