04-20-2014
Ephesians 2: 8-10 – “8 For by grace you have been
saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God — 9 not the result of works, so that
no one may boast. 10 For we
are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”
I suppose that I
should begin my thoughts with a disclaimer:
It seems that from the beginning, people of faith in their
very sincere desire to please God, have missed the mark by confusing the things
of man’s “successes” with what God considers to be true accomplishment. (i.e. Cain’s sacrifice, Adam and Eve’s desire
to be as smart as God, etc.) So we are
not alone in our current “misguidedness”.
[End disclaimer.]
To elaborate a little further, Abraham built altars as we
know from Genesis. Where he encountered
God, he made an altar to signify the exchange.
Then he would dig wells as he needed water for his family and herds
while tarrying there. Isaac saw this and
would later re-dig those wells with disastrous result; even though he followed
Abraham’s “formula” when doing it. He
thought that the wells were the accomplishments, when in fact it was the
faithfulness to worship (follow God’s leading) that brought God’s favor to him. (A lesson that Isaac finally learned we find
in Chap 26 and v. 25)
In our modern contexts we often mistake the buildings in
which we gather for the blessing of God.
Our parents and grandparents worked and sacrificed to build them and
have left us a legacy not unlike Abraham’s legacy for Isaac. And like Isaac, we have misunderstood the
truth of these gifts.
They ARE a testimony to our shared history of faith in the communities where they are located. But we are not meant to measure OUR accomplishment, or our faith for that matter, by our parents’ and grandparents’ faithfulness. Isaac’s mistake wasn’t trying to dig wells… it was trying to re-dig someone else’s wells. When he finally built his own altar, and dug his own well, he found success! When his father’s faith became his own; THEN he found favor.
They ARE a testimony to our shared history of faith in the communities where they are located. But we are not meant to measure OUR accomplishment, or our faith for that matter, by our parents’ and grandparents’ faithfulness. Isaac’s mistake wasn’t trying to dig wells… it was trying to re-dig someone else’s wells. When he finally built his own altar, and dug his own well, he found success! When his father’s faith became his own; THEN he found favor.
So dig deep! Only,
dig the wells that God has called YOU to dig and don’t fall to the temptation
to draw from someone else’s well for too long.
That will just lead to congregations that are dehydrated and dying.
We can either brag about our ancestors’ faith, and hold to
our misguided need to maintain their “wells” at the expense of all of the other
tasks that God has called us to, OR… we can deepen our own faith and reach
beyond the bricks and wood of the buildings to begin to (through lives lived in
faithful worship) accomplish what God through Christ deemed to be the only
worthwhile accomplishment… leading others to know the Grace of God that allows
the salvation of the faithful. After
all, that is what we were built for in and by Christ’s work of salvation. We are made for good works of our own. Just as our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents
were made for good works of their own.
And no, I am not saying that good works save. In fact that was Paul’s whole point in the
above passages. However they should be the
response to (and newness of purpose in) Christ’s loving act of redemption.
That is our gift from God.
And that is the only legacy that brings life. (Now THAT is something to brag about!)
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