Title:-The Boom-Box of the Beating Heart of God
Luke 6:10,11 And when He had looked around at them all, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. But they were filled with rage….
I hate Boom-Boxes. Their intrusive noise and the accompanying shenanigans of those who cart them around on their shoulders or even drag them on little carts, usually means that my relaxing afternoon is going to be oer’shadowed with a thunderstorm of hip-hop. Good grief, those blooming Boom-Boxes are just so intrusive!Maybe it’s just a predominantly Western and Calvinistic mindset? Even so, we will have order in our churches. Come to that, we shall insist on order everywhere! Order in the universe, order in our marriage, order in our mind, order in our family, order in our sock drawer, order in all things, except on things that are tall. Oh yes, tall orders shall be frowned upon, as they overstretch us to such an extent that we might just fall over and end up, well, end up disorderly, out of control, foolish. No, that’s settled then, we shall have undisruptive order! Why? Well because God is a God of order, and after all, where there is order there is a control and good grief, we need control over just about everything, because control is the same as safety and safety means no bad surprises and no bad surprises means no pain, no embarrassment and no problems. You see what I mean? We shall have this kind of order in our churches; the order of the graveyard, white engraved headstones set in green grass all in a neat little row, for after all, the dead rarely cause problems.
In our text today, look at Jesus. Do you see Him friends? Like some naughty toddler tempting his parents fortitude. Looking around, staring at them, and maybe thinking to Himself “On a Sabbath day, shall I? Do you dare me? Do you tempt me, the Lord of the Sabbath! Shall I break your rules? Yes, I shall……. ‘Stretch out your hand!’”
People with rules, even rules rooted in Scripture cannot stand Prince Jesus the party-pooper, inviting repentant prostitutes and gays into His realm; the tax collectors and robbers, the unwashed, the unclean, the unkempt, the un-kept, indeed, all the ‘uns’, every single ‘un’ of them, into a place that overturns rules, overturns constitutions, articles, traditions, and whilst doing so, blasts out mercy, grace, forgiveness, and lavishness from the Boom-Box of the beating heart of God! Good grief, those Boom-Boxes are just so intrusive!
I may have said it before, but I shall say it again, “Be careful if you invite Jesus to your religious party, for He never behaves Himself!” After all, Jesus is the Boom-Box of the Beatng Heart of God!
Listen: - I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Mark 2:17
Pray: - Lord, break my rules, break my chains, break my heart, and make me more like You. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment