And to Think That I Saw it on Majesty’s Street!

                                Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.    Hebrews12:2

 

As we continue  this week in the glow of Easter, having been reminded again of what our LORD did for each of us on the cross…and from the grave…I want to ask that you look at your surroundings  a bit differently.  It’s an easy rut we fall into; annually passing by Biblical memorial stones and giving them their “due reverence”… for a day.  We spend more time getting physically ready than we do getting spiritually ready.  And then, once the day has come and gone, we return to our all too fast-paced walk and, more or less, pick up where we left off.  Often times, none the wiser and none the calmer, and most of the time, none the keener.  But this time, this year, as we pass by the memorial stone that casts the shadow of a cross, let’s see things from God’s perspective rather than from our own; this year, when we return to our pre-Easter walk, let’s gaze in wonder as we see sights we’ve never seen…things no one (but a fellow Christian) would believe…and let’s tell everyone that we saw it from Majesty’s Street!

If you’re a Dr. Seuss fan, you’re familiar with one of his classics titled And to Think that I Saw it On Mulberry Street.  In this story, Marco walks down Mulberry Street every day as he goes to and from school.  Longing for more than his eyes behold, Marco allows his imagination to run away with him.  When pressed by his father to share what he has seen each day, Marco gives accounts that are not well received…much less believed.   His father insists there are points of interest up and down Mulberry Street if Marco would just look more closely.  But for Marco, nothing out of the ordinary stands out, so he creates the magnificent out of the mundane.  For Marco, the familiar trek up and down the same street has caused his eyes to dull to the wonders that once danced on dew drops  and burned in bushes.  Now, to arouse his interest, and to give him something to talk about, Marco finds himself boasting in things that are not and telling tales that haven’t a plot!

I think we…I think I…am prone to be like Marco.  I think everyone falls prey to the “it all looks the same after a while” mentality.  And, as believers in Christ, don’t you know Satan aids and abets us in this type of thinking?    When we first come to know Christ, everything looks new and exciting and amazing!  We walk down Majesty’s Street, having crossed over from the intersection of Justice and Grace, and we gawk at forgiveness, we marvel at mercy, and we are star-struck by justification.  We are excited to tell others what we’ve seen as we walk down this incredible street…and we want others to walk this path with us!  And, for a while, we tell and we bring; but then, one day, we look down more than we look up…or out.  Then, without realizing it, we are asked to tell what we’ve seen on Majesty’s Street…and we choke.  We suddenly can’t remember what we walked by, what we looked at, what we heard or what we felt.  Was there, we wonder, anything to boast of on Majesty’s Street?  Perhaps, we think, we could make something up…after all, who knows what we’ve seen as we went for our walk?  We might, if we’re desperate, tell tales that aren’t true…we might shift the focus to what we tried to do.

It’s a dilemma we all encounter; it’s a street we all walk.  Spiritually speaking, we can find that Mulberry Street crosses Majesty’s Street.  And, if we’re not careful, if we’re not looking up, we’ll take a turn onto Mulberry Street.  We’ll know we’ve taken a wrong turn when our excitement dwindles and our eyesight drops; when it’s easier to make up what we’ve seen than it is to recount what we saw.  When this happens, we’ll know we turned left when we should have stayed straight.  But God identifies our passage with memorial markers that not only remind us of where we are, but of where we’ve been and of where we’re going.  Easter is one such marker.  The shadow of the cross draws our eyes up and the light from an empty tomb casts our vision out so that we, at least for a time, see clearly the road upon which we stand…and the street upon which we walk.  As we pass our Easter mile marker this year, let’s look at what can be seen on Majesty’s Street.  To our left, we see judgment yielding to justification; behind us, we see sin pulled over by righteousness; to our right, we see mercy merging with grace; and before us we see exits that lead to God’s glory and our glorification.  And to think that we saw it on Majesty’s Street!

There’s nothing we could make up that’s more incredible than what God has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Not a zebra pulling a cart, nor a Chinese man named Bart; not a big brass band in flight nor an elephant of great height; not a Rajah on a throne, nor the longest beard ever grown!  These things might be something to see on Mulberry Street, but they pale in comparison to that which is seen on Majesty’s Street.  For what can be grander than love that restores?  What can be deeper than mercy that pours?  What can be wider than grace that abounds?  What can be higher than justified ground?  It’s spread out before us, on Majesty’s Street; we simply need look out as we move our feet!

