In many ways, I think that this tendency creeps
into my spiritual life as well. I read
the Bible and marvel over the stories of men long dead such as Abraham, Moses,
David, and Daniel. I read the gospels
and look at Christ’s sacrifice as a past act that took place long ago. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is
the Book of Revelations which tells of Christ’s future return and the
completion of the redemption story.
Too often I fail to connect the dots between the
two. My faith today sometimes doesn’t seem
quite real enough, God’s presence doesn’t feel tangible enough. It is almost like reading a novel where
someone has torn out all but the first and last chapters. I see the beginning, and I see how the story
ends, but what happens in the middle where I’m at?
Recently I finished reading the Book of Acts again
and the story clicked back into place for me.
The Book of Acts is the story of the church after Christ’s
resurrection. Christ has given the great
commission to his disciples during the 40 days after his resurrection and has
ascended into heaven. The disciples once
again are alone. I imagine they must
have been filled with confusion and questions about where they should go now,
just as I often feel today. But on the
day of Pentecost, they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Church is
born. Throughout the Book of Acts we see
time and time again, how the Holy Spirit finds ways to use simple people in all
different circumstances to spread the word of God and bring the Kingdom of God
here to earth.
That is what clicked for me. The story of redemption didn’t pause in the
past, waiting for some event in the future.
It is happening here and now just as it did in the years after Christ’s
ascension with everyday people. God
isn’t just a God of the past. He isn’t
just a God of the future. His name is “I
Am,” not “I Was” or “Someday I Will Be.”
God is active and living and working in our lives today. We are the chapters in between.
It happens when that quiet voice convicts me for
the things I shouldn’t have done, shouldn’t have said, or shouldn’t have
thought. As a result I repent and do
what I can to repair the damage to my relationship with God and with those
around me whom I may have hurt.
It happens when someone wrongs me, and because I recognize my own need for repentance I somehow find it in myself to let go
and forgive.
Redemption not only happens in me, but in the
world around me. It happens when I raise
my kids to have a love for God, and to live by a code of values. I see the Holy Spirit working in their lives
and impacting how they see the world around them, and how they interact with
the people around them.
It happens when we find ways to use our vocations
as a means to serve others rather than
just earn a paycheck.
It is happening when someone takes a moment to
offer a comforting word to a friend or stranger who is struggling with
something in their life. Or perhaps when
someone takes the time to pray for the needs of others around them.
Likewise, the Holy Spirit moves when we recognize
the material needs in someone else’s life and find ways to provide for
them. It is in the donations we give to
a food pantry to feed the poor. It is in
the time an old gentleman takes to volunteer at a pancake breakfast to feed the
homeless. It happens when someone takes
the time to care for the elderly who can’t do for themselves.
Redemption happens when we as Christians find ways
in our own lives to break the confines that we place on our faith, and bring
our faith out of the Sunday morning service into the real world.
That is the faith I want and need to cultivate in
my own life. I want a faith that is
rooted in the present.
Today my hope is that God will find a way to work
in my own life. It is my hope that God
will find a way to work in yours. Today.
