A New Clarity--January 11, 2024

A New Clarity--January 11, 2024

"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 faith of ours, about this life, about what you and I do with our twenty-four hours a day, too. When we take seriously that Christ has come in order to bring "salvation to all," all of a sudden, our myopic concerns of narrow self-interest seem too small. And at the same time, we gain clarity about what things we used to fuss over just don't seem important any longer. 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.  

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 in order to avoid 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 "success" or "the American dream," and will be more interested in spreading joy and in participating in God's dream of life given to all.

Jesus' presence in our lives has a way of both stretching us wider than we thought possible, and simultaneously paring down and cutting away the things that don't matter any longer.  To be in the presence of Jesus is, like Marilynne Robinson says about grace in Gilead, "a sort of ecstatic fire that takes things down to essentials," and at the same time, it is to have our vision expanded to see God's saving love for all people, not just the people I like or approve of.  And all of a sudden it's like we're seeing the world with a full field of view, and without distractions obscuring our vision. 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.  The light we get from Jesus' presence allows us to see everything else more clearly, in the breadth of his love.

Lord Jesus, widen our vision by your love so that we don't get hung up on the things that don't matter, and so that we can see your saving presence for all people.