As we continue our walk this week, just days after celebrating the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior, let us not fall prey to lackluster vision.  Let us not resume our walk and fail to see all that surrounds us as we walk upon the very street that was designed by God’s hand, bridged by Sovereignty’s cross, paved by Christ’s blood, and widened by Jehovah’s resurrection.  Our current path and our future destination lies beneath us and before us because of Easter; all believers entered the freeway of Majesty’s Street through the exit granted us at the cross.  May our eyes never cease to be amazed by the wonders we behold as we walk down this street…from glory to glory.  We have sights to behold and truths to recount…And to Think That We Saw Them On Majesty’s Street!

Traversable Grace

Let us have confidence, then, and approach God’s throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it. 

Hebrews 4:16

 

Snow days.  How can you not love them?  Well, I guess if I had an occupation other than school teacher, I might be inclined to receive them with less enthusiasm.  But, since I am a teacher, I love them as much today as I did when I was young!  There’s something stolen about these days that’s derived from the feeling of getting something that you weren’t supposed to have; instead of a scheduled day, it’s a free-calendar day!  I guess, in this, I am a thrill seeker:  a snow day kleptomaniac.  It’s not that I don’t want to go to school; it’s not that I don’t want to enjoy the company of students; it’s not that I don’t want to enjoy the routine of a daily schedule; it’s just that I love getting something for nothing!  And when the phone call comes through…the one whose message I already know before I press one to hear the recording…I feel the excitement rising and the anticipation mounting as I prepare to receive yet another “free day”!

Well, with that said, today was a snow day.  For me, that means catching up on reading while perched beside a window that permits me to watch the falling snow.  My mind, however, always wanders and thoughts pile up as quickly as the snow.  Childhood memories form a flurry of their own and, before the day is through, I’m outside tromping in the snow.

I don’t know which comes first:  the admiration of the snow or the thanksgiving for the snow.  But, regardless of the order, the outcome is always the same; the result is a lesson from the snow.  A few years ago, it emerged in a poem entitled “Snowflakes of Grace”.  Then, there was the lesson of Dirty Grace followed by the revelation of The Accentuation of Grace.  And today, thinking there couldn’t be “anything new under the snow”, I saw there was something new on top of the snow.

The realization came as I walked through the woods…over hill and over dale, so to speak.  I love making the first footsteps in unchartered snow, so I took the liberty of claiming new lands to the right and to the left.  In doing so, I walked in areas that I normally would steer clear of.  There’s the swampy area that I avoid, unless I want to have a pair of boots sucked off my feet.  There’s the uncleared area that I detour around, lest I feel the need to start cleaning it up.  And, lastly, there’s the ‘snakey’ area that I respectfully circumvent because, well…if I were a snake, that’s where I would live.  But, today…today…today I put my footprints where no man has gone before…or at least not since last winter!  And, when I realized that nothing was off limits this time of year, that everyplace was navigable when covered in snow, I knew I’d received my newest lesson on grace…which, for me, is always blanketed in snow.

Snow is seasonal; it comes when it’s cold.  Grace is seasonal, it comes when we sin.  Snow, because of the season in which it occurs, is accompanied by temperatures that make some areas more traversable…and less snakey, let’s definitely not forget the less snakey element…decreasing our boundaries and increasing our territorial borders.  Just as snow makes everything accessible, so too does grace make everything usable.  Are there areas in our life that sin causes us to avoid?  Areas that suck the boots off our feet and clutter our paths?  Grace can cover that.  Are there areas we avoid because we’re afraid of what might lie in the unseen…in the creations of our mind and not the reality of our sight?  Grace can illuminate and provide new vision.  Just as snow falls in its season, so too does grace fall in its season.  The beauty, however, is that the season for grace is perpetual; grace, truly, is never out of season.  Since it’s ushered in by the jet stream of our waywardness, the winds of grace are always circling.

How wonderful to know that God sprinkles grace over all of our terrain, making that which was once avoidable and in need of a detour sign, now fully accessible and even traversable!  There is nothing that grace cannot cover; there is no place that grace cannot fall; there is no sin that grace cannot restructure; there is no one whom grace cannot transform!

