Get On With It! (enough grovelling already...)

Scripture:

Hebrews 6:1-3 [The Message]

So come on, let’s leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on “salvation by self-help” and turning in trust toward God; baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment. God helping us, we’ll stay true to all that. But there’s so much more. Let’s get on with it!

Observation:

I love the playfulness of Eugene Peterson's translation above. It highlights one of the paradoxical challenges of a living faith: Yes, God's saving grace is the pure and free gift of God to us. There is nothing we can do to earn or to lose this grace, but the truth of God's grace is that it is fertile. Those who truly receive it, cannot help but respond to it through practiced love of God and neighbour. Squint too hard at this reality and it can become a crazy-making invitation to wonder whether or not this person or that person is "truly" saved by grace depending upon what they are doing today.

This is the power of Peterson's rendering - it invites us to play and then starts the game before we can get the rules memorized. There is no time given for unproductive navel-gazing or finger wagging.

Application:

I have been so blessed to grow up in a corner of Christ's church that excels in teaching the "basic foundational truths" of the faith. Lutherans are exceedingly clear that the saving power of God is born to each believer from outside of herself/himself. But, this strength comes with a shadow weakness. Sometimes we focus on salvation (by grace alone through faith alone) to the point of excluding any teaching about sanctification (growing in holiness). Sometimes we linger at the fingerpainting station and ignore the fact that we are intended to "get on with the grand work of art". It is good to acknowledge this, but the way forward cannot be paved with shame, guilt, or judgement. Trying to create a rubric against which to measure my progress in sanctification against yours (or agains the norm) can only devolve into works righteousness (undue attention to what you are I do in the place of what God has done and is doing).

Today I give thanks for Eugene Peterson and Viola Spolin and others who have taught me the value of saying, "Because it is more fun this way!" when I am tempted to say, "Why can't you get your act together and grow up?!" One way keeps me stuck beating myself up, the other sets me free to invite others to play.

Which way are you most experienced in?  

How's that going for you?

Prayer:

Dear God, You are at once Creator and Creativity. Thanks for sharing Yourself with me. You have taught me to paint, to dance, to sing, to play! Grant me good courage to honour you by honing these abilities through continual practise that keeps You at the centre. Amen.