I saw an old friend this week, a friend that I hadn’t seen in nearly 20 years, not since shortly after our college days. We had a long and easy-going, enjoyable chat. It was genuinely good to just be with him. We weren’t even all that close in college, but there is something about the people that you know in those years. It’s a connection that seems to need no maintenance to still be effective. The day after we met, he and I exchanged emails. At one point he wrote rather candidly that he was “Struck by the transformation…that the Holy Spirit had done in me.” I just can’t even wrap my head and heart around that. "Me?" A wretch, to borrow a well worn line. It seems that most of the time I fight with myself over my desire to put forth a fraud, the version of myself that I think the world will be impressed by. I ache to be strong enough to grant God full access to me and let him present the version of me that he wants. That someone else could see Christ’s spirit represented in me is overwhelming and humbling. Why Jesus would choose me, or to choose us to contain his glory, to represent the advancement of his kingdom is absurd. It is the exact reason why it is so hard to reconcile being a follower of Christ in a world that hates him, neither the believer nor the non-believer can fully accept that Christ chose us. I don't understand it, but I must believe it because I have lived out and witnessed the transformation that happens in the acceptance of his great love.
My friend seeing something that valuable in me, a wretch, reminds me of watching Antiques Road show. An old lady brings out some rusty old lamp that her husband had insisted on keeping all these years. He’s passed on and she can’t bring herself to throw it away, so she wants to see what it’s worth. She is dismissive, but the appraiser is quivering. As the appraiser unfolds the story of the lamp, the old lady gets weaker and weaker. He tells the story of how the lamp was made, who it was made by and the journey this little lamp has made. Though it seems dark and busted and unworthy of display, it’s maker is actually very proud of it. At the end of the appraisal the Antiques Road show crew gently puts an antique bulb in and plugs in the lamp. The room darkens a bit and they turn on the lamp. The lamp is transformed as the light pours through the delicate and intricate design. The maker, the story and the light transform this piece into something priceless. By the time the appraiser gives an estimated value, the woman can’t even stand. And that is how I felt this morning when I read my friend’s email. Dear Jesus, thank you for rescuing me and allowing me to carry your spirit within me. I can’t focus on how much I do not deserve your favor and fortune, I can only act out of the Love that you have shown me and tell the Good News that that Love is available to all.
2 Corinthians 4:
5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
Matthew 10:
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