... And?

Before I begin this post, I'm taking a few sentences to bring some of my other, unrelated-but-kinda-because-they're-meta-writing-blog-posts thoughts to light. Firstly, these posts pile up and I begin to feel legalistic about writing. This is counterproductive to the reasons I write: for the edification of others, for my own enjoyment in sharing knowledge, and to preach these words back to myself over and again. Secondly, these posts pile up: there's more coming! Thirdly, because I begin to feel guilty about not writing, or not completing certain things in a timely fashion, or whatever reason, I remedy my thoughts by taking a break, which works... but it places me way out of practice. One thing I've learned from my complacency/apathy/legalism problems with writing is that I desperately need to love deeper recreational activities.
--------------
As I was memorizing a portion of Ezekiel 36 as a function of accountability within my small group, led by Christopher Locke, I was reminded of a certain Coke Zero commercial from a few Super Bowls back which basically consisted of a man who, since he was a child, has always been able to ask for more [like a brat]. He wasn't satisfied with what he was given. When he received an ice cream cone, he quizzically asks "And... ?" The cone gets sprinkles and a cherry on top. He goes to the skate park and is unimpressed by a dog that balances on a skateboard. Enter Spike, the amazing skateboarding dog! The commercial jumps to this same unsettled man asking the same question to an employer who hires him and a woman who hits on him. He finally is satisfied when he sees that Coke Zero has REAL Coca-Cola TASTE AND ZERO CALORIES.

Ezekiel 36 flows in a similar fashion, except these are covenant promises from God to man, not the whine of a spoiled brat who's inexplicably and ultimately sated by the mundane taste AND zero calories of Coke Zero.

I'm going to type it out, so great my love for these promises is!
-----------------
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, 

they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: 
their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. 
wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, 
and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it:
and I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: 
according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. 

and when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, 
they profaned My holy name, when they said to them, 
these are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of His land.
but I had pity for Mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned 
among the heathen, whither they went. 

Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; 

I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, 
but for Mine holy name's sake, 
which ye have profaned among the heathen, 
whither ye went. 
And I will sanctify My great name, 
which was profaned among the heathen, 
which ye have profaned in the midst of them;
and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, 
when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 

for I will take you from among the heathen, 
and gather you out of all countries, 
and will bring you into your own land.
then will I sprinkle clean water upon you,
and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness,
and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
a new heart also will I give you,
and a new spirit will I put within you:
and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, 
and I will give you an heart of flesh.
and I will put My spirit within you,
and cause you to walk in My statutes,
and ye shall keep my judgments,
and do them.
and ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers;
and ye shall be my people,
and I will be your God.
I will also save you from all your uncleannesses:
and I will call for the corn,
and will increase it,
and lay no famine upon you.
and I will multiply the fruit of the tree,
and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.

then shall ye remember your own evil ways,
and your doings that were not good,
and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight 
for your iniquities and for your abominations. 
not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, 
be it known unto you:
be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. 
thus saith the Lord GOD;
in the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities

I will also cause you to dwell in the cities,
and the wastes shall be builded.
and the desolate land shall be tilled, 
whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. and they shall say,
this land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden;
and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, 
and are inhabited.
then the heathen that are left round about you shall know 
that I the LORD build the ruined places,
and plant that that was desolate:

I the LORD have spoken it,
and I will do it. 
thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, 
to do it for them;
I will increase them with men like a flock.
as the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts;
so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men:
and they shall know that I am the LORD. 

So, there you have it. The gospel in a nutshell, for the glory of God and for the reconciliation of the nations. 

....just words?

Last quarter I took a class called "Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism." During the professor's talks, he sometimes grew passionate and began to rant, including pacing and carefully placed high-pitched expletives. On one such occasion, he retrieved the book from the overhead projector* on which were pictures chronicling the abuse of recently-freedmen of the post-Civil War South who were practically enslaved and humiliated and deprived of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, among other things like food, adequate living conditions (rivaling those of the Nazi concentration camps), and sleep. He flung the book open and angrily asked the whole class in a loud voice, "These things, racism, discrimination, abuse, degradation: are they just fucking words on a page to you? They are real!"

This brings me to a more salient point to the Christian, though we'll be setting aside the historical evils done in countries of yesterday and today [and, God forbid, tomorrow].

Do we who hear the gospel preached multiple times a week treat God's Word with less respect than this sociology professor with communistic leanings required of his students concerning racism? Do we, to be crass and probably more than a little bit blasphemous, think of Jesus or God as just a word on a page, here today and gone tomorrow? I know that I have certainly acted the part.

Here's an example of demonstrating that love of Christ which compels us in this life He breathes, that Word of words:

One of the preachers at CCM one time taught us about the love of God and what it means to "lay down your life for your friends." He taught us it's not necessarily limited to the theatrical jumping in front of a bullet or pushing someone out of the way of an oncoming bus, dying in one's valorous blood pleading that the living friend live his life for good and wisdom and truth and beauty. Laying down one's life means sacrificing weekends to paint a sick brother's house when he can't, visiting the poor one with food and friendship, providing jobs for those that need them, inviting the outcast sister into your home, and bearing one another's burdens in love. 

Once upon a time**, a friend of mine named Christopher asked me to store his printer and lamp and other school-y stuffs while he went back home, far away. When it came time for him to be close and to need to use them again, I brought them over, but parked a long way away because his apartment had no guest parking. So I parked at a Trader Joes'***. I walked three blocks and up two flights of stairs, appreciating the build up of lactic acid. 

Later that week, I told my dad of this, proud I was to be able to help my friend in this stupidly-simple way: letting his things collect dust and then sacrificing a few minutes of my time and strength in menial labor. They reprimanded me for wasting my energy. 'You should have just called him and told him you left his things on the curb. You should have required him to pay for keeping and delivering his things.' my dad said. 

I was disappointed in his response and wept bitterly later when I recalled the voice of that preacher about loving friends. I remembered the ache in my arms and the awkward stares from drivers down that road. I remembered how I loved my friend enough to guard his belongings during the summers in order to save him from shipping them back and forth from his home in the north. And I remembered how it is these things, these living sacrifices, which demonstrate my commitment to my loving Savior who lived and breathed and died in obedience to God in my place. 

*We still use these. 
**Every summer.
***The only one in existence with enough parking!