It's Valentines Day...and I'm thinking a lot about hearts -- but also -- heartache.
It's in large measure because, I'm still thinking about Gary Haugen's address at the National Prayer Breakfast. Frankly, Gary turned things in a direction, I'd never thought about -- or -- frankly, comprehended.
One of his more provocative, unpredictable statements: none of us are perfect, pure; we all take turns being the hero - and -- the heartache.
As reported by The Christian Post:
"...Haugen charged that the admonition of Scripture is not only to 'not give up in doing right, -- but also -- to not give up 'in humbly seeking what is right.' 'Because I can miss it,' he said. 'This is the great tragic and gracious story of our nation. God worked through great heroes to bring waves of freedom, prosperity, and justice like the world had ever known.' But at the same time, he said, those same heroes didn’t have the moral vision to share those blessings with the rest of the world. Still, God uses 'messy men and woman' to advance His Kingdom, and bring righteousness and justice to the world. 'We are, in alternating moments, allowed to be His heroes and His heartache...” (emphasis added) https://www.christianpost.com/news/national-prayer-breakfast-keynote-dont-let-tribal-divisions-stop-you-from-pursuing-the-good.html
Did you catch that last phrase: "...we are in alternating moments, allowed to be [God's] heroes and His heartache..."
Translated: there's no one crusader with a consistently righteous, 'all-together' solution/message.
We've all sinned and come short of the glory and rightness of God. Thus, pronounced humility, not a pronounced bravo, should mark our talk and stride.
Translated: there's no one crusader with a consistently righteous, 'all-together' solution/message.
We've all sinned and come short of the glory and rightness of God. Thus, pronounced humility, not a pronounced bravo, should mark our talk and stride.
One of the most alarming illustrations provided by Gary Haugen, of 'sometimes hero, sometimes heartache' -- was the famed Women's Suffrage Movement. Why, if ever there was a hero movement, it was the Suffrage movement, as it sought to establish the full equality of women. Praise God!
But as Brent Staples of the New York Times, recently noted, the Suffrage movement was also a heartache moment, at times, to countless African-American women.
Not so.
Frankly, they did a lot right, gaining the support of luminaries such as Frederick Douglas. But as Staples points out, even the laudable Women's Suffrage Movement had 'blind spots,' lacking consistency.
The point: we all have our 'blind spots' and lack consistency.
Thus, rather than pouncing on each other -- and vilifying each other -- as the scourge of the earth -- we would be better served to frame each other as 'fellow travelers and strugglers' -- fellow sinners -- in the quest for a more just, humane, redeemed creation -- desperately in need of grace.
For we're all irregular, 'mixed' bags. I mean, go figure:
Yet, God used such people, and still uses such people -- to be heroes of faith -- in spite of their heartache.
But as Brent Staples of the New York Times, recently noted, the Suffrage movement was also a heartache moment, at times, to countless African-American women.
"...[For example] in 1913...organizers of a huge suffragist parade in Washington demanded that black participants march in an all-black assembly at the back of the parade instead of with their state delegations. [Ida] Wells famously refused. [Mary] Terrell, who marched in a colored delegation as requested, believed at the time that white suffragists would exclude black women from the 19th Amendment — nicknamed the Anthony Amendment — if they thought they could get away with it. These episodes fueled within the African-American community a lasting suspicion of white suffragists and of the very idea of political cooperation across racial lines... "https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/28/opinion/sunday/suffrage-movement-racism-black-women.htmlI never knew that. Why I always thought the Women's Suffrage Movement did no wrong.
Not so.
Frankly, they did a lot right, gaining the support of luminaries such as Frederick Douglas. But as Staples points out, even the laudable Women's Suffrage Movement had 'blind spots,' lacking consistency.
The point: we all have our 'blind spots' and lack consistency.
Thus, rather than pouncing on each other -- and vilifying each other -- as the scourge of the earth -- we would be better served to frame each other as 'fellow travelers and strugglers' -- fellow sinners -- in the quest for a more just, humane, redeemed creation -- desperately in need of grace.
For we're all irregular, 'mixed' bags. I mean, go figure:
- Prophet Elijah – Was suicidal
- Apostle Paul -- Persecuted innocent people
- Reformation Leader Martin Luther -- Was Anti-Semitic
- Bible Translator J.B. Phillips -- Suffered depression
- Reformed Theologian Pastor R.C. Sproul -- Was addicted to tobacco
- Mission Pioneer Bob Pierce -- Struggled with anger management
- Civil Rights Prophet Martin Luther King -- Committed adultery
- Preacher's Preacher Charles Stanley -- Wrecked his marriage, resulting in divorce
Yet, God used such people, and still uses such people -- to be heroes of faith -- in spite of their heartache.
And so self-righteous posturing that suggests that 'I have the corner on truth,' and have never violated truth (e.g., sinned) -- pegging you, conclusively, as the final heartache -- is far from the approach of God.
Again, please hear me: God does not excuse sin or gloss over sin's atrocity and terror.
But neither does God position sin as the irrevocable death sentence on our lives. Rather, God offers a way beyond sin, in Christ.
"...Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person [Adam] did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death [e.g. the habit/pattern of self-righteous, egotistical behavior] -- another person [Jesus] did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man [Adam] said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man [Jesus] said yes to God and put many in the right...Sin...doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down....Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end." (emphasis added). (Romans 5:12-21, The Message)I love that last phrase: God is putting everything together again through the Messiah!
And so, in a world, bifurcated -- divided -- polarized -- presumptuous -- self-righteous -- divided -- God offers His aggressive forgiveness, His grace - as a way to unite us, nevertheless.
On this Valentines Day, I want to encourage us to allow God to unite us, through His grace, nevertheless.
And then, for us, in turn, to show grace to one another, rather than being so ungracious, as if we're never the heartache, only the hero.
For if we're honest, we're all heartache and hero, taking turns, as both bane or blessing.
Thus, all of us need grace, amazing grace, seeing each other, ultimately, through a mercy-full lens.
This week includes not only Valentines Day, but Abraham Lincoln's birthday. Speaking at his 2nd Inaugural, Lincoln was speaking in the midst of one of the most contentious, bitter, self-righteous heartache-seasons in our country, with most viewing self, as only the hero.
Rising to such an occasion, Lincoln was both brave and prophetic speaking these words.
“…Neither party [North and South] expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained…Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both…[have not] been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes…[And so] with malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds…to achieve and cherish a lasting peace among ourselves…” (emphasis added) https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=38&page=transcriptGiven these words, it's not a coincidence that Lincoln's birthday is in the same week as Valentine's Day. For the key to loving reunion, either today, or during another season of civil war -- is:
- Not judging
- Praying humbly
- Showing malice toward none
- Showing charity for all
- Binding up wounds
- Achieving, and cherishing lasting peace.
Thanks, Abe.
But more so -- thanks Jesus -- who reminds us -- that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But also -- that all have access to the aggressive forgiveness of God,
All have access to grace!
A grace that empowers us to move from heartache to being heroes -- again!
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