GLORIOUS RUINS

Photo by Daniel Lloyd Blunk Fernandez on Unsplash

GLORIOUS RUINS

Is the resurrection life we just celebrated on Easter this past Sunday something that we too can enter into?  Is there any way for us to really walk in that life and live that life and celebrate that life today?  Absolutely!  Jesus didn't intend that we live miserable, frustrated, fruitless, and meaningless lives until we die one day and go to be with Him in heaven.  That will certainly be a glorious day, but Jesus' gift, and life in the Holy Spirit, is meant for us every bit as much now as it will be then!  

I'm getting older (don't laugh, you are too!).  But recently, I was thinking about all the things that are wrong with my body, some since childhood, some only discovered in the last few months:  I'm near-sighted, I have what seem to be dozens of floaters constantly drifting before my eyes, I just got hearing aids a couple months ago, tinnitus rings in my ears 24/7, my back complains on a regular basis, and my knees can't take running anymore (boy do I miss running!).  

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the technology that allows me to compensate, however imperfectly, for most of these problems.  And in all likelihood, you have a variety of issues that are worse–even much worse–than mine (even if you're much younger than I am).  But I don't want to get into a pity contest.  My point isn't to see which of us is worse off than the other.  My point is that our bodies are ruins.  Regardless how healthy we are, our bodies are constantly breaking down, and one day they'll stop running altogether and we'll die.

Have you ever considered, though, that your soul is also in ruins?  Your soul is not what it once was, and most certainly is not what it was intended by God to be.  

Remember, we are not just our bodies.  Your body is the visible part of you, the part you can look at and touch.  It is uniquely yours–even if you are an identical twin, your body is still yours alone and not your twin's.  Your soul is the invisible part of you, the part you cannot look at or touch, your will, emotions, imagination, desire, intellect.  It, too, is uniquely yours–no one else who has ever lived has ever encountered the world, or reacted to the world, in quite the same way you have.  No one has ever possessed your imagination or your sense of humor or your unique capacity to choose how to respond to beauty or heartache.  And your spirit is the life that animates your body and soul.  It is also uniquely yours, but it didn't originate with you, it comes from God alone.  Just as God formed Adam from the dust of the earth and then breathed life into him so that he became a living being, just so your very breath is one facet of the mystery of being made in the image of God.

One of the doctrines of Calvinism is Total Depravity.   Some people understand this to mean (wrongly) that because of Adam and Eve's first sin, there is nothing, zero, zilch, nada, not one single good thing in us.  I am no Calvinist, but I do believe in Total Depravity, but only in the sense that every good thing that God created in us is corrupted and perverted by sin.  Creation groans in anticipation of our being set right again one day.  And we groan when we experience our own fallenness, limitations, and sin, and when we see and hear all around us from abuse to war, from illness to starvation, from random meanness to intentional destruction.  There is a gap between our well-intentioned goodness and the flawed and imperfect results of confusion and conflict we never intended.  We argue and fight and disagree and misunderstand and manipulate (and are manipulated) on a daily basis.

The truth is that we live an in-between life.  On the one hand, we know we have resurrection life in Jesus.  And on the other, we are broken, ruined remnants of humanity.

Paul says that Christ has not merely helped us turn over a new leaf, He has actually made us new creations in Christ.  At the very same time, though, we plod along, mired in old habits, destructive thought patterns, and unhealthy lifestyles (our lives are ruins, remember?).  How are we supposed to live in the push and pull, back and forth, up and down of this in-between/not-yet life?

But Jesus wants to rebuild our ruins (Isaiah 61).  Jesus says that life, the real, abundant, fulfilling life we're looking for can be ours in the here and now by abiding in Him (John 15).  But what in the world does that mean?  What does abiding in Christ even look like for ordinary people like us?

Well, I think the starting place is putting our roots down deep into what we believe about Jesus.  Are we going to Him for His sake, or just to find happiness for ourselves.  Is it about Him or about us?  Do we really believe the truth that "all things came into being through Him" and that "He sustains all things" and that "all things hold together in Him"?  Do we really believe that He lives in us right now?  Do we really believe what Peter says, that "we have everything necessary for life and godliness" in Christ?  

The truest thing about our life in Jesus is that He lives in us right now–His life is our life.  I mentioned a moment ago that the key to life is abiding in Christ, but look a little closer at John 15–in verse 4 He says, "Abide in Me as I abide in you."  The key has been right in front of us all along!  The secret of abiding in Christ is not necessarily doing anything radically different, but just resting (abiding!) in the truth that He is already at work in us!  It remains for us to work together with Him toward the glory He has prepared for all of creation.  Paul says to "work on your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:12b-13).

Paul goes on to say, in 2 Cor. 5:16-17: "From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we no longer know him in that way.  So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!"  

But if we are body/soul/spirit people like we talked about a few minutes ago, we need to realize that every single part of us–visible or invisible–needs to find restoration in Jesus.  We need to find a way to make sure Jesus has access to every part of who we are.

The bottom line, though, if we're honest with ourselves, is that there are parts of us that we would very much prefer not to let Jesus get at.

We've begun to talk a lot about "spiritual practices" lately (they're often called spiritual disciplines), things like Scripture reading, prayer, fasting, community, solitude, generosity, and lots more.  Some of these you practice already, I'm sure, but over the next few months in our Sunday morning messages, we're going to look at these and other practices and see how they can help us abide in Christ.  The end result, we pray, will be full, abundant life and great fruitfulness in how we live it.

Think of the spiritual practices this way:  First and foremost they are not signs of spiritual maturity or ways of proving how serious we are about following Jesus.  

Instead, think of your soul, the unique, invisible part of yourself, as a dry, crusty farm field that's been lying fallow through months of winter cold.  What's the first thing a farmer does in the springtime?  Of course!  He plants a bunch of seed for whatever crop he wants to get in the Fall….  NO, silly!  In that case, the seed will just dry up or be eaten by the birds.  First, he has to plow up the field.  He has to break up the soil, and turn it over and over again in order that the soft, rich, fertile soil can come to the surface.  Only then can the seed be sown so the sunlight and spring rains can help the seed germinate and send its roots deep down into the soil, then grow skyward, and still later bear much fruit.

This is what the spiritual practices do for us–they plow up the dry, crusty soil of our hearts.  Then, as we abide in Christ and He in us, His Word, His light, and His love can fall fresh on our hearts, help us put down roots, grow heavenward, and bear much fruit–in this life!

The practices help us make our bodies our servants (and don't you sometimes feel like you're the slave of your body and its appetites?).  After all, Paul says that we are to bring our bodies into submission–this is what he's talking about (see 1 Cor. 9:27).  And the spiritual practices are how we let God get at us.

Sound good to you?  I hope so!  If you're feeling like your life is just one big heap of ruins, please know that God is in the business of raising up and restoring ruins!  He alone can bring glory to the ruins of any life!  So for now, the best way to prepare your hearts for what God wants to do over the next few months is:

Abide in Christ and let Him abide in you

Linger in His presence

Listen for His guidance

Be encouraged, friend, for God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, who spoke all worlds into being, is both with you and for you.