"Tight lines" is a blessing fishermen offer each other, a wish for lines taut with the weight of good fish. May God grant that the lines written here be taut with His blessings.
Tuesday, 17 March 2009 | |||
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Between Two Worlds | |||
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They were taken from a lean-to made out of tarps and
blankets and from a pink shack that sits right next to a sewer. They were
put on a plane and flown to the most glittering city on earth. The world
last month watched as the children from "Slum Dog Millionaire"
had the incredible experience of walking down the red carpet of the
Academy Awards and then climbing onto the stage as their film received
the best picture Oscar. For 9-year-old Rubina and 10-year-old Azharuddin, especially, it was an incredible journey from the slums of Mumbai to the lights of Hollywood and rides of Disneyland. As their celebrated performances catapulted them into global fame, their lives were changed forever. Yet now they are back in Mumbai. Better housing has been promised, but it has not happened yet. Education trust funds await them when they are older, but they haven't received them yet. Memories of comfort and excitement will always be with them, but right now they live once again in squalid and dreary circumstances. How very like the slum dog kids is the transition pictured for believers in Christ in Ephesians 2:1-10. Verse 1 says, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live. . ." and Paul goes on to paint a picture of just how drear and hopeless our situation was in the realm of the evil ruler of this world. Then in verse 4, Paul writes "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ. . ." and on in verse 6 to say, "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus." Raised out of death and into life, like the kids raised out of the darkness of India's slums into the spotlights of Los Angeles. Yet just as those poor children caught a brief glimpse of the lights and have now gone back to live a little longer in the slums, so we who have received the grace of Christ still struggle to be truly raised out of the sin in which we formerly lived. Like them, we are between two worlds, saved by Christ into God's kingdom, yet still in and wanting to be free of Satan's kingdom. In order to make the most of what they've received, Rubina and Asharuddin will need to be disciplined and careful not to waste or have stolen from them the opportunities awaiting them. Between now and age 18 when their trust fund matures, they could go wrong in many ways. They will probably receive other chances to act, but that could go well or poorly. Their future very much depends on how they handle themselves in the next few years. The blessing we enjoy as Christians is that in our hope for a place in God's kingdom we do not rely only on ourselves. In Christ we have the assurance in verses 8 and 9 that we have been saved by grace through faith, not from ourselves, not from works. God's kindness came to us in Jesus Christ and not by our own performance. Whether we act it out well or not, the grace of Jesus saves us. Yet our security in grace does not leave us without a call to perform well. Our situation is not totally unlike that of the slum children. Our happiness and joy in this time between two worlds depends very much on realizing what Paul says in verse 10, "For we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Like that wonderfully lucky little girl and boy from India, we may choose to live into the blessing of grace we have received, make the most of it, and allow God to turn us into the fine performers He meant for us to be from the beginning. May the saving grace God grants us include the grace to do His good work, and may part of that work be discovering how we can care for the millions of poor children around the world who are still waiting for their opportunities, for their gift of a new life, and especially for the gift of the grace of Jesus. | |||
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I am the pastor of Valley Covenant Church in Eugene, Oregon. I love to flyfish and hike along the beautiful rivers in our area. I welcome your comments as I share sermon work in progress and occasional other thoughts.
Thank you for visiting this blog. I invite you also to visit my web page.
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