There are no caste systems in grace. “Grace turned outward” means we all live from the same vulnerable place.
Grace is undeserved favor. You can’t take any credit for it. You can’t boast in it. You can boast about receiving it but not in a way that leaves anyone out, because you become like everyone else when you receive it. You can’t receive grace and then step up to a notch on the social scale. To receive grace is to put you on a par with all regular sinners. Nothing special about you.
Well folks, it’s that time of year again. Time to oil up the mitt, dig out the bat and ball and get ready for — you guessed it — baseball. Halfway through spring training and two weeks to opening day. Hard to believe it’s here again.
Chandler has turned out to be a big part of the ministry here at Roberts Wesleyan College. I shouldn’t be surprised. He has been a big part of everything I’ve learned since he was born. He has a way of somehow being in the middle of experiences that stretch you. He was actually doing this before he was old enough to know what he was doing. Like the fourth of July when Chandler, at barely nine months old was right in the middle of teaching me a huge lesson about being prejudiced.
Last night Chandler and I had the opportunity to get a Spirit’s-eye view of what God is doing in the lives of a bunch of college students in upstate New York. We had the rare privilege of being invited in on a student-generated Bible study at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York.
This weekend, I met a woman who described herself as “100% raw organic Michelle,” and what she meant by that was that what she sees when she looks at herself in the mirror isn’t very pretty. It was her way of saying she was pretty messed up. We were at a small church gathering at the time, and the comment served to endear her to everyone. We all knew immediately what she meant. I mean, really, who wants 100% organic all the time, anyway, and when you throw in “raw” well that makes it even less appealing.
When anyone gets a clear view of their sinful, selfish self, the sight is never very pretty. It can be horrific and devastating. It can be crippling. We normally protect ourselves from this. We have complicated rationalizations. We tell ourselves stories that shield us from reality and we rarely measure ourselves with honest scales. Our weights and measures are all off. But sooner or later, the truth comes out and we are forced to see ourselves as we really are. It’s in those moments that, as painful as it might be, we actually become free — free from all the expectations that we or others put on ourselves — free to be who we are, whatever that might be. Free to be 100% raw organic you.
Billy Graham is one of the best ambassadors our country has, but he told me, “I am an ambassador of heaven.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
Billy Graham has often said, “Whether the story of Christ is told in a huge stadium, across the desk of a powerful leader, or shared with a golfing companion, it satisfies a common hunger. All over the world, whenever I meet people face-to-face, I am made aware of this personal need among the famous and successful, as well as the lonely and obscure.”
Every U.S. President since World War II has met with Billy Graham. Both Johnson and Nixon, the two who probably sought him the most, offered him high positions in government — which he quickly and politely refused.
Here are short snippets of their stories:
Reading your excellent comments this morning has given me an idea: Let’s hold our own election and vote the kingdom of God into our hearts and minds, our relationships, our jobs, our homes, our hopes and dreams, and our consciences. Let’s vote the kingdom agenda from start to finish. Let’s love what God loves and value what God values — even hate what God hates, which is spelled out pretty clearly in Proverbs: “There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16-19).
It’s a silly, nonsensical Beatles song (even George Harrison admitted that), but its most memorable line is the word for the church today: “Come together, right now, over me,” if by that we mean: Come together over Jesus.
What is in your heart when you see a woman shrouded in a black burka with nothing but a slit across her eyes with which to see or be seen? What is in your heart when you see a Middle Eastern man in a robe with a full beard? What’s in your heart when you see a roomful of men on their knees bowing in the same direction with their foreheads touching the ground? What’s in your heart when you see Hillary on TV? When you see Donald? Or President Obama? There should be only one thing in all of these cases … in every case … Love. If there is anything other than love in our hearts when we see anyone, we have some work to do. I can only speak for myself, but I can speak truthfully when I say that I do.
As I’m sure you know, Nancy Reagan, wife of former President Ronald Reagan, passed away yesterday. She was 94. As you also know, we’ve been discussing politics and religion lately here at the Catch, two of the most volatile subjects anyone could take on. But as Robert, one of our Catch citizens who regularly comments wrote me, “These are the sorts of times when petty differences (political and religious) are truly minor in comparison with genuine love.”
It’s significant that he would bring up love, since love was what I was going to write about today, which will wait now until tomorrow to give us a chance to say goodbye to Nancy and an era.
John Fischer The Catch 