The Country Called Life--December 12, 2019

The Country Called Life--December 12, 2019

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." [Titus 2:11-13]

Christ's coming is about bringing life... for everybody.

It really is just that big a deal.  It really is just that amazing a grace.  And it really is just that good a gift.

Getting that, like really and truly understanding that, has a way of clarifying everything else, doesn't it?  About this season, about this life, about what you and I do with our twenty-four hours a day, too.  When we stop back and hold everything up to the filter of, "How much does this thing matter in light of Christ's coming to bring life for all people?" a lot of stuff can be set aside, and other things become ever more important.

Like here's one. I'll be honest with you: there are a lot of things I don't fuss about at Christmas-time anymore, and I think it has everything to do with asking, "What really matters, knowing that Christ is coming to bring life for all people?"  I don't get nearly so worked up about pulling off the "perfect" Christmas--I don't get bent out of shape if the tree isn't up by a certain date, or if it's up earlier than normal.  I don't get upset if I can't find "the perfect present" for someone, because I know that Christmas isn't really about my ability to boast about my excellent present-getting ability.  And I most certainly do not make a fuss over whether people say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" or if they spell out the word "Christ" in "Christmas" or just abbreviate it with the first letter in Christ's name from the Greek ("X", or "chi"), as in "X-mas."  These things are not worth making a fuss about, because not a one of them can deflect God's way of bringing life for all people through Christ.  

And in the bigger scheme of things, there is the same clarity.  A lot of stuff I used to worry about, or care about, or waste my energy on, I am freed from being captive to any longer, because they just don't matter compared to God's infinite labor of love in Christ that brings life to all.  I don't care anymore what people think of the car I drive--if it gets me from one place to another, that is what I need.  I don't need to fuss over having the latest rectangle of technology so that I can stare into its screen with more of my life.  I don't need to get upset if neighbors around me look different from me, or worship differently from the way I do, or speak a language that is not my own.  I don't need to feel threatened by the presence of people from other countries living in the neighborhood where I live.  And I absolutely do not need to worry about whether I look like a "winner" to anybody else.  And honestly, it is freeing not to have to be entangled with those things, because I know what it's like to play some of those games, and they are all losing deals.  

I think something like this is what the letter to Titus has in mind when it says that God's grace has appeared, "bringing salvation to all," and at the same time that this grace is "training us" to say NO to some things and to say YES to others.  It's not about handing down new rules to follow or else getting sent to hell--it's about asking the question, "What do I not need to spend my life on any longer in light of God's desire to bring life to all people through Christ?"  And then the follow up is about asking, "What becomes more important in light of Christ's coming, too?" It's about clarity--we learn what things don't require the drama anymore, and what things are worth giving our attention to all the more.

And here's what happens the more we hold all of our lives up to the light of Christ's coming.  We care less about making money, and more about how we spend time.  We get less fussy about demanding "my rights" and more invested in making sure everybody has enough to eat.  We spend less energy insisting on putting "Me and My Group First!" and devote more of ourselves to asking about the folks who feel like they've slipped through the cracks or been stepped on.  We are less interested in chasing after the mirage they sell called "happiness" or "the American dream," and will be more interested in spreading joy and in participating in God's dream of life given to all.

It is sad to me that we use this season, which is supposedly about rearranging our priorities in light of Christ's coming, to get so many other distractions added into our lives, and how we end up having less clarity about what matters rather than more.  But just because there are so many other voices in the background noise of life these days (many of them singing, "Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland" or "Last Christmas", and accompanied by the sound of rhythmic sleigh bells), it doesn't mean we cannot pause ourselves for a moment and ask the liberating, clarifying, life-giving question:  What really matters, and what is worth giving myself to, in light of God's desire to bring salvation and life to all people?

That kind of question will help us to take things seriously that matter, and to let go of the silliness and fussiness that does not need to be ours any longer.  It will be, like Marilynne Robinson says about grace in Gilead, "a sort of ecstatic fire that takes things down to essentials."  Or like Rilke says in his beloved poem:

"God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.
These are the words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.

You will know it by its seriousness.

Give me your hand."

That's just it.  Amid all the nonsense and melodrama that folks get worked up about in this season, you and I can be voices of clarity and sanity.  We will hear that voice of God spoken to us as well, taking each of us by the and leading us into the country called life. 

Lord God, give us clarity like the crispness of cold night air in December--the clarity of what is worth holding onto, and what we can stop chasing after, in light of your saving love for all people.  Here, take our hand.