Thanks Giving

             For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; (I Peter 3:18)

 

You’ve been in a car wreck. The EMTs bring you back to life twice on the way to the hospital, where the doctors perform emergency surgery to keep you alive.

You’re walking down the street, and someone drags you into an alley, takes your money, and assaults you. Suddenly, a couple guys show up and chase beat the assailant up. They take you to the hospital and return your money to you.

You run out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Someone shows up and takes you to a gas station. Or you run out of food and find groceries at your back door.

How would you feel? How many years would it be before you stop talking about what happened, and about the people (even if unknown) who acted on your behalf? And what if the person or people who saved their lives were injured or killed as a result?

I would like to think that I would think highly of the person or people who helped me; that, years later, I would sing their praises and still feel as strongly as I did when I first realized what they had done. But I can think of two examples where my gratitude as softened. The first is the fact that if it were not for my chiropractor, I probably would have faced surgery, or even been crippled by the pain in my back. The second, of course, is the fact that Christ suffered for my sins so that he might bring me to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.

          In Renovation of the Heart, Dallas Willard spends considerable time discussing the fact that we need to think rightly. There are so many ways the reality in today’s passage can be reduced, covered over, evaded, denied, and otherwise thought wrongly about. If I’m going to think rightly, it’s a good place to begin.

          Christ also suffered for my sins, once for all time. I can’t imagine the suffering involved: the physical pain, the humiliation, the emotional pain of separation- not as they really were. I can imagine the pain of a pinched nerve, some humiliation, and the feeling of abandonment (even if only temporary.) But not to the level that Jesus faced. And He did it for me.

          Part of my problem is that I’m not comfortable with feelings. The idea of gushing all over the place for the rest of my life is exhausting just to contemplate. It’s not a habit I’ve learned. It somehow seems to be a lie if I express it on purpose and not spontaneously. But praise and gratitude are skills, too. So maybe it’s time to start practicing.

Attacked by enemies I didn’t know I had

Cries for help unheeded by coward and by cad

Facing endless woe as one who was also bad.

 

Confronting my enemies as only You could

Your life gi’en for my salvation when no one else would

You present me to Your Father as one now good.

Thank You, Lord.