As I walked the unchartered areas of the woods, God showed me the unlimited access of His grace.  As I saw the vast area that snow allowed me to traverse, God revealed the vast area that grace allows me…and others…to tread.  As I saw the seasonal element of snow, God showed me the seasonal attribute of grace.  How refreshing it is to walk in nature and to hear from the One who has lessons scattered about for all to find…if we will but look…and listen.

Here’s to walking in the snow.  Here’s to walking upon grace.  Here’s to grace walking all over us.  Here’s to lives that are accessible and traversable in season and never out of season!

Hark!  Is that my phone?  Could it be…oh, my…it is!  Here come those wonderful words… “This is a call from the board of education…please press one to hear this important message”.  I know the words that I will hear, and yet…I still have to press that number one!

 

A Grace You Can “Grow Into”

 

“…But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.”  Romans 5:20b

 

               There are some phrases that are less appreciated with age; “you’ll grow into it” is one of them.  When I was young, it wasn’t a bad thing to receive something that, though not a perfect fit at the time, would eventually become something that I would grow into.  From bicycles whose pedals were a stretch to reach, to outfits whose sleeves and legs would require a stretch to fill, growing into something simply meant I had something to look forward to.  But, as an adult, I can’t say that I embrace the concept of growing into something the way I did as a child.  Receiving items I can’t use now…but will have to grow into…is not only unappealing, it’s downright unflattering.  Think about it.  What is there, for a person who’s on the far side of middle-age, that would be exciting to wait for…to grow into?  Cookware?  Well, that would just mean I don’t yet have the culinary skills required to use what I’ve just received.  Books?   Again, if I have to grow into them, I must not have the aptitude to understand them as yet.  And, while this is truly the case with many a text, telling me so will not bring accolades of delight from my lips!  There’s furniture, that can be a nice gift, but the only furniture one grows into at my age is the lift chair and the Hover-round.  And, what about clothing?  While I used to like the idea of growing into an outfit, now…um…need I even answer this?  Nope, there’s not one gift I can think of that I’d like to receive if it meant I’d have to grow into it.

Continue reading “A Grace You Can “Grow Into””

Grace’s Cocoon

Grace’s Cocoon

 

There once was a very hungry caterpillar,

Who nibbled and chewed as it crept;

Eating leaf after leaf,

It could find no relief,

But ate everything right and then left.

There once was a very chubby caterpillar,

So big it had grown over time;

That it soon settled down,

Spun itself a soft gown,

And, all dressed, it awaited its prime.

There once was a very cozy caterpillar,

Tucked safely within its cocoon;

Under layers it’d spun,

Till its purpose was done,

Knowing change would be evident soon.

There once was a very beautiful butterfly,

Who emerged from a silken bed;

Once wrapped up and held tight,

It then took off in flight,

As it stretched its wings over its head.

There once was a very hungry child of God,

Who nibbled and chewed on His word;

Eating Proverbs and Psalms,

She would feast without qualms,

As each morsel her emptiness cured.

There once was a very well-fed child of God,

Whose wisdom had grown with each bite;

Now content to slow down,

Draped in grace as a gown,

She awaited God’s promise of flight.

There once was a very cozy child of God,

Tucked safely within arms of grace;

Held secure by God’s love,

Mercy wrapped like a glove,

And transformed her within Love’s embrace.

There now is a very beautiful child of God,

Whose wings take her off to great heights;

Over doubts, over fears,

Through the storms, through the tears,

In her wings of God’s grace, she delights!

Rhyme AND Reason

  As we move through the month of March, I thought it might be good to pay homage to Dr. Seuss.  After all, where would we be without Hop on Pop and Green Eggs and Ham?  A phonetically challenged society, to say the least.  So, to the one who gave us One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish…I add to that One Sin, Two Sins, Red Cross, White Robes.  Granted, it doesn’t rhyme, but it overflows with reason!  And speaking of crosses…here is a resurrected writing from two years ago.

