"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, 21 April 2009 | |||
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A Diamond Someday | |||
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My wife is always chagrined when I juxtapose two pieces of
poetry which I think express a thought from this week's text,
I John 3:1-7, particularly verse 2. The problem for Beth is that one
bit of lyric comes from country-western singer John Anderson: "I'm
just an old chunk of coal, but I'm gonna be a diamond someday,"
while the other comes from one of her favorite poets, Gerard Manley
Hopkins, who wrote: A beacon, an eternal beam. 'Flesh fade, and mortal trash Fall to the residuary worm; ' world's wildfire leave but ash: I am all at once what Christ is, ' since he was what I am, and This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, ' patch, matchwood, immortal diamond, Now, I freely admit that Hopkins captures a bit more of John's thought, and a bit more eloquently, yet I still like the homely phrasing of Anderson. In any case, Anderson's song does some justice to where John goes with this thought that we will someday experience the glory of being made like Christ. Anderson sings: I'm gonna kneel and pray every day, Lest I become vain along the way. and I'm gonna learn the best way to walk I'm gonna search and find a better way to talk I'm gonna spit and polish my old rough edged self Till I get rid of every single flaw What Anderson sees (in rough, coal-like sort of way) is that the promise of diamond-hood, of being made someday like Christ, carries an ethical dimension. We want to live in anticipation of the glory we will share in. John says in verse 3, "All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure." We struggle and strive to leave sin behind because, through grace, we have the hope of being remade into the sort of beings God always intended us to be. Why not begin living in some of that glory now? Why not start moving ourselves in the right direction? Yes, until that day when see the object of our efforts clearly, until we are face to face with Jesus, our efforts will prove lump-like and potsherd-broken, but John sees that as no reason not to strive now to be "righteous, just as he is righteous" (v. 7). So greetings this week to all my fellow lumps of coal, and I look forward to greeting your diamond sheen in our Lord's presence one day. | |||
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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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Beth Well, dear, I look at it this way: Hopkins is a little further on the path to diamondhood than Anderson! ; ) (04/21/09)