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Getting It Right
Now there’s nothing wrong with striving for goodness or a sense of assurance before God, but obviously, it helps to be right.
And that’s right where we land. God agreed with the tax collector’s prayer. He recognized the truth in it. His truth in it. God affirms the admission of brokenness, but he also accepts the obedience of confession. Jesus said that he went home justified. I think I’ve often missed the weight of that, both in the scripture and in my heart: the tax collector went home as a man whom God had declared right. What a place to find yourself! I know far better the hopelessness of sin-awareness than I do the hope of a Spirit-infused self-awareness. I don’t know why we are not running full speed toward God’s reality in us.
It’s not as though we’re uncertain of our reception, or of who’s waiting to welcome us:
Jesus who finds righteousness in the taxman. Jesus who drinks wine. Jesus who dines with the disreputable. Jesus who is not hopelessly put off by us. Jesus who moves love to people who need it.
He knows me and yearns to be near me; by any measure, those ought to be mutually exclusive. But it is precisely when we no longer have confidence in ourselves, that the Spirit direct our confidence toward the One who longs for us, tells us to lean in and not lose heart. And when we do, we have a promise from God himself:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippains 4.6-7
It’s been a hard year, I think, for everyone. Some of us have been touched materially. All of us have been touched by the tension that broods over us like a storm cloud. I believe that God’s peace must be one of the most potent witnesses to his reality in our time, and I think that’s the end that Jesus has in mind, to bring his perfect peace through obedient prayer into our hurting world.
Love it…Perfect peace through obedient prayer…yep…clearly words to live by. Thanks for the reminder and appropriate challenge Mr. Schultz (with a C). Great to have you, Anne, and the mini-Shultzesiz in our midst or the periphery…we’ll take it however we can.
Doug,
Not to distract, but if you’d get on Facebook, you’d know that the above bio’s a little outdated. I did a fresh one, but it didn’t get all the way down the chain. I’m smack in the middle, courtesy of a budget cut that included my position and I’ll look forward to seeing you Sunday.
Love you, mean it.
Michael