An insanely unbrave new world

Paul wrote to the church in Corinth (and wouldn't you have loved to have sat there for weeks on end waiting for a letter that came from such an incredible writer?):

"None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.' -- but God has revealed it to us by his spirit. The Spirit searches all thins, even the deep things of God."

There you have it. The reason we do all these things. The way we learned about ourselves, the way we search through the stuff till we find the good stuff. We rely on the Spirit of God, not just to direct us and guide us and save us when our cart goes sailing off the side of the mountain. All those things we do. But we rely on Him to search us, inside us, down to the deep, dark nooks and those horrendous crannies.

Mary and I are packing and packing and packing, preparing to leave ourselves behind as someone once wrote. I'm preparing for still another adventure (as Mary calls it), and believe I've begun to view it that way. Things are new and different for us now. What will be hasn't been revealed yet. And all those things. (If you're gonna steal, steal from the best, my friend Paul)

The point is this: the Holy Spirit has been laying some strong stuff on us. We are to move. We are to take huge pay cuts. We are to give of ourselves in new and inventive ways. We are to seek the absolute best way possible to give and give and give.

All this we do not because we love him (though we do), but because He first loved us. Get it?

It all became clear to me Tuesday night. I've never been what you would call, uh, disciplined. Those spending habits got us into trouble on more than one occasion. When the Saints schedule has come out each of the past four years, we've simply gotten our tickets no matter the cost. One Monday night game. That's our thing.

This time we looked over the price, weighed the cost and for the first time in my life, MY LIFE, I said, 'I can't afford that.' Now that might not mean a lot to some, but it meant to me, life has changed. No longer do we need two different red dress shirts. No longer do we need three pairs of tennis shoes. No longer do we need five pairs of jeans of varying colors and denim-ness.

No. No. While men in prison are awaiting the mere mention of Jesus. While babies in Asia are going hungry. While the poor in this country are walking streets homeless, how dare those who say they are of Christ have too much? How? For the better part of 15 years, I've concentrated my life on the salvation of the soul. I've thought long and hard about how to bring people TO Christ. Now, I'm beginning to see how we must bring Christ -- and by that I mean a Christ who feeds and clothes and visits and ultimately loves -- to them. I now understand that if someone who has nothing is given everything, they are much more likely to love in return.

That's how it worked for me, and I forgot.

Strangely enough, the idea of what we will not have is beginning to appeal.

Life, indeed, is strange when you call Jesus the Lord.