Sometimes even the most basic lessons of the Christian faith can be re-discovered or re-learned. In those cases, it is not that we have forgotten, or neglected, what God’s word says to us, or how much it inspired us to grow and change. Rather, the lessons are so familiar to our hearts that in their familiarity we stop remembering them so passionately. We stop sharing them. We can stop relying on them. We attempt to move on to deeper, or harder, teachings of God’s word. But in that transition, we can forget the basic lessons that we learned which helped to shape us into the Christians that we are today.
So, I want to share with you a passage of a book that I have read a number of times that continues to speak to my heart. I was first introduced to this text while studying at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. I was working on my M.Div when I signed up for a class on Reformed Dogmatics by two of my favorite professors (Dr. Partee and Dr. Purves). They are likely the two most astute, most caring, professor that I had during those years. At that time, I did not know how this class would shape my theological worldview. Truth be told, I didn’t fully know what to expect in the class, but the word "Reformed" caught my eye so I took the class to help sharpen my theological understanding of our reformed tradition. The class was a blessing. I use the material from that class often in my devotional life and in my pastoral work.
On the first day of class we were handed a large yellow book. It was a copy of a text that is now out of print. The publisher, Kessinger Publishing, painstakingly scanned, and printed, each page of the text into a pdf format and then bound the work in a large 8/5x11 format. . . This publisher often finds historical texts that are out of print and binds them in this format so the world will continue to have these books to read and enjoy.
In the book, which is entitled “The Christian Experience of Forgiveness,” Scottish theologian H.R. Mackintosh wrote the following words for us:
"To the saint it is a daily discovery that God does not cast him out. Christian as he is, he remains a sinner; saved, doubtless, in response that he is now in communion with the Father, yet not translated magically into a sphere where temptation is unknown, but set to develop moral freedom through struggle and discipline, under the leadership of God and in His enjoyed love. Recurring faults are met by a mercy which he would not dare to claim in right and which excludes the notion that ’salvation,’ given freely at the start, could be sustained in being by meritorious performance. In the family of God all are in this sense ‘unprofitable servants’ to the end, costing more than the worth of any service."
Throughout the remainder of this book, Mackintosh goes to great length to remind the church that we do nothing to deserve God’s love—for we are in fact sinners at our core. Yet, Mackintosh cannot ignore, and does not forget, that we are loved beyond belief by the God who could judge us! We are welcomed into God’s presence because of the grace that we receive through Jesus Christ’s death in spite of the sin that we will regularly embrace and choose.
Like I said. . . it’s a basic lesson of the Christian faith. A lesson we have taught our children and families for years.
However, sometimes we need to be reminded of even the most basic learning—and not because we have completely fallen short. Rather we need to be reminded of these basic lessons because, I believe, that in the hustle of life, in the midst of pressure that we place upon ourselves, in the midst of a culture that pushes back upon us, God still loves us and calls us to be together as the church and in communion with God in heaven. I wonder today what this basic lesson of forgiveness and grace will mean in your day? I wonder who is God asking you to share these words with, and what will happen in their life when you do?
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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