Channels of Grace

As one who is not only prone to wander & indeed has done so to a heinous degree but also prone to perform, I must continually recognize my need for (& plead accordingly) the Lord to graciously bind my wandering heart & quell my propensity to perform. The extent to which I strive to live by my performance rather than by God’s grace will determine how I relate to others: the more “successful” I am in my performance, the more demanding, judgmental & fawning I will be; the more I “fail”, the more I will withdraw and/or deceive. And given the propensity of like-feathered birds for flocking together, I must ask myself why I have chosen to join myself to a particular community as well as how I am contributing to its ethos & direction.

To be a Christian is to be exposed. The writer to the Hebrews, in admonishing the saints & by extension, us to strive to enter God’s rest, informs us that we are naked & exposed before the Lord & will one day give account to him. Then, lest we despair, he tells us that the very Son of God, who has taken upon him the likeness of our flesh & subjected himself to temptation without unlike us caving in, is our high priest who sits now upon a throne, not of judgment, but GRACE! And from him there we “may receive mercy & find grace to help in time of need.” (4:16). Indeed, every second is a “time of need”! The apostle has already declared that our high priest has made propitiation for our sins (2:17). That is our first exposure: the Lord mercifully shows us our sins & sinfulness as well as his abundant provision in Christ for us. I am so thankful that the the Lord did not come to make good people better but to save sinners! To liberate the captives! To raise the dead! The gospel is the power of God unto salvation: It was good news when I first believed & it is still good news & still God’s power unto salvation as I continue to believe! Also of supreme importance, & in keeping with the community of grace theme, notice that we are to “exhort one another every day…that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” (3:13,14). Translation: THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS IS A COMMUNITY PROJECT! We are called to live in transparency before our Lord & ourselves & before one another. As the Lord exposes us & renames, invigorates & draws near to us, we find that we have nothing left to protect & therefore no more reason to pretend & perform.

We become channels of grace.