Rhyme AND Reason

“And of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.”  John 1:16

             I don’t know that I’d call myself an avid reader, but I am an all-the-time reader.  It’s not that I devour everything I read but I like to have an edible pile of books in my literary pantry at all times.  As a result, I have feasted upon quite a few books over the years and have developed a particular taste for some authors.  My all-time favorite is C.S. Lewis, but Max Lucado, Mark Batterson, and John Maxwell make my mouth water, too.  And then there is my other favorite, the one who is as essential to a literary pantry as Little Debbie Nutty Bars are to a kitchen pantry:  Dr. Seuss.  Yes, Theodore Geisel holds a special place in my heart and on my bookshelf.  What lessons there are to retrieve from such classics as The Butter Battle Book, Sneetches, Yertle the Turtle, and The Lorax!  If you don’t believe me, then we need to converse…over a glass of milk and a Nutty Bar.

While I’ve often used Dr. Seuss stories to illustrate Biblical principles, I tend to stay away from his “emergent reader” books.  While Hop on Pop is a great phonetic tool, its ability to delve into Biblical truths is, well, a Flop on Top.  But, I must say that recently God has used one of Dr. Seuss’s early readers to teach me a couple of lessons.  In the book Dr. Seuss’s ABC we find this amazing alliteration…

 “Big A, little a, what begins with a?                                                                                                       Aunt Annie’s alligator, a…a…a.”

                There are two types of truths God exhumed for me in this rhyme:  one grammatical and one Biblical.  In the grammatical sense, there is the reminder that letters come in two forms; capital and lower case.  And then there is the premise that words with the same beginning letter tend to have the same beginning sound.  Before I interject the Biblical truths, let me first walk you to the bridge that will lead us there.  Recently, I was contemplating the nature, and case size, of sin.  As I was talking to God about my sinfulness, I somewhat humorously (I thought) told God that my sin wasn’t a capital letter sin…it was more of a lower case sin, to which my mind quickly recited, ”Big A, little a, what begins with a?”.  I started to list all the sins I could think of that began with an “a”.  Then, I made up my own little jingle.

  “Big A, little a, what begins with a?                                                                                                 Anxiousness and apathy; a…a…a.                                                                                                         Big A, little a, what begins with a?                                                                                                   Avarice and arrogance; a…a…a.                                                                                                             Big A, little a, what begins with a?                                                                                                       Appetites and anarchy; a…a…a.”

 That’s when I saw the bridge of truth…and I couldn’t help but step onto it.  When thinking of sins, we tend to think of them in terms of upper case and lower case; there are the big, capital letter sins and little, lower case sins.  But God looks at them all the same; a sin is a sin.  In Romans 3:23, we are reminded that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and in Isaiah 64:6, we read that “we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness is like a filthy rag.” So, which sins does God hate the most?  All of them!  He doesn’t separate them or categorize them; they all look the same.   And then I realized there was another truth; not only do all sins look alike, but they also sound alike.  In the same way that words with the same beginning letter have the same initial sound, so too do all unrighteous acts drum out the same chords of dissonance into God’s ears.

With this new reasoning from God, along with the rhymes from Dr. Seuss, I thought a little bit further, dove a little bit deeper (or maybe just wider, this pool isn’t deep enough for diving) and landed upon this thought.  If all our sins look alike and sound alike to God, then let’s demote them all to a lower case status and reserve the capital letters for the words He’s written to cover those sins; let’s give Him the upper case and the upper hand.  Once more my mind went back to this rhyming scheme and this time it chanted,

  “Big A, big A, what begins with A?                                                                                                          Affection and Adoption; A…A…A.                                                                                                              Big A, bigger A, what begins with A?                                                                                                Approval and Assurance; A…A…A.                                                                                                          Big A, biggest A, what begins with A?                                                                                              Acceptance and Admittance; A…A…A.”

And there you have it; two truths from Dr. Seuss’s ABC, made possible of course by the Creator of Rhyme and Reason.  Sins look alike and sound alike to God; they should to us as well.  If we truly owned this truth, not only would we stop trying to minimize (or maximize) our sin, but we’d also stop inadvertently minimizing God’s grace.  Just one of our sins cost Jesus His life; the gift of grace was costly.  If we try to make light of our sin, we are also making light of this gift.  Let’s enjoy the rhythm and reason of God’s grace.

 Big A, little a, what begins with a?                                                                                                            A Savior on A Cross…grace, grace, grace!