{"id":6211,"date":"2017-02-21T11:53:03","date_gmt":"2017-02-21T19:53:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/?p=6211"},"modified":"2017-02-21T11:53:03","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T19:53:03","slug":"word-grace-february-9-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/word-grace-february-9-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"A Word of Grace February 9, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dear Friends,<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes” <\/i><\/span>(Luke 19:41-42).<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nJesus is a realist. He is reduced to a warm fuzzy blur by all of the heart-tugging appeals, tear-jerking stories, and sonorous organ chords that short-cut past the mind to the heart. But in the light of his own testimony, he is a clear-eyed realist.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nHe approaches Jerusalem for the last time, knowing that he is going to be rejected and crucified there. He wastes no time on anger at his fate. He seeks no refuge, devises no evasive strategy.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nWhen the religious start serving themselves instead of God, they will soon start sacrificing those with the temerity to point out the difference. Jesus has no illusions that it will be any different for him. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing”(Luke 13:34).<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nBeing a realist did not make him a cynic. Jesus’ heart broke with unrequited love. True love desires the best for the beloved. Jesus wanted nothing less than the children to come home and be at peace with their Father, but they are settling for so much less. They will kill him in an attempt to erase the reminder that their best isn\u2019t good enough.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nJesus weeps for them, but he doesn’t stop loving them. That’s the saving grace of it all — when we are at our worst, he loves us still! (Rom 5:8). He doesn’t reject us or curse us in bitterness. Knowing everything about us, he still intercedes for us with the Father (Heb 7:25).<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nMavericks, rebels, rogues, wanderers, progressives, conservatives, rugged individualists– think of the images we prize. How is that working out for us? After 2,000 years are we any better at “recogniz[ing] the things that make for peace?”<\/span>
\nAnd what are the things that make for peace.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nJesus walked into Jerusalem, entered the temple, and was greeted by the din of currency exchange and sales of livestock for sacrifices. He took a whip of cords and drove out the sellers and dealers, overturning their tables and chairs, and scattering their coins. It was a dramatic, even violent, act of protest and religious reform.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nHours before, Jesus had wept over the unwillingness of the inhabitants of Jerusalem to pursue peace-making. Then he breached the peace in the sacred Temple and the most important gathering place of the Jewish nation. His voice thundered words of Scripture \u2013 \u201cMy house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations\u201d (Mark 11:17).<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nHow do we reconcile the compassionate, empathetic, longing Jesus with the eyes-blazing, Scripture-shouting activist Jesus? That\u2019s a 2,000 year argument.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nProgressives claim the activist Jesus as kind of a fire-breathing First Century Bernie Sanders. Conservatives claim that Jesus\u2019 mourning over the apostasy of Jerusalem and his raised room-clearing messianic-voice represent his call to the nation to repent.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nI am weary of the attribution of divine righteousness to partisan political positions while opposing positions are attacked as pure evil. \u00a0The fellowship of spiritual companions is sacrificed to unreasoning, uncompromising political zealotry. Wrath seethes, fingers are pointed, epithets are hurled, and boycotts are called to damage and destroy in deployment of scorched earth strategies and all of this among proclaimed followers of Christ.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nDid Jesus cleanse the Temple for the sake of inclusion, or exclusion or political reform, or peace through protest in the House of the Lord?\u201d I don\u2019t think he had political motives. The money-changing proves that people from a lot of different countries were present. And if all we can see are political strategies and outcomes, we are spiritually blind.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nJesus told Pilot, \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom was from this world, my followers would fight . . . But as it is, my kingdom is not from here\u201d (John 18:36). He had no political point to make.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nJesus had said of Jerusalem, \u201cIf you only knew the things that make for peace.\u201d Nothing makes for peace like reconciling with God and reconciliation means communication. Jesus said, \u201cMy house shall be called a house of <\/span>prayer<\/i><\/span> for all nations.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nMy friend Nate Schilts says, \u201cThere is no debate in prayer. True prayer is a dependence on God alone.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nExactly! Dependence on God makes money-changing, politics, and name-calling irrelevant. Jesus would let nothing stand between his people and God. That\u2019s why he came. That\u2019s why he gave his life \u2013 to reestablish the direct connection between the Father and his children \u2013 the connection that makes for peace.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nIt is no wonder that Jesus was ruthless in dealing with those who would interfere with the life-giving, life-sustaining relationship with the Father for their own purpose and profit. If our brothers and sisters were dying what would we do to save them? And if we fickle humans, would do that much, how much more will be done for us by our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ who he sent for us? (<\/span>See<\/i><\/span>, Rom 8:31-36).<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nWhat does it profit us if we gain the Supreme Court and lose our souls in the process?\u00a0 How can God\u2019s will be advanced through labeling and character assassination?<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nIt\u2019s past time we stop trying to settle scores and turn to prayer to the God of all grace that \u201chis kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.\u201d This is a prayer taught to us by Jesus as a path to reconciliation and peace (Matt 6:7-15).<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nEach of us is accountable for seeking that peace. The Apostle Paul wrote, \u201cIf it is possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all\u201d (Rom 12:18). If we are serious about living out the life of Christ in us, we will think about his peace before we hit the \u201csend,\u201d \u201creply\u201d or \u201cpost\u201d buttons on our political pronouncements.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n\u201cO taste and see that the Lord is good. Happy are those who take refuge in him (Ps 34:8).<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Please note that the content and viewpoints of Mr. Hansen are his own and are not necessarily those of the C.S. Lewis Foundation. We have not edited his writing in any substantial way and have permission from him to post his content.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n

\"KentKent Hansen is a Christian attorney, author and speaker. He practices corporate law and is the managing attorney of the firm of Clayson, Mann, Yaeger & Hansen in Corona, California. Kent also serves as the general counsel of Loma Linda University and Medical Center in Loma Linda, California.<\/p>\n

Finding God\u2019s grace revealed in the ordinary experiences of life, spiritual renewal in Christ and prayer are Kent\u2019s passions. He has written two books,\u00a0Grace at 30,000 Feet and Other Unexpected Places<\/em> published by Review & Herald in 2002 and\u00a0Cleansing Fire, Healing Streams: Experiencing God\u2019s Love Through Prayer<\/em>, published by Pacific Press in spring 2007. Many of his stories and essays about God\u2019s encompassing love have been published in magazines and journals. Kent is often found on the hiking trails of the southern California mountains, following major league baseball, playing the piano or writing his weekly email devotional, \u201cA Word of Grace for Your Monday\u201d that is read by men and women from Alaska to Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Friends, As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:41-42). Jesus is a realist. He is reduced to a warm fuzzy blur by all of the heart-tugging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":5598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[226,225],"tags":[649,227],"class_list":["post-6211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-word-of-grace","category-devotional","tag-a-word-of-grace","tag-kent-hansen"],"yoast_head":"\nA Word of Grace February 9, 2017 - Living the Legacy of C.S. 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