Nerve, Love, and Cowards

By Matt

Finally got to the end of that long sermon Jesus was doing with all the rhetorical questions, thus only two out of three on those today!

1. "Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt?" (Matthew 7:2) - No, I rather suppose I shouldn't actually. But I do. I find it very interesting that all of humanity has such a hard time understanding that sin is sin and no sin is better or worse than any other. All sin boils down to one thing, not showing love to God or neighbor. The consequences of each sin may be different in severity or longevity, but the act is the same in God's eyes. Still, we try to create hierarchies that allow us to feel better about what we've done. We're all sinners and we all need to get right with God before we try to tell someone else how to get right.
2. "So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?" (Matthew 7:11) - This is an interesting question for me at this time. Last night, on a whim, I picked up C. S. Lewis' A Grief Observed. For those who don't know, this book is basically just Lewis writing in his journal after the death of his wife, Joy. Obviously he's distraught but the lengths and depths of his despair are profound and surprising. Here we have one of the foremost Christian apologists, a great writer of immense intellectual capacity who has written some of the best fiction and non-fiction dealing with Christianity and he has the nerve to call God the "Great Vivisector" and "Cosmic Sadist." You can feel Lewis' great sadness and loss when he says these words that are only the more shocking because they come from him. By the end of the book, however, he comes back around to seeing the love that God has for him, even in the tragic loss of Joy, even though it's hard and at first he doesn't want to see it. The simple answer to Jesus' question is: yes, God's love is unsurpassed and unsurpassing and there's no question he loves us, even if it will eventually kill us.
3. "Why are you such cowards, such faint-hearts?" (Matthew 8:26) - Again, another question that hits hard after yesterday. The doctor's appointment brought much better news that the rather half-informed nurse imparted to Lisa the day before. Cancer is the least likely of the reasons for the cyst being there and that's great news. Yet, even though I knew in my heart that if she did have cancer that it wouldn't change anything important, I was sill afraid. Afraid for a lot of reasons. But look at the list that doesn't change: God's love for her, our love for each other, her family's and friends' mutual love . . . what else is more important? We have that assurance all the time and that's why we have no reason to be cowards and faint-hearts.